New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed into law a bill that will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and trucks in the state by 2035.

The bill (S.2758/A.4302) was introduced last October, and passed the legislature in April. It establishes a goal to make all sales or leases of new passenger cars and trucks, as well as off-road vehicles and equipment, zero-emission vehicles by 2035. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles will have until 2045 to meet the goal.

State agencies, in consultation with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, will be required to create a zero-emissions vehicle market development strategy by January 31, 2023.

Hochul also directed the state Department of Environmental Conservation to release a proposed regulation for trucks. Under the new rule, which is to be modeled on California’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rule, truck manufacturers would be required to meet a certain annual sales percentage of zero-emission trucks, which will vary among vehicle weight classes, beginning with the 2025 model year. By 2035, at least 55 percent of new Class 2b-3 pickup trucks and vans, 75 percent of new Class 4-8 trucks, and 40 percent of new Class 7-8 tractors sold in New York State must be zero-emission.

Last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that set a goal of banning the sale of new gas-powered passenger vehicles starting in 2035. In April, the governors of 12 US states wrote a letter to President Biden urging him to implement a similar nationwide ban.

“New York is implementing the nation’s most aggressive plan to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions affecting our climate and to reach our ambitious goals, we must reduce emissions from the transportation sector, currently the largest source of the state’s climate pollution,” said Governor Hochul. “The new law and regulation mark a critical milestone in our efforts and will further advance the transition to clean electric vehicles, while helping to reduce emissions in communities that have been overburdened by pollution from cars and trucks for decades.”

Sources: Bloomberg Law, Reuters, GM Authority