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Over the past 20 years, more than a million drivers who slapped “clean air vehicle” decals on electric and hybrid vehicles have been able to cruise freely in carpool lanes without passengers.
However, if Congress fails to extend California’s Clean Air Vehicle Decals program, the perks could end on September 30th.
For the record:
10:09 AM 20255 AM fix: Previous versions of this article stated that decal stickers will be disabled on October 2nd.
“The Clean Air Vehicle Decals are a smart, cost-effective incentive that played a key role in driving the adoption of clean-emission and zero-emission vehicles in California,” read a statement from Liane Randolph, chairman of the California Air Resources Committee. “But this successful program is coming to an end thanks to the failure of the federal government’s actions.”
You can apply for decals by August 29th, but according to the Ministry of Automobile, it will be invalidated on October 1st.
California’s decal program, or other state expansion, will require Congressional approval and President Trump’s signature, said Bill Maggaburn, policy director for Clean Air Coalition.
“I certainly wouldn’t bet on that,” Magaburne said.
“It appears that the only deadline this Congress will respond to is the deadline set by Trump. I’m not really seeing him get out of his way to expand this program.”
Why does this state program require legislative approval?
Federal law allowed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant solo drivers in low-emission and energy-efficient vehicles to use Corpool or high-occupied vehicle (HOV) lanes.
The goal was to promote the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles and help them achieve environmental goals, including reducing fuel consumption and pollution due to busy highways.
Over time, the state developed an incentive program and chose which car models would have access to carpooling.
“In the early days of obviously zero-emission vehicles, carpool lane stickers were an important incentive for some drivers, especially in places with large crowds, such as the Bay Area and Los Angeles,” Magaburne said.
California is one of 13 states that offer this type of incentive program to its residents. Qualified drivers for Golden State include those who drive fuel cell electricity, natural gas, or plug-in electric vehicles.
Whether the program is still a major incentive, “I think it’s asking questions as electric vehicles are over 20% of new sales,” says Magavern.
But electric vehicle advocacy group Plugin America said the program is always a factor in the minds of consumers.
“Like many other incentives, HOV lane access via the Clean Air Vehicle Program is one of those trying to evaluate the overall package of whether the driver goes to electricity or get his next electric vehicle.”
Not updating the program means that there is one less reason for these drivers to fall into electricity, Martineau said.
In 2023, California had nearly 1.3 million light-electric vehicle registrations, and was the only state to report such a high number. Behind California was Florida and around 255,000 registrations, with Texas at around 230,000, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. (Neither Florida nor Texas offer incentive programs.)
In 2015, Congress approved the California program through the Highway Funding Bill, but as of September 30th, the approval expired.
What is being done to extend the life of clean aircraft decals?
To expand the decals program, state legislative member Greg Wallis (R-Bermuda Dunes) wrote Congressional Bill 2678.
The bill was signed into law last year by Gov. Gavin Newsom, but it lacks federal approval, and without it it would be a denial.
“Pressing the brakes on this program means that from October 1, 2025, CAV decals will no longer be effective in California or elsewhere in the United States,” the Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement. “All vehicles must meet the posted vehicle occupancy rate and travel in carpool lanes, paying the required toll or risk receiving a quote.”
The state has 519,000 active decals, according to the California Air Resources Commission, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
What does this mean for the state’s environmental goals?
Without the program, drivers could lose access to the carpool lane, but Magabane also said it should mean less crowdedness in the HOV lane.
“Now that California has hundreds of thousands of zero emission vehicles, they can take up a lot of space in HOV lanes, and they were meant to encourage people to carpool,” he said.
In addition to losing access to carpooling lanes for drivers, the changes could slow the state’s progress by leading more people to alternative fuel vehicles and reducing pollution.
California’s goal for 2035 is that every new passenger vehicle sold in the state is zero emissions.
Automotive technologies such as battery electricity, plug-in hybrid electricity and fuel cells are helping states achieve their goals, according to the California Air Resources Commission.
In fact, electric vehicle sales have been rising in the state since 2011, with the exception of stagnant sales between 2018 and 2020, according to a report published by UC Davis.
Today, one in four new cars for sale in the state, Dahlia Garas, an EV at the university’s Electric Vehicle Research Center, said in a report.
The university’s Electric Vehicle Research Center conducted a survey of drivers from the beginning of the year until June, saying they would not have chosen to buy an electric vehicle without the state’s incentives, including decals.
“We are still in a very vulnerable spot as we are transitioning to being electrically charged with all our vehicles,” Hardman said. “Only 8% of vehicles on the road are electricity, and that alone isn’t enough to allow the vehicle to reach a point where it becomes a social norm.”
The Clean Air Vehicle Decal Program is just one way the state is working towards environmental goals. It is a milestone that was recently attacked, including its authority to implement California’s decades-old environmental standards.
Recently, the US home voted to ban California from banning the sale of new gasoline-only vehicles by 2035, setting heavy-duty truck emissions standards and ending the state’s ability to fight smog levels.
In Magabirn’s view, these actions are part of the Trump administration’s “war” over California’s air, water and climate.
However, while the Carpool Decal program once helped Californians buy electric cars, Magavern claimed that times had changed.
“I think it’s more important to have a good argument that they’ve lived their time longer and fill the lanes of carpooling with vehicles that actually have a carpool inside them,” he said.
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