Illinois Could Become First Midwest State to Adopt Advanced Clean Trucks Program

By Bree Murphy

A coalition of environmental groups is urging Illinois to adopt an Advanced Clean Trucks standard, which would make it the first Midwestern state to do so. These standards are designed to accelerate the transition to heavy-duty electric vehicles.

In Joliet, a Chicago suburb with a high concentration of warehouses, residents—disproportionately people of color and low-income families—face elevated exposure to pollution from diesel trucks serving those facilities.

Another community at the center of concern is Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, where warehouses have proliferated in recent years. A 2023 study found that, on average, 1.5 heavy-duty trucks passed along a residential street every minute.

Sierra Club Illinois representative Sally Burgess has observed similar patterns statewide, counting more than 300 diesel semis during a single 65-mile drive between central Illinois and Springfield.

Illinois’ Pollution Control Board is also considering adopting California’s Advanced Clean Cars II program, which would decrease new gas-powered passenger vehicle sales over the next decade and impose stricter limits on nitrogen oxide emissions from heavy-duty vehicles.

If adopted in Illinois, the Advanced   would require zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles to make up 40-75% of all vehicles sold by manufacturers by 2035, with fines for noncompliance. Expanded electric vehicle adoption would also bring infrastructure improvements, including more charging stations at interstate rest stops. These benefits would extend beyond Illinois, making it easier for neighboring states such as Missouri to transition their fleets.

Automakers including Ford, General Motors, and Volvo have already ramped up electric vehicle production since California’s adoption of the rule, and Illinois’ participation would further drive national supply.

Information from Canary Media.