Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released the following statement after reports indicate that Senate Republicans will proceed next week with their plan to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, the chamber’s independent and nonpartisan referee, by using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) despite the independent rulings that say the law cannot be used to revoke California’s Clean Air Act waivers:
“Senate Republicans are moving to gut the Golden State’s ability to set our own air quality standards, a power that was established by law and has been reaffirmed by nearly 60 years of policy and precedent.
“If Senate Republicans go nuclear and abandon the filibuster to strike down clean air rules to industry can pollute more, they will establish a new precedent that will haunt them in the future. They should prepare themselves to have their state policies struck down by a simple majority of the next democratic Congress.
“I continue to implore my colleagues that no matter how much pressure they feel from Big Oil, no special interest is worth sacrificing their own state’s rights in the future. But if they break their word — given only weeks ago when they took over the majority — we will not forget.”
Background:
Following Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin’s unprecedented request to Congress to use the CRA to overturn his own agency’s approval of waivers for California, Senators Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) petitioned the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the independent federal watchdog, to issue a decision on whether the waivers are subject to the CRA.
The GAO found that the CRA is inapplicable to these waivers. Per the GAO, “the Clean Air Act generally preempts states from adopting or enforcing emission control standards for new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines. However, the Clean Air Act requires the EPA Administrator to grant a waiver of preemption for a state that adopted a standard prior to March 30, 1966. Only California can qualify for preemption waivers under this section because it is the only state that adopted a standard prior.” The EPA has granted over 100 of California’s waiver requests since the 1960s.
In April, the Senate Parliamentarian reaffirmed the GAO’s findings that California’s Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to the Congressional Review Act. In a separate finding, the Congressional Research Service told Senator Schiff’s office: “In practice, Congress has treated GAO’s opinion as the final word regarding applicability of the CRA.”
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