{"id":82539,"date":"2025-05-22T11:36:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=82539"},"modified":"2025-05-22T11:36:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:36:12","slug":"republicans-in-congress-illegally-vote-to-end-clean-air-rules-they-cant-actually-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=82539","title":{"rendered":"Republicans in Congress illegally vote to end clean air rules they can’t actually end"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\tSmog over Los Angeles. Photo: Steven Buss on Flickr<\/a>\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Republicans in Congress have voted to use the Congressional Review Act to roll back California\u2019s states\u2019 right to protect its own residents\u2019 lungs and pocketbooks with better pollution rules.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing: Congress doesn\u2019t have<\/em> that authority because that\u2019s not how the Congressional Review Act works, so the republican party is once again just letting everyone know that it wants to poison Americans and raise their fuel costs, no matter the legality of doing so.<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve heard plenty of stories recently about how the senile felon squatting in the White House wants<\/a> to harm<\/a> Americans<\/a>. But in the last 100 days of the exact kind of incompetent flailing that anyone with half a brain expected out of him, relatively less<\/em> attention has been paid to the attempts of republicans in Congress to poison Americans.<\/p>\n

Well, they\u2019ve decided to jump into the spotlight and remind everyone just how bad the entire party is, as republicans in Congress have voted to increase pollution and fuel costs for California and 11 other states.<\/p>\n

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The vote comes in the form of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) action withdrawing California\u2019s \u201cwaiver\u201d from the EPA, even though the CRA does not apply to the waiver. The House voted on the same resolution a few weeks ago<\/a>, and the Senate has passed its resolution today.<\/p>\n

For more than half a century, California has asked for and been granted this waiver that allows it to set its own emissions rules. Other states can follow California\u2019s rules (and around 11 states do so, though that amount differs for each rule), as long as they do so exactly, and as long as those rules are stronger than the national ones.<\/p>\n

It has this unique authority because California had its own Clean Air Act before the federal Clean Air Act was passed, and because the state had a unique problem with smog at the time and needed stricter rules than the rest of the country. So a carveout was made in the federal law in recognition of this.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s clean air laws have been effective in reducing pollution, with vehicle-based pollutants dropping by 98%<\/a> in the last 50 years. But of course, there\u2019s still more to be done, as the LA area remains one of the smoggiest in the country due to factors including geography, high car dependency, heavy shipping traffic, and a lack of public transitt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite the protestations of industry at the time and since, these rules have not made it impossible for them to operate, or sell cars, or profit from selling cars, in California or any other states that follow its rules.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s\u00a0newest set of rules<\/a>\u00a0is<\/span> set to save Californians, and the residents of other states who follow them, hundreds of billions of dollars on health, fuel, and maintenance costs through 2050 by encouraging electrification \u2013 and of course will save thousands of lives due to pollution reductions. Republicans targeted not just California\u2019s regulation on light duty vehicles (ACC II), but also some other truck emissions rules (the ACT and HD low-NOx Omnibus rules).<\/p>\n

So, Congress has declared it wants to end California\u2019s progress in protecting its own residents. Despite the massive improvement in health and air quality, and reduction in health costs as a result, republicans in Congress are once<\/a> again<\/a> making it clear that they favor poisoning Americans, so much so that they\u2019ll even try illegal actions to do it.<\/p>\n

The problem with using the Congressional Review Act in this situation is that it is doubly illegal to do. The CRA gives Congress the authority to roll back government agency actions, like those of the EPA, but it has been rarely used since its passing, since doing so results in a dysfunctional government and an unpredictable business environment.<\/p>\n

But the CRA has a time limit, and Congress must act to reverse these rules within 60 days. The EPA approved California\u2019s waiver on\u00a0December 18, 2024<\/a>, which is more than 60 days ago; the<\/span>refore, we are past the deadline where the CRA can be used<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Further, even if it were<\/em> within 60 days, the CRA can\u2019t be used to reject California\u2019s waiver, because it isn\u2019t a \u201crule.\u201d The CRA only allows Congress to change \u201crules,\u201d and the waiver isn\u2019t a rule itself; it\u2019s just EPA telling California<\/em> that it<\/em> can set its own rules. Both the Senate Parliamentarian<\/a> and the Government Accountability Office <\/a>(the real<\/em> government office that holds government to account, unlike Elon Musk\u2019s fake and redundant \u201cDepartment of Government Efficiency\u201d advisory board), along with many<\/a>, many<\/a> others<\/a> have recognized<\/a> that this is the case, and Congress knows it<\/a>. But hey, at least they have the oil companies on their side.<\/p>\n

So, Congress\u2019 action here is illegal, and doubly so, because the waiver is not a rule, and it is outside of the 60 day window. This action is also dangerous to your health, exacerbates climate change, and will raise Americans\u2019 fuel costs and cede ground to China in the changing global auto industry.<\/p>\n

Notably, one republican involved, Mike Lee of Utah, correctly acknowledged that this is an illegal action<\/a>, stating clearly that \u201cCalifornia\u2019s CAA federal preemption waivers cannot be reviewed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) because the waiver granted by EPA is not a\u00a0rule<\/em>\u00a0as that term is defined in the CRA.\u201d However, regardless of publicly acknowledging that this cannot be done, republicans still did it anyway.<\/p>\n

They know that this vote has no legal backing \u2013 but it still took the vote anyway, impotently screaming from the rafters \u201cWE WANT TO KILL YOU!!!\u201d\u2026 which apparently some people still need to hear.<\/p>\n

But if republicans know this is illegal, why are they doing it? There are likely a number of reasons: <\/p>\n