EPA to Proceed With 2027 NOx Rules Timeline
Agency Won’t Delay Changes but May Make Adjustments, ATA Says
Key Takeaways:
- EPA will proceed with stricter NOx limits for 2027 heavy-duty trucks but told American Trucking Associations it may revise warranty and useful life requirements.
- ATA said the planned adjustments could lower compliance costs, though the agency will not delay the 2027 start date or change the 0.035 g/hp-hr standard.
- EPA is expected to publish the updated rule for public comment in March or April 2026 as ATA continues pushing to reduce costs, including by seeking repeal of the 12% federal excise tax on new trucks.
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The Environmental Protection Agency will proceed with tightened nitrogen-oxide emissions limits for heavy-duty trucks for the 2027 model year but is open to adjusting certain requirements, American Trucking Associations recently said in a communication to its members.
“We are encouraged by several proposed adjustments that should help lower costs and ease implementation,” ATA Vice President of Energy and Environmental Affairs Patrick Kelly said in a Nov. 17 message to federation membership obtained by Transport Topics, noting that the agency had informed ATA it “does not plan to meet” the federation’s request for a four-year delay of the rules.
In August, ATA asked EPA to delay the rule due to the potential for “substantial compliance costs and operational burdens at a time when the trucking industry is already contending with historically difficult market conditions.”
Kelly said that while EPA “does not plan to meet our full request,” he noted its planned rulemaking is “likely to eliminate the extended warranty periods set to take effect in 2027 and instead retain the existing warranty requirements, while also revising useful life standards and making other technical changes to the rule.” He stated that changes to the rule’s 0.035 g/hp-hr standard or an extension of the 2027 implementation date “will be outside the scope” of EPA action.
That said, Kelly in a message supplied to TT said ATA is appreciative of any EPA and Trump administration efforts that would aim to “reevaluate heavy-duty engine and vehicle standards to reduce unnecessary costs to new trucks. This action will help preserve trucking jobs and keep freight moving safely and efficiently.”
Kelly noted that heavy-duty truck emissions have been reduced by 99% since 1970 but stressed that “further reducing NOx by over 80% requires costly new emissions control equipment that remains untested in the marketplace.”
He also repeated ATA’s concerns about timing of the rule’s adoption.
“The underlying 2027 implementation timeline raises serious concerns for America’s truckers, as the rule is likely to drive up equipment prices at a time when the nation’s motor carriers are already bracing for steep increases,” he said.
EPA is expected to publish the updated rule in the Federal Register around March or April 2026 and make it available for public comment. EPA did not immediately respond to TT’s request for comment.
Earlier this year, the agency announced a review of a long list of earlier regulations, including its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles rules and its Heavy-Duty [nitrogen oxides] rule. The agency had called “problematic” regulations adopted by previous administrations that it argued “results in significant costs that will make the products our trucks deliver, like food and other household goods, more expensive.”
Excise Tax on the Table
Kelly stressed that ATA will “work with EPA staff to ensure opportunities to further reduce costs are maximized.”
A key and ongoing priority for the federation’s efforts on Capitol Hill and with the Trump administration is a repeal of the federal excise tax on new trucks.
Kelly stressed that the “new pain points” threatened by the upcoming EPA rule “are compounded by the punitive, century-old federal excise tax on trucks — a tax that adds thousands of dollars to the cost of every new vehicle.”
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In March, a bill that would repeal the World War I-era tax was introduced in the House of Representatives. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, reintroduced legislation he proposed during previous sessions of Congress. The bill would cancel the 12% federal tax, which is applied to certain commercial vehicles.
“For over a century, the federal excise tax on heavy-duty trucks has gone from a temporary wartime measure to fund World War I to an outdated tax that punishes truck buyers,” LaMalfa said. “This is the highest percentage-based tax Congress imposes on any product. This tax forces buyers to stick with older, less efficient models and makes it harder for truckers to modernize their rigs, holding back the trucking industry from updating.”
ATA was among those that praised the legislation.
“The [federal excise tax] has become the largest excise tax on any product, adding $24,000 to the cost of each new clean-diesel tractor-trailer,” ATA President Chris Spear said.
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