SF Chronicle: Republican push to undo California’s clean-car policies thwarted — for now
By Kurtis Alexander
A push by Republicans in Congress to halt California’s nation-leading ban on gas car sales appears to have hit a dead end, at least for now.
The Senate parliamentarian on Friday determined that permission given to the state to set its own vehicle pollution rules is not subject to legislative tinkering under the Congressional Review Act.
The decision, revealed by senators directly informed of the ruling, prevents lawmakers from quickly undoing three waivers California received from the Environmental Protection Agency last year, which allow it to set automobile standards that are stricter than what the federal government requires. These include phasing out the sale of most gas-powered vehicles by 2035 as well as mandating reductions in nitrogen oxide and other emissions for trucks.
California’s ban on gas car sales is among the nation’s most aggressive policies confronting dirty air and planet-warming gases. The measure has huge implications for the rest of the country since automakers often build their vehicles to the state’s specifications. As such, President Donald Trump and his allies have made it a target.
“This ruling today is not just a win, but it’s a huge win for the health of the people of California and for our economy,” Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., told the Chronicle. “I’ll keep fighting to defend California’s authority to protect our residents, safeguard clean air and lower costs for consumers.”
The effort to strike down California’s clean-car standards is not over, however. Congress could attempt to bypass this week’s parliamentarian’s decision, though it would be an unusual snub of precedent and a tougher sell on the Senate floor. The parliamentarian is the nonpartisan arbitrator of the chamber’s procedures.
The more traditional option is for the Trump administration to go through the administrative process at the Environmental Protection Agency to revoke the waivers, which were approved under President Joe Biden. However, such methods can take a year or longer, as was the case when waivers were rescinded during Trump’s first term. (The waivers were later reinstated under Biden.)
To expedite matters this go-around, Trump’s pick for head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, asked Congress in February to intervene and use its powers under the Congressional Review Act to undo the waivers. The act gives Congress, in certain situations, the ability to overturn recently passed regulations with a simple majority vote.
While Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough didn’t make her ruling about the Congressional Review Act public, it follows a recent determination by the Government Accountability Office that waivers don’t qualify for undoing. The office reasoned that the act pertains to rules, not individual administrative actions.
This week, Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Kevin Kiley and Jay Obernolte of California, introduced resolutions under the Congressional Review Act to reverse the three waivers. Like the president, the legislators argued that the state’s pollution policies are driving up costs and limiting choice for consumers.
“The Newsom Administration’s irrational plan to ban gas-powered cars and trucks is an affront to the freedom of Californians and an economic burden to the whole country,” Kiley said.
It was not immediately clear whether the lawmakers would continue pushing the resolutions after Friday’s ruling, but observers say it’s unlikely.
“This is something they would like to do, but this is something I don’t think, for them, is worth setting the place on fire for,” said Daniel Farber, a law professor and faculty director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment. “It’s really the nuclear option.”
California has had the authority to set its own vehicle emissions standards since the Clean Air Act of 1970 recognized the state’s high levels of pollution. Under the law’s waiver program, the state can seek permission from the Environmental Protection Agency to establish policies stricter than federal law.
State regulators initially used waivers to target smog-producing exhaust but have increasingly used them to reduce pollution that warms the planet.
Environmental groups were quick to praise Friday’s events.
“Republicans in Congress are out here attempting to break their own rules just to take away people’s clean air and further help the fossil fuel industry,” said Sierra Club Climate Policy Director Patrick Drupp. “It’s shameful, but we’re grateful to see California’s long-standing authority on vehicle standards affirmed.”
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