House Takes Unprecedented Step to Undermine California’s Clean Air Act Authority

(WASHINGTON, D.C. -- April 30, 2025) The House of Representatives for the first time in over 50 years has passed Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions to undermine California’s Clean Air Act authority to adopt vehicle standards to protect their communities from dangerous air pollution.

“For decades, California has used its Clean Air Act authority to protect families and communities from deadly pollution while making cleaner cars more accessible to everyone with its commonsense vehicle standards,” said Joanna Slaney, Environmental Defense Fund’s Vice President for Political and Governmental Affairs. “The oil and gas lobbyists who benefit from more dirty vehicles on the road are creating a lot of haze around this vote, but if implemented, this unprecedented – and unlawful – action will make life more dangerous and expensive for millions of people.”

California’s clean car waivers are not subject to the Congressional Review Act according to the office specially charged with determining which agency actions are subject to congressional review, as well as the independent Congressional Research Service, previous EPA administrators of both parties and a Republican member of Congress.

The standards that these resolutions attack are vital to reducing air pollution, such as fine particulate matter and smog, that causes deaths and serious health harms, like heart attacks and strokes, and can trigger asthma attacks. They also will save people in California and states that have adopted the standards hundreds of billions of dollars through 2050 in reduced fuel, maintenance and repair costs.

The House voted on EPA waivers granted for California’s Advanced Clean Trucks and Heavy-Duty Low NOx standards today, and plans to vote tomorrow on EPA's waiver for California's Advanced Clean Cars II standards.