Overview
- A group of Senate Republicans introduced a package of Congressional Review Act resolutions to rescind EPA waivers they say let California impose de facto national emissions limits.
- The resolutions specifically target a 2025 waiver on phasing out gas small engines, the 2022 waiver for the Advanced Clean Cars program, and an older waiver that let California set greenhouse gas rules for vehicles beginning with the 2009 model year.
- Under the CRA, successful votes would both nullify the EPA decisions and prevent agencies from issuing rules that are substantially the same unless Congress authorizes them again, which sponsors say blocks future reinstatement.
- Supporters, including the sponsoring senators and industry groups for landscapers and turf managers, say the waivers drive up costs, push rapid equipment electrification, and force manufacturers to build to California rules to avoid separate product lines.
- Opponents say the move would weaken California’s long-standing Clean Air Act waiver authority and set up a partisan battle over state power, federal rulemaking and how the country sets emissions standards.