Today, U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin’s (R-OK) legislation to restrict the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing Clean Air Act (CAA) waivers to states which seek to ban or otherwise limit the sale of internal combustion engines passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Mullin’s bill, the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act, passed the House with bipartisan support where it will now advance to the Senate. 

“We cannot allow California’s costly and extreme Green New Deal agenda to eliminate consumer choice for hundreds of millions of American families,” said Senator Mullin. “Our bill, the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act is an important step in rejecting the far-Left’s attempt to control every aspect of Americans’ lives– including what car they drive. I’m thrilled that my colleagues in the House recognize the importance of protecting consumers and maintaining competition in the automotive industry, and I look forward to this bill’s consideration in the United States Senate.”

U.S. Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), John Barrasso (R-WY), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and John Hoeven (R-ND)joined Mullin in cosponsoring this legislation. Representative John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13) led introduction of the companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Background:

In August 2022, the California Air Resources Board adopted its Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) regulation that would require all light-duty vehicle sales to qualify as “zero emission” by 2035 but cannot enforce it unless EPA approves a waiver for California to do so. In March 2023, California was granted two EPA waivers to implement more stringent medium and heavy-duty vehicle emission standards than what is federally mandated. This bill follows California’s anticipated application to EPA for another waiver to implement its ACCII regulation to ban the sale of new vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2035.

• The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the U.S.’s primary federal air quality law that authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from cars and trucks.
• Section 209(a) preempts states from adopting and enforcing their own motor vehicle emission regulations.
• Section 209(b) allows states to petition for a waiver from the prohibition to enforce stricter motor vehicle emission regulations than the federal government if specific requirements are met, including demonstrating that the waiver is needed for “compelling and extraordinary conditions”.
• Section 177 allows a state to follow another state’s granted waiver policies if the standards are identical and the lead state has a valid waiver.
• This legislation restricts EPA from issuing any waiver for new regulations to ban the sale of internal combustion engines and revokes CAA waivers granted form January 1, 2022, to the enactment date of this bill.

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