State wants to phase out sales of new gas-powered vehicles in RI by 2035. Here's how they'll do it.

PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island is joining a wave of states that are following California’s lead to phase out sales of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 in a bid to reduce air pollution and combat climate change.

Gov. Dan McKee will announce Wednesday the decision to go forward with the regulations that are the strictest in the nation on mandating sales of electric cars and trucks. It would bring Rhode Island in line with Massachusetts, New York and other states that have already adopted California’s new standard that aims for a full-scale transformation of America’s automotive industry.

It would also boost Rhode Island’s efforts to comply with a landmark state law that requires deep emissions cuts.

“The Act on Climate put us on the clock for meeting major carbon reduction mandates, and it’s clear to me that Rhode Island will only meet the mandates by addressing the transportation sector head-on,” McKee said in a statement.

The move will necessitate big changes for Rhode Island’s auto dealers. In 2022, only 5.2 percent of vehicle sales in the state were electric, up only slightly from the year before. In 2027, the first year Rhode Island would begin enforcing the standard, 43 percent of all new cars and trucks sold in the state would have to be electric or hydrogen-powered models.

Automakers have already begun transitioning to emissions-free vehicles, but supply chain issues across the entire industry have slowed the delivery of new models. If supplies remain tight, it will be the states that require sales of electric cars that will get them first, said Terry Gray, director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

“This ensures that we’ll have our fair share,” said Gray, whose agency is in charge of the rulemaking process.

California standard is stricter than national tailpipe rules

In 2021, Governor McKee signed into law the Act on Climate, which requires the state to gradually slash greenhouse gas pollution with the eventual goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Rhode Island, home to the nation’s first offshore wind farm, has made strides to clean up its electric supply, but greening other parts of the economy has been more difficult.

Because cars and trucks are the leading source of carbon pollution in Rhode Island, accounting for nearly 40 percent of emissions, any plan to meet the Act on Climate’s mandates must account for the transportation sector.

The state had been working with Connecticut, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia on a regional plan to slash tailpipe pollution by forcing wholesale fuel distributors to pay for emissions. Money raised through the Transportation and Climate Initiative would have been used to fund public transit, electric car charging and other clean transportation programs. But after Connecticut pulled out a year and a half ago, TCI was shelved.

California charted another path forward last August when it adopted a ban on new gas-powered cars beginning with 2035 models, becoming the first government in the world to require sales of zero-emission vehicles.

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a national regulation also designed to phase out the sale of fossil fuel-powered cars, but the California standard is more stringent.

“That’s why we’re opting to follow California’s lead here,” said Allison Archambault, the DEM staffer who wrote Rhode Island’s proposed rule.

New rules would reduce RI transportation emissions by a third

The California law requires that automakers gradually ramp up their share of electric-vehicle sales, from 35 percent of all new sales in 2026 — the first year of the program for some states, though not Rhode Island — to 68 percent in 2030, and 100 percent in 2035.

The EPA rule would take a different approach by enacting an overall emissions standard for each car manufacturer, which would force them to sell enough electric vehicles to stay within their cap. It’s aimed at increasing new electric car sales to 67 percent of the market by 2032.

According to a DEM analysis, the California standard would reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles in Rhode Island by a third by 2030. That’s a much bigger drop than if Rhode Island continues to follow current federal rules.

“This is the biggest lever the department can pull with respect to emissions from transportation,” said Archambault, supervising air quality specialist with the DEM’s Office of Air Resources.

Under the Clean Air Act, states must either abide by the federal rules on vehicle emissions or follow California’s more aggressive standards. Rhode Island is already one of 17 states and the District of Columbia that adopted earlier clean car rules enacted in California that were also stricter than the national regulations.

Rhode Island taking action after other states

Before the announcement, there had been frustration among some environmental groups that Rhode Island hadn’t acted on the new rules. The Green Energy Consumers Alliance accused the state of “slow-walking on these important standards.”

Massachusetts and Washington state have trigger laws that require them to follow California’s lead on emissions. New York announced it was adopting the rules in September. Virginia, Vermont and Oregon have also already done so. All will start enforcing the law in 2026.

Gray said Archambault and other DEM staff were busy last fall on an update to the state’s greenhouse gas reduction plan (which recommended adoption of the California rule). The agency didn’t have the bandwidth to carry out a cost-benefit analysis and do other work at the same time associated with the rulemaking for the emissions standard, he said.

The agency plans to accept public input on the proposal over the next six months and ratify the rules by next January in time to begin enforcement in 2027, a year after the other states.

There are about 7,600 electric vehicles on Rhode Island roads so far. Many thousands more will be needed to make a real dent in emissions, said Amanda Barker, policy associate with Green Energy Consumers Alliance.

“This is a significant step forward to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” she said. “We didn’t see how we could meet the Act on Climate without these standards.”

Bills would also require state to adopt California standard

McKee’s announcement came hours before a Senate committee was set to hear testimony on a bill introduced by Sen. Alana DiMario that would require Rhode Island to enact the California standard.

She was one of the lead sponsors of 2021 legislation that would have ratified Rhode Island’s membership in the Transportation and Climate Initiative.

While her bill passed in the Senate, a companion measure introduced by Rep. Terri Cortvriend went nowhere in the House. Cortvriend is sponsoring the House bill on the new California standard.

“This is a huge step forward,” DiMario, who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Agriculture, said in a statement. “We thank Governor McKee and the Department of Environmental Management for taking this important step for the benefit of the environment and the well-being of Rhode Islanders.”

Rules would also lead to healthier and cleaner air

The new law wouldn’t just reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It would also slash smog and soot pollution, helping to improve air quality along Route 95 and other busy roads.

The impacts are expected to be significant in South Providence and other neighborhoods that are primarily low-income and have larger minority populations, areas where asthma rates are high and that are disproportionately burdened by pollution.

The DEM analysis estimates health savings from avoided deaths and hospitalizations at $60.7 million a year.

The new law won’t take care of all transportations emissions by itself. Gas-powered cars will still be on the road after 2035. Some of the programs that TCI would have funded, such as more incentives to reduce the costs of electric cars and electric public buses, will still be necessary going forward. Federal money is paying for some of those things right now, but there may be a need to do more in the future, said Gray.

“None of these are silver bullets,” he said. “They all have to be done in parallel.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI wants to ban sales of new gas cars by 2035