The rule, which was written and submitted by the municipality's Air Quality Department, was created to provide an incentive for companies that own diesel truck fleets to retrofit or replace their vehicles with electric vehicles. The credits claimed can then be certified and banked for future use to offset future emissions.

The rule was tailored specifically to the tech sector and other industries that require a major source permit in Maricopa County, where several semiconductor facilities have set up shop. The credits would allow for large companies, such as Intel and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, to benefit financially from the credits, while also claiming to reduce their emissions footprint.

Emissions accounting through credits have largely been criticized by environmentalists and academics, who argue the credits fail to accurately reflect how much carbon is actually being negated and instead overplay their ability to limit emissions.

The rule aims to address the emissions of nitrogen oxide. Sources emitting more than 100 tons of nitrogen oxide can benefit from the program, banking credits for future use, selling them for profit, or potentially offsetting emissions to comply with regulations. Maricopa County is currently not able to reach federal National Air Quality Standards for ground-level ozone.

However, the rule's full approval is contingent on the EPA identifying deficiencies within the program, according to a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Air Quality Department, and on MCAQD rectifying them to be approved for the state's implementation plan. The state's agency would have one year to fix any identified issues for the rule to be approved unconditionally into the state's plan.

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Funds from the Biden-backed Chips and Science Act, one of the largest investments into the semiconductor industry with the aim of reshoring domestic manufacturing to the United States, have poured into Maricopa County, where a number of facilities currently reside. TSMC expanded its operations there after the CHIPS Act passed. Intel has been producing semiconductor chips in the area for more than 40 years.

Many economists have stated that the federal investment is amplifying an economic boom in the area.