For many years, California has received exemptions to set stricter emission standards for vehicles.
WASHINGTON – Senate votes on Thursday mean that both Houses have now passed a resolution denies a federal exemption that sets California’s environmental standards.
The level of pollutants a vehicle can legally release into the atmosphere is set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act, which overrides state laws on this subject. The EPA may grant exemptions to individual states that set stricter standards.
Long-term California, a politically progressive nation by Democrats, has received such exemptions for many years to set stricter emission standards for cars.
With its position as the most populous state with the country’s largest vehicle market, California standards often determine how automakers develop cars and are adopted by other states, making California practically the nation’s benchmark for car emissions.
Republicans have long criticised these standards, claiming it is too much of a burden on automakers and cost consumers. As a result, Republicans in Congress passed the Senate on May 22 and introduced a resolution repealing the final exemption to California, which will be introduced to President Donald Trump for enactment.
“I led this fight to protect consumer freedom and save the American automotive industry from dangerous environmental regulations,” Rep. John Joyce (R-PA.), sponsor of the resolution, wrote in a statement on his website.
The resolution was passed by the Senate in a roll-call vote of 44 Naze in 1951. Such a resolution to abolish federal regulations under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) could be passed by a simple majority and cannot request the assistance of 60 senators to overcome the “filibuster” as is the case with most laws. Previously, the House of Representatives passed action on 164 Nazes in a bipartisan vote in 246.
The passage of the resolution was debate. Unlike other previous CRA measures, the resolution was not about issuing new regulations, but about exemptions from existing regulations. The Government’s Accountability Office (GAO) previously expressed the opinion that such a waiver is not a “rule” subject to CRA disapproval. This means that the only way to repeal exemptions legislatively is a new act of Congress, subject to the Senate filibuster.
Democrats cited the GAO report in debate over a resolution that claims Republicans are robbing authority that the CRA did not recognize.
“The Senate advised that Democrats and Republicans (their) laws to overturn these exemptions are not eligible for prompt review under the Congressional Review Act,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) said during a floor discussion on the measure.
“Using CRAs in the way Republicans propose is going to be at the core… They won’t like it the next time they’re in the minority, that’s certainly true.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) said voting is illegal and the state will sues if abolition is put into effect.
“Republicans have traveled their own legislators to ignore decades of precedent,” Newsom said. “We won’t wait for Trump Republicans to make America smoggy again.”
Trump is likely to sign the resolution, according to an April 28 statement from the Office of Management and Budget.
