ACC II

What ACC II requires

Adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2022, Advanced Clean Cars II requires that zero-emission vehicles (battery-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell, and qualifying plug-in hybrids) make up a rising share of new light-duty sales:

• MY2026: 35%, then 43% (2027), 51% (2028), 59% (2029), 68% (2030), 76% (2031), 82% (2032), 88% (2033), 94% (2034), 100% (2035).
• PHEVs may satisfy up to 20% of the annual requirement and must meet ACC II's minimum certified all-electric range requirement.

Because it sets emission standards stricter than federal, ACC II requires an EPA Clean Air Act preemption waiver to be enforceable. Section 177 states (roughly a dozen, including Washington, Oregon, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Maryland, and Vermont) adopted it by reference.

What changed in 2025-2026

The enabling waiver was nullified by Congress. On June 12, 2025 the President signed H.J.Res.88 (Public Law 119-16), a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution declaring the EPA ACC II waiver (90 FR 642) "shall have no force or effect." Without the waiver, federal law preempts the ZEV mandate, so neither California nor the Section 177 states can enforce it.

• Controversy: both the GAO (B-337179) and the Senate Parliamentarian (April 4, 2025) concluded the waiver is an order, not a "rule" subject to the CRA. Congress passed the disapproval by simple majority anyway.
• California, joined by a 10-state coalition, sued the day of signing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; the case was pending as of mid-2026 with no merits ruling reversing the disapproval. Newsom signed Executive Order N-27-25 the same day.
• Several adopting states stepped back, including Vermont (EO 04-25, suspending ACC II and ACT) and enforcement-discretion measures elsewhere.

Hiring relevance

The nullified mandate removes the firm sales-quota basis automakers used to plan ZEV allocation and EV-supply roles for the California-aligned market. Demand concentrates in litigation, state policy, and regulatory strategy rather than mandate-compliance operations; the 35% MY2026 target is not enforceable as of June 2026.