AUGUSTA, Maine — A state board decided Tuesday to advance — but not yet adopt — rules that environmentalists proposed to quicken Maine’s transition to electric vehicles and largely phase out the sale of gas-powered cars while not supporting similar rules for trucks.
The Maine Board of Environmental Protection agreed to have Department of Environmental Protection staff move forward with preparing rules spelled out in a petition submitted earlier this year by the Natural Resources Council of Maine, along with allies including the Sierra Club and Conservation Law Foundation.
The board, with six of its seven members present, then unanimously decided to not advance the plan that sought to boost electric truck sales, citing in part concerns over cost.
The board members, who were each appointed or reappointed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, only took informal “straw poll” votes rather than formal roll calls on the rules. But on the car rules, four members indicated support while two members expressed opposition to advancing them.
DEP staff will likely return at a December meeting with any tweaks to the rules, which the board could then vote on whether to adopt. Board members noted Tuesday that the Legislature, currently controlled by Democrats, could also propose policies regarding electric vehicles.
The “Advanced Clean Cars II” rule would require zero-emission vehicles to make up 43 percent of new sales for 2027 models and 82 percent of sales by model year 2032. Electric vehicles currently make up about 6 percent of new sales in Maine. The state would also incentivize the increased sale of electric trucks over 8,500 pounds via the “Advanced Clean Trucks” rule.
Emergency, off-road, rural postal carrier and military vehicles, along with rental vehicles that have a final destination outside Maine, are exempt from the rules.
Environmental groups used a little-known rulemaking process earlier this year to bypass the Legislature and propose the new regulations by submitting petitions with at least 150 signatures. The rules drew more than 1,000 submitted comments with both positive and negative feedback from residents and interest groups.
Supporters stressed the rules apply to manufacturers, arguing no consumers will need to give up their current gas-powered vehicles and that Maine must avoid falling behind as the auto industry shifts to an all-electric strategy in the next decade and EV prices fall.
“The whole economy is going to change, and it’s going to bring along some people kicking and screaming,” board member Bob Duchesne said in supporting the rules.
However, board chair Susan Lessard said she wanted “this to work, but I’m missing a piece to know if it can.”
“I have more questions than can be answered in this forum,” added Lessard, who is also Bucksport’s town manager.
The petitions were modeled after rules California adopted last year to end the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035. While several environmental groups pushed for Maine to include that requirement, the rules would instead review progress by 2028 to determine if it should ultimately follow California’s mandate that several other states have also adopted.
Supporters also pointed to a National Resources Council of Maine survey of electric vehicle owners in Maine that found about 98 percent were satisfied with the vehicles’ quality, cost savings and reliability. And public health groups argued the rules will improve air quality, especially for lower-income and minority communities that often face higher exposure to pollutants.
Manufacturers who fail to meet the state’s goals could face fines, but they could “generate, bank and trade” zero-emission vehicle and net-zero emission vehicle credits to help achieve the standards and receive additional credit for selling to low-income Mainers.
Republicans and other opponents, who along with proponents packed a board hearing in August, argued the free market rather than government should dictate electric vehicle adoption and the rules fail to consider Maine’s harsh winters and a lack of rural charging infrastructure.
But the Natural Resources Council of Maine and its allies said despite the state’s legal aim of reducing emissions 45 percent below 1990 levels within the next decade and 80 percent by 2050, its largest source of emissions — transportation — requires more aggressive policies.
Roughly half of Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector, a share that has historically been far higher than the national average, in part due to long commutes.
Adopting the rules “is one the best steps Maine can take to remain competitive, clean our air and give people more choices to buy cars that cost less to drive and don’t create tailpipe pollution,” Natural Resources Council of Maine Climate and Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator Josh Caldwell said.
House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, said Republicans oppose “proposals that will eliminate consumer choice, mandate higher auto prices and [cause] economic hardship for no appreciable impact on climate change.”
Jeff Crawford, director of the Bureau of Air Quality, largely reiterated the two sides’ arguments Tuesday in summarizing the roughly 1,600 comments that members of the public submitted on the rules. Tuesday’s meeting at the Department of Environmental Protection’s office in the Marquardt Building featured only a few observers and members of the media in the audience, a sharp difference from the crowded summer hearing at the Augusta Civic Center.
Mills said last year she was not in favor of adopting California’s 2035 mandate, and her spokesperson said earlier this year she was still against letting “decisions by any other state determine Maine’s course of action.”
The Mills administration wants 219,000 electric vehicles registered in Maine by 2030. But the Bangor Daily News reported in May the state had only reached about 4 percent of its goal.
Nationally, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects electric vehicles will account for between 13 percent to 29 percent of new sales by 2050, driven by lower costs and incentives. The group said hybrid and electric vehicles made up 16 percent of light-duty sales in this year’s second quarter.
In Congress, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill in September to bar states from limiting gas-powered vehicle sales. The legislation will likely have a harder time passing the Democratic-led Senate.
On Friday, a Colorado agency made that state the latest to largely adopt California’s rules by approving a requirement for electric vehicles to make up 82 percent of dealership lots by 2032.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of board members that voted on Tuesday. Six of the seven members were present for voting.