Enchantment State News

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced today at Chalmers Ford in Rio Rancho that the state will move to adopt some of the nation’s strongest vehicle emissions rules aimed at improving New Mexicans choices on all makes and models of zero emission vehicles while furthering the state’s ambitious climate goals and decreasing air pollution.

“These rules will speed up much-needed investment in New Mexico’s electric vehicle and clean hydrogen fueling infrastructure, create new job opportunities and, most importantly, result in cleaner and healthier air for all New Mexicans to breathe,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham.

These rules, known as Advanced Clean Cars and Advanced Clean Trucks, set annual targets for the sale of new zero emission cars and trucks in New Mexico over time. The rules would require vehicle manufacturers to deliver cleaner vehicles to New Mexicans and drastically cut smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter emissions (PM) from conventional gas and diesel engines, resulting in reductions of over 50,200 tons of NOx and 615 tons of PM when fully implemented. The rules will collectively reduce over 76 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions when fully implemented. These rules are a critical piece of the state’s overall strategy to reduce pollution from the transportation sector and will complement future legislative strategies.

The rules only apply to automakers, not auto dealers or consumers. The rules do not prohibit the sale or ownership of new or used gasoline-powered vehicles.

By adopting these rules, New Mexicans will be first in line to receive zero emissions cars and trucks from auto manufacturers. The clean vehicle rules complement the existing Clean Cars rule adopted by the Environmental Improvement Board and the Albuquerque-Bernalillo Air Quality Control Board in 2022.

“These new rules will ensure that all New Mexicans have access to a greater number of new zero and low-emission vehicle models, while hastening the transition away from polluting diesel and gasoline-powered cars and trucks,” said Environment Department Cabinet Secretary James Kenney. “We look forward to engaging with all New Mexicans on these proposed rules in the coming months.”

Since the beginning of the Lujan Grisham administration, New Mexico has already established itself as a national leader in equitable, sustainable transportation. Accomplishments include:

• Awarding over $12 million in Volkswagen settlement funds reducing over 110,000 pounds of pollution annually.
• Investing $38 million annually for five years to build out electric vehicle charging stations and infrastructure and New Mexico is ranked 16th in the nation for access to charging stations.
• Applying for $1.25B in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish New Mexico as a clean hydrogen hub for power generation and transportation.
• Offering free certificate programs, free associate degrees, and free bachelor’s degrees through the opportunity scholarship.
• Adopting clean car rules in 2022.

The New Mexico Environment Department will share more details about the rulemaking process soon.

New Mexico was recently featured in the New York Times as one of five of the nation’s best EV road trips.

Original source can be found here.