WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The U.S. Senate will move this week to block California from enforcing a series of vehicle emissions standards that are tougher than the federal government鈥檚, including first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the Senate will begin to consider three that would roll back the standards. Final votes could come as soon as this week.
His announcement came despite significant pushback from Democrats, questions from some Republicans and the advice of the Senate Parliamentarian, who has sided with the U.S. General Accountability Office in saying California鈥檚 policies are not subject to the review mechanism used by the House.
The resolutions would block California鈥檚 rules to phase out the gas-powered cars, along with standards to cut tailpipe emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and curb smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. Like the House, Senate Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act, a law aimed at improving congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies, to try to block the rules. The Trump administration in 2019 revoked California鈥檚 ability to enforce its own emissions standards, but Biden later .
Republicans have argued that the rules effectively dictate standards for the whole country, imposing what would eventually be a nationwide electric vehicle mandate. More than a dozen states have followed California鈥檚 lead. Thune called it an 鈥渋mproper expansion鈥 of the federal Clean Air Act that would 鈥渆ndanger consumers, our economy and our nation鈥檚 energy supply.鈥
California for decades has been given the authority to adopt vehicle emissions standards that are stricter than the federal government鈥檚. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, announced plans in 2020 to ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles within 15 years as part of an aggressive effort to lower emissions from the transportation sector. Plug-in hybrids and used gas cars could still be sold.
The Biden administration approved the state鈥檚 waiver to implement the standards , a month before President Donald Trump returned to office. The California rules are stricter than a Biden-era rule that tightens emissions standards but does not require sales of electric vehicles.
Biden’s EPA said in announcing the decision that opponents of the California waivers did not meet their legal burden to show how either the EV rule or a separate measure on heavy-duty vehicles was inconsistent with the Clean Air Act.
Newsom said earlier this month that the effort is another signal of Republicans鈥 ideological shift over the decades from an era in which former presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan signed landmark to one in which Trump is pushing for environmental rollbacks on everything from clean air to clean water and climate change.
鈥淐lean air didn鈥檛 used to be political,鈥 Newsom said in a statement. 鈥淥ur vehicles program helps clean the air for all Californians, and we鈥檒l continue defending it.鈥
Senate Democrats have strongly pushed back on the GOP effort. California Sen. Alex Padilla said Tuesday that he will place holds on four pending EPA nominations over the 鈥渞eckless attempts鈥 to roll back the rules. Democrats charge that the Trump administration skirted the law and submitted California鈥檚 waivers to Congress in a way that would allow majority Republicans could try and block them.
鈥淚f this attempt is successful, the consequences will be far-reaching, not only for our clean energy economy, the air our children breathe, and for our climate, but for the future of the CRA and for the Senate as an institution,鈥 Padilla said.
Republicans only need a simple majority to block the rules and send them to the White House for Trump鈥檚 signature. But it remains unclear whether they will have unanimity in their own conference. A few Republicans, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins, have not yet said how they will vote, questioning the process even as they say they agree with the policy.
Thune said that any concerns over the process are misplaced.
鈥淲e are not talking about doing anything to erode the institutional character of the Senate,鈥 Thune said. 鈥淚n fact, we are talking about preserving the Senate鈥檚 prerogatives.鈥
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Associated Press writer Sophie Austin contributed to this report from Sacramento.
