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The California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) proposes to adopt emergency vehicle emissions regulations (the “Emergency Vehicle Emissions Regulation”) that will amend California Code of Regulations, titles 13 and 17, and adopt new sections into California Code of Regulations, titles 13 and 17. The amendments would confirm that, until a court resolves the uncertainty created by the federal government’s actions, certain antecedent regulations (displaced by Advanced Clean Cars II and Omnibus) remain operative (as previously adopted) with the caveat that CARB may enforce Advanced Clean Cars II and Omnibus, to the extent permitted by law, in the event a court of law holds invalid the resolution purporting to disapprove those waivers. The Emergency Vehicle Emissions Regulations will become effective upon filing with the Office of Administrative Law.
Background
CARB is proposing its Emergency Vehicle Emissions Regulations to clarify that protective emission standards for vehicles and engines remain operative, while ensuring manufacturers can sell vehicles and engines into California despite the emergency the federal government has created through unconstitutional congressional resolutions targeting certain preemption waivers.
To ensure that new motor vehicles can continue to be sold in California, despite the ongoing uncertainty introduced by the federal government into the State’s longstanding regulatory program, CARB staff is proposing to amend its regulations to clarify that the criteria pollution provisions of the LEV III regulation (adopted as part of ACC I) and associated on-board diagnostic requirements remain operative, with the caveat that CARB may enforce the more recently adopted LEV IV requirements (adopted as part of ACC II) to the extent permitted by law, in the event a court of law holds invalid the resolution purporting to disapprove that waiver.
CARB staff is similarly proposing to amend its medium- and heavy-duty regulations to clarify that the provisions antecedent to Omnibus remain operative, with the caveat that CARB may enforce the Omnibus regulation, to the extent permitted by law, in the event a court of law holds invalid the resolution purporting to disapprove that waiver.
CARB continues to accept and process certification applications for the LEV IV and Omnibus emission standards. Hence, both sets of standards will be present in the California Code of Regulations during this period of unprecedented uncertainty. Regulated parties may choose to follow either the LEV IV or Omnibus standards or the antecedent LEV III and pre-Omnibus provisions. Regulated parties, however, assume the risk if they choose to certify only to the antecedent provisions, and the congressional resolutions disapproving the waivers of federal preemption under the Clean Air Act are declared invalid.
CARB may also consider other changes to the sections affected, as listed on page 3 of the notice, or other sections within the scope of the notice, during the course of this rulemaking process.
Inquiries concerning the substance of the proposal to make permanent CARB’s Emergency Vehicle Emissions Regulations may be directed to the agency representative Michelle Buffington, Ph.D., Chief, Mobile Source Control Division, California Air Resources Board, (279) 208-7982 (VOIP), Michelle.Buffington@arb.ca.gov.
The Notice of Proposed Action and all subsequent regulatory documents are available on CARB's Rulemaking webpage.
Written Comment Period & Comment Submittal
Government Code section 11346.1(a)(2) requires that, at least five working days prior to submission of the proposed emergency rulemaking to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), CARB provides a notice of the proposed emergency rulemaking to every person who has filed a request for notice of regulatory action.
CARB intends to submit the Emergency Vehicle Emissions Regulation to OAL on September 22, 2025. The submitted action will appear on the list of “Emergency Regulations Under Review” on OAL’s website at: https://oal.ca.gov/emergency_regulations/Emergency_Regulations_Under_Review/
Emergency rulemakings have a five-calendar-day comment period that begins when OAL posts the notice of the pending emergency action on the OAL website, as set forth in Government Code section 11349.6. Once OAL posts this emergency action on its website, comments on the proposed emergency rulemaking action should be submitted to the OAL Reference Attorney by mail, fax, or email:
OAL Reference Attorney
300 Capitol Mall, Suite 1250
Sacramento, California 95814
Fax Number: (916) 323-6826
Email: staff@oal.ca.gov
CARB requests that comments submitted via email include a carbon copy (“cc”) to cotb@arb.ca.gov. Additionally, CARB requests but does not require that persons who submit written comments reference the title of the proposal in their comments to facilitate review.
Please note that under the California Public Records Act (Government Code section 7920.000 et seq.), your written and oral comments, attachments, and associated contact information (e.g., your address, phone, email, etc.) become part of the public record and can be released to the public upon request.
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