Congress blocks California from making car exhaust rules stricter
H.J.Res. 89 — Providing congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "California State Motor Vehicle and Engine and Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; The 'Omnibus' Low NOX Regulation; Waiver of Preemption; Notice of Decision". · Filed by Jay Obernolte (R-CA) · 32 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 2, 2025 · Signed
Your members of Congress
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What it does
Congress voted to reject a rule from the EPA. The EPA had said California could set its own rules for car exhaust. Congress's vote stops California from using those stricter rules.
Who it affects
People in California and other states that follow California's rules lose cleaner air. Car makers and engine makers no longer face pressure to meet California's stricter standards.
One thing to notice
Congress blocked a rule that would have let California set stricter exhaust limits. This stops California from enforcing those limits.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
32 cosponsors: 31 Republicans, 1 Independents.
- Apr 2, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 2, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
- Apr 30, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 225 - 196 (Roll no. 112). (text: CR H1755)”
- May 22, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 49 - 46. Record Vote Number: 281”
- Jun 6, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Jun 12, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-17”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 3 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $1,070,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 23 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 41% of bills with any report.
Jay Obernolte, who sponsored the bill, received $934,524 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Zurich American Insurance Company — $990,000 in 2 reports
- Sierra Club — $80,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- EPA — The Environmental Protection Agency, the government office that makes rules about air and water.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,341 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-17.
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