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Please note: This summary is provided to help you understand the regulations. Consult the references provided for links to the full text of the regulations.
Alternative Fuels -- State Regulations
Over the next several years, an increasing number of trucks in the U. S. will be running on alternative fuels. The environmental regulations that apply to Diesel fuel are well-established, but the regulations that will apply to alternative fuels are still being developed. In addition to Federal regulations, individual states have adopted a wide variety of different measures, both to encourage the use of alternatives and to regulate their environmental impact. Each state's choices reflect economic and political factors that will affect the future availability and cost of all fuels, Diesel as well as alternative, in that state.
This page provides information on state regulations and incentives that apply to alternative fuels. See the TERC page on Alternative Fuels for a summary of relative environmental impacts and fuel efficiency. See the Renewable Fuel Standards webpage provided by EPA for additional information on the Federal Renewable Fuels Standard program.
Currently most states require that state and local government agencies preferentially purchase vehicles capable of running on specified alternative fuels, and that alternative fuels be used by those agencies' fleets whenever practical, but the specific provisions vary widely from state to state. States typically have also enacted a number of related regulations covering definitions and specifications, tax provisions, licensing requirements, and other issues related to alternative fuels.
The Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) at the U. S. Department of Energy provides a database with information on a variety of alternative fuels topics. Data on state regulations and incentives from that database are summarized in the table below. See the search page at the AFDC website for full details.
Guide to using the table:
- Use the "Vehicle Acquisition" and "Fuel Use" columns to compare the types of incentives and requirements that currently apply in each state. The entries in these columns indicate level of stringency (whether a provision is a requirement, a recommendation, a strategic target, etc.). This comparison may provide the best indication of potential future regulations that will affect all vehicles (commercial and private) in the state.
- Most states currently limit the scope of acquisition and fuel use requirements to their own state and local agencies, but a few states have enacted fuel mandates that apply to all fuel purchased in the state. To compare different states' approaches to this and other selected topics, see the comparison tables.
- Other relevant state rules are indicated in the "General" column. The type of rule (tax incentive, definition or specification, display or labeling requirement, etc.) is indicated by the table entry.
- Rolling the mouse over any entry in the table will bring up a box with the AFDC's summary of the regulation. Clicking on an entry will bring up the summary text on a separate page, to allow the text to be copied. Clicking on a state name will bring up the page at the AFDC website summarizing all of that state's entries (including items not included in this table).
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