On January 27, 2012, the California Air Resources Board (“ARB”) notched a potential victory in the battle against greenhouse gas (“GhG”) emissions. In a unanimous vote, ARB adopted the Advanced Clean Cars (“ACC”) regulatory package, which is a program designed to deliver cleaner air, reduce GhG emissions, and help build the market for fuel cell and battery-electric vehicles. At the opening of the ARB hearing on this historic vote, Mary Nichols, ARB Chairman, predicted:

This program will make the cleanest cars and the new technologies commonplace. The Advance Clean Cars package will help clean our air, help us fight climate change, and perhaps most important for the average citizen, save thousands of dollars over the life of the vehicles. It also gives us the ability to brag that we are the clean car capital of the world.

The robust ACC program combines various automotive regulations into a package of standards and initiatives applicable to model years 2015-2025. The ACC program is designed to address two important environmental and public health threats – climate change and unhealthy levels of smog and particulate pollution – by substantially reducing, and potentially eliminating, heat-trapping emissions. The program is composed of three separate, yet equally important prongs: Zero Emission Vehicle Program, LEV III Standards, and Clean Fuel Outlet Program.

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