OOIDA Sues Calif. Over Soot Filter Mandate

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association filed a lawsuit in a California federal court on Dec. 6, seeking to block implementation and enforcement of the state’s Bus and Truck regulation requiring out-of-state truckers to install soot filters on their trucks.

OOIDA asked that the court permanently enjoin the California Air Resources Board from implementing or enforcing the regulation against truck owners or operators who reside and/or conduct business primarily outside California.

“CARB has overstepped its bounds by requiring trucks from other states to be upgraded in order to operate in California,” Jim Johnston, president of OOIDA, said in a statement.

OOIDA said the CARB regulation violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits state laws and regulations that discriminate against interstate commerce or unduly burden interstate commerce.

“It puts out-of-state truckers at a disadvantage because the cost to upgrade is disproportionate to the number of miles traveled in the state of California,” Johnston added.