State Advocacy

State policies can go even further than national rules, be tailored to the individual nature and politics of each state, and provide a backstop should the federal government roll back clean transportation policies.

Sierra Club’s 60+ chapters mean that we have an active, state-based presence in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other territories. The Clean Transportation for All campaign (CTFA) and Environmental Law Program (ELP) work closely with the Club’s chapters to advance transportation electrification mandates and the buildout of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.

The Sierra Club’s New Jersey Chapter joined Congressman Pallone at an EV infrastructure press conference in February 2022. (3)

Clean Cars and Trucks Rules

Under the federal Clean Air Act, California has unique authority to establish its own emission standards for motor vehicles. The Clean Air Act also permits other states to adopt California’s more ambitious clean car and truck programs rather than accepting the federal standards.

Sierra Club has worked hard to get California to adopt:

The Advanced Clean Cars (ACC) II rule, which requires increasing percentages of light-duty vehicle sales to be zero emission each year, reaching 100% of new sales by 2035.
The Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule, which requires increasing percentages of medium- and heavy- duty vehicle sales to be zero-emission each year.
The Heavy Duty Omnibus (HDO) rule, which requires more pollution limits for nitrogen oxides from trucks than federal standards require.
The Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule, which requires manufacturers to achieve 100% new zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle sales in 2035 and requires large truck and bus fleet operators to adopt an increasing percentage of zero-emissions vehicles.
The Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) rule, which requires public transit agencies to adopt zero-emission bus fleets.
And many more, including rules for harbor boats and locomotives

At the same time that we push California to adopt landmark regulations like ACC II, we advocate for adoption of the regulations in other states. While the federal government sets minimum standards, or “floors,” for vehicle pollution, more ambitious states can adopt more health-protective standards to achieve greater reductions in transportation pollution, such as ACC II.

Sierra Club and partners commissioned the consulting firm ERM to conduct modeling to show the public health, environmental, and economic benefits of adopting ACC II in a variety of states, including New York, New Jersey, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Advocates in states across the country have organized, spoken at public hearings, written supportive comments, and scored media coverage to demonstrate support for zero-emission vehicle standards.

Here is a tracker of which states have adopted the critical ACC II, ACT, and HDO programs.

What Happens As More States Adopt The Zero-Emission Vehicle Rules?

The map below shows the benefits we can achieve if more states adopted the ACC II and ACT regulations, as compared to current policies. Use the interactive features to explore what additional adoption of the ACC II and ACT rules would mean to increase EVs on the road and decrease pollution and fuel consumption.

State Lobby Corps

Sierra Club is one of the only environmental organizations in the country that supports, coordinates, and resources state-based legislative and administrative lobbying in all U.S. states, as well as in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Our chapter-based lobby teams lead their state legislative processes, and work closely with CTFA to advance legislation that supports the equitable and just deployment of electric vehicles and reducing our overall car dependence through reliable public transit, safe infrastructure for walking and biking, and more housing options. State legislative-based efforts have included supporting bills to implement clean car and truck rules, creating favorable market conditions for EV adoption through incentive programs, funding electric school bus adoption and charging buildout, advocating for reasonable gas tax policy replacements, establishing e-bike rebates, calling for complete streets, and more.

State-based lobby teams are supported by a national team of staff that focus on chapter development, policy tracking and analysis, and internal cross-capacity support.

Commitment to Environmental Justice

Throughout its work, CTFA strives to elevate and center the voices of environmental justice and underserved communities, and underscore the importance of adopting the ACC II and ACT rules to reduce smog levels. Oftentimes the state’s own public health statistics have proven the untenable burden that smog levels have on these communities, but CTFA’s modeling provides the evidence that high smog levels are being driven in significant part by vehicles. Of course, most important is the lived experience of the residents breathing in this constant pollution.

These charts are examples of how state public health statistics demonstrate disproportionately high asthma levels in communities of color. (4) (5)

In Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, ELP retained Sonoma Technology to perform advanced ozone (smog) modeling that demonstrated that vehicles can contribute over 11 parts per billion (ppb) to smog levels in urban and environmental justice communities.

Adopting the ACC II and ACT rules are key policies to reducing smog levels below the 70 ppb federal standard, and thus key to reducing harmful health impacts felt by these communities.