On Wednesday, Governor Scott issued an executive order that effectively delays regulations that were reducing the availability of snowplows, dump trucks, and other heavy-duty vehicles that towns rely on. The regulations, the Advanced Clean Cars II, Advanced Clean Trucks, and Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Omnibus rules, required manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero emission vehicles starting in model year 2026.
“Governor Scott’s decision to delay implementation of rules that were increasing the cost and reducing the inventory of the mainstay of municipal road work, the dump truck, is a relief to municipal budgets and Vermonters,” said VLCT Executive Director Ted Brady. “Our state’s highway supervisors and selectboard members are eager to transition to clean fuels and cleaner fleets, but that eagerness and the state’s mandates didn’t translate to the trucks being available on the market or the charging infrastructure being installed in town garages.”
Brady said towns plan for years for the purchase of a new truck, which are often in the six figures. They then often wait for more than a year for a truck to be delivered, he said. Brady said VLCT members were reporting a lack of inventory and unexpected cost increases due to the new emissions requirements.
This executive order is in effect until December 2026.