Congress votes on misguided measures attacking California’s long-guaranteed right to protect people from air pollution

The Trump administration is continuing its attacks on California's long-guaranteed right under the Clean Air Act to protect residents from harmful air pollution.  

On Tuesday night, the House of Representatives voted to pass H.J. Res. 210 under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The 216 to 211 vote sought to disapprove a federal waiver for California's At-Berth rules, which set limits on toxic diesel pollution emitted by vessels docked at California ports. And last night, by a 214 to 208 vote, the House passed a second measure - H.J. Res. 213 - which sought to disapprove a waiver for California's Commercial Harbor Craft protections that reduce emissions from vessels operating near the California coast. Removing these protections would expose port communities to more harmful pollution, more health harms, and higher costs.

The House and the Senate may also consider additional resolutions in the near future that seek to disapprove other waivers for vital California safeguards, including the Advanced Clean Cars I program. 

Together, these resolutions are part of a larger effort to try to prevent California from protecting its residents and communities from health-harming pollution and rising costs. Especially at a time when millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet, this harmful legislative action would impose higher fuel costs and higher health care costs on millions of people.  

The House voted on these misguided measures this week despite a recent federal court order that found EPA likely acted unlawfully when it reclassified the waivers for the At-Berth and Commercial Harbor Craft regulations - and several other waivers - to be "rules" subject to the CRA, which they are not and historically have never been. The court directed EPA to immediately withdraw or correct its submission to Congress.  

More on that, and some other information that may be useful, below: 

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an injunction blocking the Trump EPA's attempt to use the CRA to attack California's safeguards  

• The Clean Air Act allows California to adopt its own more protective emission standards for vehicles and vessels. In most cases, EPA must approve preemption waivers for those safeguards. For more than 50 years, across both Republican and Democratic administrations, EPA has granted California more than 100 such waivers, helping ensure that the state can reduce dangerous air pollution and protect its citizens' health.  
• Across that time, EPA has always considered these actions as "orders" and not "rules" - and thus not subject to the CRA.  
• The Senate Parliamentarian, the Government Accountability Office (the nonpartisan legislative agency historically responsible for determining which agency actions are subject to Congressional review) and the independent Congressional Research Service have all determined that the CRA does not apply to preemption waivers. 
• Last year, EPA Administrator Zeldin summarily reclassified three preemption waivers for California's clean vehicle safeguards as "rules," and claimed they were subject to the CRA. California and 10 other states are already suing in that matter. Environmental Defense Fund and others filed an amicus brief in support of the California standards. 
• This summer, Administrator Zeldin announced that the EPA was doubling down on that legally dubious approach, and sent a total of six more waivers for California clean air safeguards to Congress for CRA review.  
• California immediately challenged that unlawful action, and earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the state two preliminary injunctions in a lawsuit about the six additional waivers. The judge's orders found EPA likely acted unlawfully when it reclassified the waivers and directed EPA to return the status quo that existed before EPA's unlawful reclassifications. The court's extraordinary relief reflects EPA's flagrant abuse of its authority and provides another powerful reason that Congress should not act on the disapproval resolutions.     

The Trump administration is attacking longstanding state safeguards that reduce harmful pollution, save money, and expand consumer choice  

• The Trump EPA has asked Congress to overturn several vital clean vehicle safeguards. These include the Advanced Clean Cars I standards, which cover vehicles for Model Years 2015 to 2025, and separate 2009 Greenhouse Gas Standards, which cover vehicles for Model Years 2009 to 2016.   
• These standards require manufacturers to produce cleaner cars and trucks that save their owners money at the gas pump and emit fewer pollutants that cause deadly smog and soot. Notably, the vehicles on the road today already meet the standards that Congress is trying to roll back - there is nothing to fix. 
• Over the last 15 years, clean car standards have reduced smog-forming air pollution in California alone by tens of thousands of tons - saving hundreds of lives. More than a dozen other states have adopted California's Advanced Clean Cars I standards, extending those benefits to millions of additional Americans. 
• The safeguards also save consumers money. According to the National Consumer League, improvements in clean vehicle technology since 2002 save owners of 2024 cars, light trucks, and SUVs more than $9,000 in avoided gasoline expenses over the life of the vehicle, amounting to more than $650 in savings each year. 
• Those savings are even higher for certain drivers. For example, light trucks owners will save approximately $800 per year in Michigan and North Carolina, more than $930 per year in Nevada, and well over $1,100 per year in Alaska. Repealing clean vehicle standards will only increase costs for consumers. 
• Repealing clean vehicle waivers will not improve consumer choice: States with clean car standards have 10% more vehicle model options than states without California's standards - and not just more electric models but more gasoline models too. 

Safeguards for ships and other significant sources of pollution 

• Originally adopted in 2007, California's Ocean-Going Vessels At-Berth regulation reduces toxic air pollution at California ports and provides vital health benefits to the people living and working in and around California's busiest seaports by requiring vessels to connect to onshore power when at berth instead of idling dirty diesel engines. 
• First adopted in 2009, California's Commercial Harbor Craft regulation protects the health of Californians living and working in port communities by reducing emissions from harbor craft like tugboats and ferries operated near the Californian coast. 

Advancing these harmful resolutions would impose higher costs and more pollution and health harms in communities and ignore a federal court order enjoining EPA's unlawful actions.