Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released the following statement after Senate Republicans voted to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, the chamber’s independent and nonpartisan referee, and proceed with using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to revoke California’s Clean Air Act waivers. The Parliamentarian had previously ruled that the CRA is not applicable to these waivers granted to California by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“Today’s vote will leave millions of Californians with dirtier air for generations to come. And by eliminating the filibuster to repeal clean air provisions, Senate Republicans have set a new standard that will haunt them in the future.
“Every state should prepare to have their own policies targeted in the years to come. Today, it was California’s ability to set its own air quality standards. Tomorrow, it will be another state’s program, grant, or law.
“Senate Republicans’ promise to obey the Parliamentarian was not as strong as their fealty to the fossil fuel industry, which has been bankrolling the campaign for permission to pollute. It should be a reminder to every American that Republicans will put a state’s right to clean air and clean water on the chopping block if it serves special interests.”
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.”
Congress provided statutory authority to California in the Clean Air Act to set its own standards for vehicle emissions. California was granted this authority because of unique conditions that affect its air quality, including its mountainous geography, large population centers, frequency of wildfires and heatwaves, and high concentration of vehicles.
A study by the American Lung Association concluded that a transition to vehicles powered by clean electricity would result in up to 110,000 avoided deaths and $1.2 trillion in public health benefits across the United States over the next 30 years.
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