Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak announced the “Clean Cars Nevada” initiative, which will evaluate the adoption of new regulations to provide Nevadans with more choices for low and zero emission electric passenger cars and trucks at dealerships throughout the state beginning in 2024.

Also referred to as “Clean Car Standards” which have been fully or partially adopted in 14 other states, Clean Cars Nevada will be tailored to Nevada’s needs through inclusion of stakeholder engagement and solicitation of input from the general public, business and industry partners, conservation organizations, and all who have an interest in this undertaking.

Specifically, as currently envisioned, Clean Cars Nevada would adopt:

• The California Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards for exhaust emissions and fuel evaporative emissions of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases from mobile internal combustion engines found in new, light- and medium-duty motor vehicles sold in Nevada starting from model year 2025.

• The California Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program, starting with sales of model year 2025 vehicles. The ZEV program requires an increasing percentage of new vehicle sales of to be zero emission vehicles; this is achieved by requiring vehicle manufacturers to meet minimum credit requirements through a combination of sales of zero emission vehicles and vehicles deploying zero emission technologies.

Through 2021, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) will engage with stakeholders and convene public workshops to gather comprehensive input and feedback across all impacted sectors of our economy and throughout every community in Nevada. This stakeholder input will inform the design of the proposed regulation in advance of its consideration by the State Environmental Commission and state Legislative Commission.

Over the last two years, Governor Sisolak and the Legislature laid the groundwork to put Nevada on a path toward climate resilience. Early this year, NDEP issued an updated statewide greenhouse gas emissions inventory and projections report as required under SB 254 from the 2019 Legislative Session.

The report highlighted the transportation sector as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Nevada through 2030. Without taking climate action, the state will fail to make meet the necessary greenhouse gas reduction goals set forth under SB 254 and pursuant to Governor Sisolak’s Executive Order on climate change.