EPA’s New Emissions Standards has ‘Minimal Impact’ on RVs – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, March 29, set strict emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses and other large vehicles, an action that officials said will help clean up some of the nation’s largest sources of planet-warming greenhouse gases, according to an Associated Press report.
Jason Rano, the vice president of Government Affairs for the RV Industry Association (RVIA), said the new standards will have minimal impact on motorhomes.
“Starting in model year 2027, motorhomes will have to meet an emission standard of 226 grams/ton-mile. Currently they have to meet a standard of 228 grams/ton-mile. Motorhomes are considered ‘vocational custom chassis’ vehicles so EPA didn’t apply Phase 3 standards because of the uniqueness of motorhomes, the limited miles traveled annually by motorhomes, and certain technological considerations including the projected weight of batteries,”Rano told RVBusiness.
EPA’s final rule to revise existing standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty vehicles in model year 2027 will set new, more stringent standards for model years 2028 through 2032, according to an EPA release. The final rule, known as “Phase 3 greenhouse gas,” builds upon the success of two previous rulemakings, Phase 1 greenhouse gas and Phase 2 greenhouse gas, which act collectively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty vehicles and engines. The Phase 3 greenhouse gas standards will apply to heavy-duty vocational vehicles (such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, school buses, etc.) and tractors (such as day cabs and sleeper cabs on tractor-trailer trucks).
This action, along with EPA’s 2022 rule setting standards to control smog and soot air pollution from new heavy-duty engines and vehicles and EPA’s 2024 rule addressing multi-pollutant emissions for model years 2027 and later light-duty and medium-duty vehicles, fulfill the intent of the “Clean Trucks Plan” (see below) and will significantly reduce greenhouse gas and harmful air pollution across the onroad sector.
Click here to read the full Associated Press report.
