Canada’s federal government is suspending proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for trailers by up to one additional year, while a U.S. proposal on which those standards are based remains stalled.
The latest interim order was published April 1 in Canada Gazette Part 1, replacing an existing interim order that would have expired April 19.
Under proposed rules, trailer manufacturers would need to adopt fuel-saving technologies like side skirts and automatic tire pressure monitoring systems. But the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia determined the EPA and NHTSA couldn’t apply such rules south of the border because trailers are not “motor vehicles”.
The rules were originally set to begin in January 2020 but were challenged by the U.S.-based Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association.
Further plans for this side of the border emerged in a letter from Stephane Couroux, director of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s transportation division, and distributed by the Canadian Transportation Equipment Association (CTEA).
“In the forthcoming months, the department will undertake further consultations with stakeholders, continue to monitor the situation closely in the U.S. following the Court of Appeals decision to rescind the trailer standards established by the U.S. EPA and NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] and continue to assess the impacts for Canada,” Couroux said.
“This will help inform a final recommendation on the path forward for the trailer standards in Canada.”