WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) introduced joint resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal California’s EV waivers that prohibit the sale of new gas-powered light-duty vehicles by 2035, and set unrealistic and stringent requirements for heavy-duty trucks and heavy-duty diesel engines.
“By sending these rules to Congress, Administrator Zeldin and the Trump administration followed the law and addressed the Biden administration’s attempt to circumvent Congress in this process. California’s extreme EV mandate imposes unrealistic and stringent requirements, fails to meet the Clean Air Act’s requirements for a waiver, forces the hand of American consumers, and makes our country more reliant on China for critical minerals. The American people have made it clear that they want consumer choice – not an EV mandate. I will continue to address all options available to strike down these rules and eliminate the consequential impact they would make across our country,” Chairman Capito said.
“As we saw under the Biden administration, what happens in California doesn’t stay in California. Their emissions regulation will cripple the truck manufacturing industry nationwide, overloading companies and truckers with expensive, heavy-handed requirements. This inevitably leads to increased prices for families across the nation. My resolution will overturn the Biden administration’s waiver allowing the ACT regulation to take effect without congressional review,” Senator Fischer said.
“We cannot allow California’s costly and extreme Green New Deal agenda to bankrupt families and eliminate consumer choice for hundreds of millions of American families. Thankfully, after four years of ineffective one-size-fits-all crippling bureaucracy, the Trump administration is bringing back common sense. I’m grateful to my colleagues for partnering with me on this effort,” Senator Mullin said.
BACKGROUND:
– February 2024: Senator Capito joined Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.-05), Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), and Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.-13), in a bicameral letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan warning of the legal and economic consequences of granting a Clean Air Act waiver request from the state of California, which would enable the state to require 35% of automobile sales to be zero-emission vehicles in model year 2026, and finally, 100% of them by 2035.
– December 2024: Senator Capito pledged to work to reverse the Biden administration’s lame duck action of approving California’s waiver to implement its “Advanced Clean Cars II” regulation.
