I’m Suzanne
Seivright-Sutherland from the California Construction and
Industrial Materials Association, better known as CalCIMA, the
statewide trade association for producers of aggregate, concrete,
cement, asphalt, and industrial minerals used to build our
state’s infrastructure.
In coordination with
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, CalCIMA submitted a comment
letter proposing specific revisions to the regulatory language
consistent with its goals to address the deficiencies and to help
ensure the construction materials producers can implement this
Regulation. Some key points from our letter include the following:
1) To ensure consistent and practical
application, we ask for accurate and precise definitions for the
terms “available to purchase”, “commercially
available,” and “configuration.”
2)
Because the ZEV
Unavailability Exemption simply assumes the future availability of
pickup trucks in all configurations, we ask that pickup trucks be
addressed the same as the Regulation addresses trucks over 14,000
pounds GVWR.
3)
For fleets whom a
transition to hydrogen fuel cell is the logical operational
endpoint, and for whom a requirement to purchase battery electric
vehicles to achieve short-term compliance will force a double
investment, we ask for an alternative compliance pathway.
4)
Because CARB inconsistently
categorizes ready-mix concrete trucks in various locations and
versions of the rulemaking documents, we request these trucks be
clearly categorized as “specialty vehicles” since they
are over 33,000 pounds GVWR and have a heavy front axle.
5)
The Daily Usage Exemption
requires a fleet to have 10 percent ZEVs which may be unattainable
as manufacturers are still bringing new products to market and no
rationale in the ISOR limits this exemption, we ask this percentage
to be removed.
6)
Regarding the Infrastructure Delay Extension, because the ISOR
presents no evidence that one year is sufficient to assure delivery
of infrastructure or electricity, we ask for this timeframe to be
removed.
7)
We also ask that all
exemptions include an appeal process as an oversight or correction
mechanism to deliver consistent application of the Regulation.
8) And finally, CARB
assessments do not expect viable zero-emission technology in
specialty and weight-sensitive applications accounting for 2
percent of the trucks on the road, until after 2030. CARB considers
a subset of these vehicles, construction specialty vehicles, among
the least likely a ZEV may become available. In lieu of the
Regulation only permitting continued use of diesel for this subset,
we ask CARB to promote the use of RNG as a bridge technology that
supports GHG reductions and make a good faith effort to
quantifiably understand how this bridge technology supports GHG
reductions.
Thank you for considering
our comments.