ALBANY, N.Y. – New York's Advanced Clean Truck regulations take effect in 2025, requiring manufacturers that make vehicles 8,500 pounds and heavier to sell an increasing percentage of electric vehicles each year moving forward.

The goal, when feasible, is for all new commercial trucks by 2045 to produce zero emissions. Department of Environmental Conservation Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar said it's a critical component for meeting the state's climate goals. 

"This rule is one of the tools that we use in collaboration with other states like California to really make sure that we're driving the industry in the places it needs to go for electrification," Mahar said.

The Trucking Association of New York opposed the regulation when the DEC adopted it in 2021 and said over the last three years, many of its concerns have not been addressed. President Kendra Hems said there are no publicly available chargers for heavy trucks. 

"We are very much in support of making that shift, but the challenge in New York is we do not have infrastructure in place to support the use of those vehicles," she said.

Hems said due to the range of vehicles, parking availability and driver-rest requirements, electric trucks currently have few applications in New York. She said ratio mandates could leave dealers with vehicles nobody wants and without the ones in demand.

"It's going to limit the availability of trucks for our fleets, our trucking companies in the state as well, so as they're trying to invest in new equipment, they may not actually be able to obtain it," Hems said.

State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, believes those issues will drive large swaths of the industry out of New York, especially businesses already close to the Pennsylvania border.

"It is essentially going to not move the needle at all when it comes to emissions and climate change, but it is going to move a lot of people out of New York state," he said.

The state Senate GOP conference wrote a letter to the governor last week asking DEC to delay implementation.

"We're always open to these conversations and that's what's playing out actively right now, but again, this is such a core component of New York's climate efforts and such an important component of it. And that's why we continue to move forward right now with it," Mahar said.

Republican lawmakers also have concerns about the cost of electric trucks, which they say, are currently three to four times the price of traditional trucks, and how the regulations could impact the availability of snow removal vehicles for municipalities.