Regulators weigh staying clean-energy car standards

After hourslong hearing, environmental boards delay decision on postponing enactment of rule requiring 43% of vehicles sold in state be emission free by 2026

Two environmental regulatory boards have put off a decision on an attempt by automobile dealers to delay implementation of a rule that will require more electric vehicles in New Mexico.

Multiple witnesses testified during Friday’s nine-hour hearing at the state Capitol, a proceeding which New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board members attended in person and Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board members attended remotely.

Neither board voted Friday, in part because the testimony continued until after 5 p.m., and the Capitol building was closing, instead deciding to take the issue up again at an April 5 hearing.

Dubbed the Advanced Clean Cars and Trucks Rule, the regulations, which the two boards adopted after several public hearings and meetings in November, are based on a similar set of requirements adopted by California in 2022. They would require that as of calendar year 2026, “43% of all new passenger cars and light-duty trucks shipped to New Mexico auto dealerships by national auto manufacturers must be zero-emission vehicles.”

The New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association and an Albuquerque car dealership have filed a notice with the state Court of Appeals indicating they intend to challenge the rules. Friday’s hearing dealt with whether the standards should be delayed while the court action is pending, a process that could take anywhere from a few months to a few years.

Attorney Peter V. Domenici Jr. argued on behalf of the automotive dealers, telling the boards the group wants “to give the appeal time to be determined before the parties affected by the rule suffer irreparable harm.”

In order to justify a stay, the automotive dealers need to show they are likely to win their appeal, that they would be irreparably harmed if the stay isn’t not granted, that a stay would not substantially harm others and that it would be in the public’s best interest.

Dominici argued that while the regulations place rules on vehicle manufacturers it is the state’s auto dealers who will suffer because, he said, the market for electric vehicles has been “flat” and there isn’t enough infrastructure to make them a reasonable alternative in rural New Mexico. If dealers are forced to take delivery of electric vehicles they’ll be stuck with inventory they can’t sell, causing them to lay off staff, close or default on loans they took to purchase those vehicles, he said.

“There is simply nothing to show that there will be a demand for electric vehicles,” he said, noting the United States Environmental Protection Agency rolled back its target of having 60% electric vehicles by 2030 to between 31% and 44% in recent days. As currently written, he said, New Mexico’s rules would require 68% electric vehicles by 2030.

“So the ... federal rule which came out two days ago and looked at all the same elements you are asking be looked at indicated that what you are trying to do is about twice as aggressive as the federal government,” Domenici said.

Attorney Andrew Knight argued on behalf of the New Mexico Environment Department, which opposes the stay, saying electric vehicles are becoming more affordable, with the market for them growing quickly across the nation and the world. The charging network in New Mexico is being “rapidly built out,” he said.

“There’s plenty of time for the dealers to adapt to the changing marketplace before these vehicles come to New Mexico,” he said.

Jerry Valdez, an executive director at the state Department of Transportation, testified as a witness for the Environment Department. He said his agency currently has about $132 million earmarked for building charging stations along the state’s most traveled corridors including Interstates 40, 10 and 25.

Prioritizing the state’s air quality and lessening the impacts of pollution on people who suffer from asthma and heart problems were additional factors that weighs heavily against granting a stay, Knight said.