2024 ACT compliance numbers reveal that manufacturers are on track
[Elizabeth, NJ] [May 20, 2025] – Today, dozens of public health advocates, environmental leaders, and community members gathered in Elizabeth to measure the levels of pollution from diesel trucks on major transit routes and call on state officials to uphold New Jersey’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) program without delay.
The event spotlighted the link between diesel truck pollution and health while calling for strong clean air policies in New Jersey, the most highway-dense state in the country. Although medium- and heavy-duty vehicles make up less than 10% of road traffic, they generate nearly 50% of all toxic tailpipe emissions. The state ranks second nationwide in cancer risk from diesel soot, with over 330 premature deaths and $3.75 billion in monetized health damages attributed to diesel exhaust exposure in 2023.
“The port of NYNJ is the largest on the East Coast, with over 20,000 truck trips per day traveling through the neighborhoods of Elizabeth, Newark, Bayonne and Jersey City. Coupled with the high concentration of warehouses in Elizabeth and neighboring cities, dirty diesel emissions have nowhere to go except into our lungs. Clean air is a right that everyone should have access to – and polluting industries should not be making profits at the expense of the communities they operate in,” said Tolani Taylor, Zero Emissions & Warehouse Organizer, Clean Water Action.
Underscoring the urgent need to address truck pollution and protect public health across the state, volunteers and members of South Ward Environmenta Alliance (SWEA), Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC), and New Jersey Enviromental Justice Alliance, (NJEJA), all worked together to count trucks, monitor the air, and interact with the community. Truck counters used air monitors to measure the levels of particulate matter (PM) – a harmful pollutant emitted by diesel trucks that can penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream – around Elizabeth homes, schools, businesses and pedestrian walkways. Participants documented a staggering 140 medium- and heavy-duty trucks passing through two key intersections, Newark & Alina Street and Virginia & Sherman Avenue, between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. This volume of diesel traffic in such a short period, concentrated in densely populated neighborhoods, highlights the scale of exposure residents face daily.
“Diesel engine exhaust is known to cause lung cancer, adverse birth outcomes, and worsening asthma, among many other harmful impacts on our health. Full and timely implementation of the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule is needed now to prevent further damage to the health of children and other vulnerable individuals throughout our state – especially in overburdened communities,” said Dr. Robert Laumbach, Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice at Rutgers University.
Attendees rallied in support of the ACT rule, a policy already adopted by 11 states — including New Jersey — that requires truck manufacturers, not dealers or consumers, to steadily increase the share of zero-emission trucks sold. Early implementation data from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) shows that manufacturers are on track: thanks to early EV sales, the industry as a whole has already generated enough compliance credits to meet New Jersey's 2025 targets across all vehicle classes.
According to the NJ DEP’s preliminary 2024 analysis: Over 5,700 early credits were earned, more than double the 2,812 needed for statewide compliance. While some individual manufacturers may need to acquire credits to fulfill their obligations, California’s Air Resources Board (CARB), whose rules NJ mirrors, is already working to allow credit trading across vehicle classes. This ensures a flexible pathway to compliance and underscores how the market is increasingly primed for a zero-emission transition.
"It is well known that the Port of Newark is the largest port on the East Coast and the second largest in the country. With that title comes hundreds of thousands of trucks that move goods from the Port to businesses around the state and beyond,” said Casandia Bellevue, Senior Associate Attorney, Earthjustice. “Truck counts such as these offer community data to back up statistics from both the health and environmental sectors that all show one thing: there is an astounding volume of trucks moving through New Jersey at any given moment, and the diesel pollution they are spewing is harming millions of New Jersey residents. Now is not the time to give up on hard-won protections for New Jersey's communities."
“My family has lived in Newark for over 100 years, and we have 5 generations of family members suffering from asthma caused by pollution and the effects of dirty diesel,” explained Kelli Koontz-Wilson, Coalition for Healthy Ports Coordinator. “Most trucks from the Port to delivery stay within 50-75 miles, further compounding the effects on us residents. Pivoting resources and legislation toward the reduction of pollution in largely Black and Brown and low-income communities is life-saving.”
More than 200 zero-emission truck models are currently available nationwide, and charging infrastructure continues to grow. Contrary to misinformation circulated by some industry groups, ACT does not ban diesel trucks or mandate electric purchases; it ensures that cleaner options are available on the market, provides regulatory flexibility and only applies to manufacturers, not dealers or operators.
“Counting diesel trucks – and then measuring the toxic soot pollution spewed into neighborhoods – is a sobering reminder of the human cost of truck pollution,” said Doug O’Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey. “Four years ago, Gov. Murphy championed the transition to electric trucks through the adoption of Advanced Clean Trucks and recent NJDEP shows that we are one of the top states in the nation for compliance. Regardless of the Trump Administration or the trucking industry attacks, New Jersey is a clean air leader. The Murphy Administration should keep trucking to roll out cleaner air and cleaner trucks for all of our communities.”
Elizabeth and Newark are two of the many New Jersey communities overburdened with diesel pollution. As the state considers its regulatory future, advocates made it clear that the ACT rule is not only feasible for our state, but also essential for public health, environmental justice, and climate action.
Clean Water Action: Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. Learn more at www.cleanwater.org/nj.
The Coalition for Healthy Ports (CHP) is a broad-based coalition of environmental justice, labor, faith, community, and environmental organizations in N/YNJ working to improve the air quality and health of communities and workers, as well as to ensure that environmental justice is achieved in affected communities. Clean Water Action is the founder of CHP.
The Why We Count Initiative, in its inaugural year, was developed to highlight the impact of diesel pollution in overburdened communities, compile the data from measuring diesel pollution and document the findings to share with residents and community leaders. With the prevalence of an increasing amount of truck pollution in port-adjacent neighborhoods and marginalized communities, this initiative will provide important data to increase awareness, develop advocacy and motivate legislatures to support laws that advocate for cleaner air – and the need for change. Members of CHP will lead and participate in other Truck Counts during April and May: South Ward Environmental Alliance (SWEA), Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC),New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA) and Clean Water Action.