MARYLAND — By 2035, you won't be able to buy a gas-powered car in Maryland - only a zero-emissions one, such as electric cars.
That's because back in 2007, the state agreed to follow California's emissions standards - and this summer, California passed a law requiring all new carsand light trucks sold in the state to be zero-emissions by 2035.
But Gov. Larry Hogan's administration won't jump onboard to the new rule before he leaves office, which has disappointed local environmentalists. Twenty-four environmental groups had urged the governor this fall to pass an emergency regulation by the end of 2022. Adopting the new rule would cut Maryland's light-duty carbon-dioxide emissions by 63 percent below 2021 levels in 2035, according to the groups' letter.
California's new rule means 17 states that signed onto the stricter emissions standards have to decide how to respond, noted Associated Press.
"Unfortunately, Gov. Hogan made a decision to not adopt the Advanced Clean Cars II standard, so this means that Maryland will no longer be participating in the Clean Cars program in the next [vehicle] update in 2025," said Sierra Club spokesperson Lindsey Mendelson. "This is really unfortunate, because transportation is the No. 1 source of climate pollution in the state. One in 10 children in Maryland suffer from asthma and we know that cutting vehicle pollution is critical to both making sure that people are breathing clean air and and also meeting our climate targets. So we're calling on governor-elect [Wes] Moore to do the right thing and make sure that Maryland can rejoin and participate in the Clean Cars program once it ends. Unfortunately, we will lose a [vehicle] model year... but governor-elect Moore has the chance to let Maryland rejoin in 2026."
Meanwhile, Delaware is moving forward with plans to adopt the strict guidelines; the state had two public workshops last week about the proposal. Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, D.C., are among the states in the same boat as Maryland.
Hogan's administration said the state is expecting to take up the California rules next year and is just being thorough.
"It’s not a matter of a governor signing an order. It is a set of regulations that go through the Maryland Department of the Environment," said Hogan spokesperson Michael Ricci, in response to the environmentalists' request. "The requirement to move forward is contingent on an EPA waiver being granted, and we anticipate that will not happen until 2023. A number of states that these California rules apply to—including Maryland—will take up the rule in 2023. It’s too important—and impactful—to just rush out a set of emergency regulations."
He noted:
"We expect that Maryland, along with 10 other Section 177 states, will take up these California rules in 2023."
Pennsylvania is also not planning to move forward this year. The state has currently only incorporated California's low-emissions vehicle program, said a spokesperson for their Department of Environmental Protection.
"We began the process to incorporate [California's] ACC1 (as our [zero-emissions vehicle] program) but was shelved when we did not have enough time to finalize prior to [California's] ACCII ZEV program," he said in an email. "The recent CA’s zero emission program does not affect PA . We adopted the current standards many years ago and we would have to propose a new regulation to adopt the California regulations that are expected to be issued by the end of the year including the CY 2035 ban on sale of brand new gas-powered vehicles."
Mendelson, of the Sierra Club, said Hogan's decision nevertheless sets the state back in the program for a year.
"It's really problematic, because we have one of the most ambitious climate targets in the country, and this policy making sure we have standards to curb vehicle pollution is absolutely essential for us to meet our climate targets. We're facing extreme weather right now, whether it's excessive flooding or extreme heat, bad air days, and it's critical that we take action now to address climate change and tackle pollution, and these regulations would be extremely beneficial."
