Senate Republicans introduce four resolutions to rescind EPA waivers underpinning California's vehicle and equipment emissions authority
Senate Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act to introduce four resolutions targeting EPA waivers that grant California authority to set stricter vehicle and equipment emissions standards. The effort is led by Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Jon Husted (R-OH), and Pete Ricketts (R-NEB). The resolutions target waivers spanning from 2009 through 2025, covering passenger vehicle greenhouse gas standards, the Advanced Clean Cars program, and small off-road engines such as lawn mowers and chainsaws.
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Four Senate Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee introduced a package of Congressional Review Act resolutions Thursday aimed at nullifying EPA waivers that give California the ability to enforce emissions standards stricter than federal rules. The four waivers targeted date to the Obama, Biden, and late Bush administrations and collectively cover passenger car greenhouse gas emissions, the Advanced Clean Cars program, and gas-powered small engines including leaf blowers, chainsaws, and lawn mowers.
The sponsors argue that because manufacturers typically build products to a single national standard rather than maintaining separate California-specific lines, California's rules function as de facto national regulations. Sen. Lummis stated that California regulators have "abandoned any pretense of addressing local air quality and turned the waiver process into a backdoor for imposing a radical climate agenda on the entire country." Sen. Husted said Ohioans "shouldn't be forced to follow California's lead when it comes to policies that make everyday life more expensive and less convenient," while Sen. Ricketts cited impacts on Nebraska's agricultural industry.
The Congressional Review Act mechanism is central to the Republican strategy. Because the CRA bars agencies from issuing rules that are "substantially the same" after a successful resolution of disapproval without new congressional authorization, sponsors argue that overturning the waivers would prevent future administrations from reinstating California's authority through the same EPA waiver process. Last year, Congress separately rescinded three Biden-era waivers covering trucks, cars, and buses; Thursday's package targets the older waivers those sponsors say provided the legal foundation for the more recent ones.