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The Biden administration on Tuesday finalized tougher pollution standards for heavy-duty vehicles like large trucks, delivery vans and buses starting with the 2027 model year.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule is the first update to the standards since 2001. It will reduce smog and soot from heavy goods vehicles by requiring them to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by nearly 50% from by 2045, and will be more than 80% stronger than the current standard, the agency said.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement that the new rule would protect public health, “especially the health of the 72 million people living near highway freight routes in America, including our populations. most vulnerable in historically overburdened communities”.

The agency estimated that the rule will result in up to 2,900 fewer premature deaths, 18,000 fewer cases of childhood asthma and 6,700 hospitalizations.

He also estimated that the rule will result in 78,000 fewer lost work days, 1.1 million fewer lost school days for children and an overall net benefit of $29 billion.

Transportation is the largest source of global warming emissions in the United States, with average household vehicles accounting for more than 50% of the sector’s total emissions. Heavy vehicles such as large trucks and buses account for about 23%; fewer of them are on the roads, but due to their size and fuel requirements, they contribute an inordinate proportion of air pollution and global warming emissions.

A Mack LR all-electric garbage truck was parked behind the speakers’ podium during a ceremony to announce the new rules.

After the ceremony, Mack spokesman John Mies said the company supports long-term goals of zero emissions for trucks and is also working to reduce dangerous emissions from diesel trucks. Mack is part of the Volvo group of truck companies, which is separate from the company that makes Volvo passenger vehicles.

“Clearly the new normal is very difficult,” Mies said in an email. “Beyond that, the rule is extremely complex, so we need time to review it and understand what it means for our customers, dealers and employees.”

Although the new rule is much stricter than the current standards, environmental and public health groups have called for even stricter standards.

Britt Carmon, the federal clean vehicle advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that the new rules leave more to do and that the EPA should “act quickly” to move to zero-emission trucks.

“After two decades of inaction, the EPA is finally getting ready to reduce harmful pollution from truck tailpipes,” Carmon said. “But those standards fall short, and the agency missed a crucial opportunity to reduce soot and smog and accelerate the shift to the cleanest vehicles.”

California’s new heavy-duty rule, for example, is 90% stricter than current regulations. And earlier this year, California state regulators criticized the EPA’s pollution rule for missing the big picture of the switch to electric trucks.

But the agency said the rule its finalization on Tuesday is only a first step.

In the spring of 2023, the EPA is expected to release its proposed so-called “Phase 3” greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty vehicles beginning with the 2027 model year. The agency is also expected to release new proposed greenhouse gas standards. emissions for light- and medium-duty vehicles for 2027. .and beyond spring model year vehicles.

Regan said these rules, in addition to climate and clean energy investments in a pair of infrastructure and climate laws already passed, “will accelerate President Biden’s ambitious agenda to overhaul the truck fleet of the countries, to provide cleaner air and to protect people and the planet”.