Gear Up for 2025: Navigating California’s Smog Law Changes for SMEs
Just when you thought you’d squeezed every bit of knowledge from the Up4Scale blog to scale your business, today: A brand new post on the upcoming California Smog Law Changes 2025 and all you must know. Not only will you be helping the planet, but you’ll be helping your small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) become greener: a money saver and brand boon. Small to medium-sized enterprises don’t always have the time, expertise or resources to navigate changing regulatory environments. That’s where we come in. Here’s what all SMEs must know about the imminent California Smog Law Changes 2025.
In a nutshell, California is a progressive state – and not just in politics, but in green initiatives. The California state assembly has passed a bill which includes a requirement that all medium and heavy-duty trucks produced beginning in 2025 must comply with California’s “Omnibus” regulation. The Omnibus regulation requires trucks to meet dramatically stricter emissions standards than those currently in place. In other words, the transportation industry will have to pivot to a completely new, green way of doing things if they want to remain in-state, and many are likely to cease operations.
Shifting completely from diesel to electric is a crime to the bottom line: it can cost more than $200,000 per vehicle in some cases. Though estimates vary, as many as 100,000 trucks will be off the road by the end of 2025. Given the dependency on these types of vehicles throughout the country, a greening up of the industry will cause a variety of problems. With both older and diesel-powered trucks being taken off the road, there will likely be a shortage of trucking capacity if demand remains steady. The subsequent rise in transportation costs may just become too much for small to medium-sized businesses to bear.
On the contrary, the days until this law takes effect are an excellent opportunity for SMEs to innovate and pivot (or even completely change) their business model. If your company owns any medium to heavy-duty vehicles, the following are some of the optimal ways to take advantage of the new California Smog Law Changes 2025: The best part? You’re in good company. Perters says, “We’ve been contacted by over 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) that have medium-to-heavy duty trucks and feel the pain and want the assistance.”
“We’ve also been contacted by many owners of companies who recognize that their children don’t want to run the family business and they want to exit.” He explains that these individuals are looking for help selling their company so they can take their capital and spread it around many others and be less dependent on the family business and assets. We certainly agree that diversification is one of the best ways to prepare for a future of uncertainty. It is also worth noting that financial and technical support is available for SMEs which must comply with the new laws. These options include:
For more information on environmental regulations, you can visit EPA.gov.