States can skip air pollution penalties if foreign pollution causes violations.

What it does

This bill changes the Clean Air Act. It lets states avoid federal penalties if they show foreign pollution caused their air quality violations. States must prove this every five years. States still must work toward meeting air quality standards.

Who it affects

States with air pollution problems can use this bill to avoid penalties. Power plants, refineries, and factories in polluted areas may face fewer rules. People who breathe the air in these states are affected.

One thing to notice

States decide for themselves whether foreign pollution caused their violations. The bill does not say how to prove it or how strong the proof must be.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

2 cosponsors: 2 Republicans.

• Dec 3, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Dec 3, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment”
• Dec 10, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jan 21, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 22”
• Apr 16, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 220 - 208 (Roll no. 116)”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

18 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 23 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $65,016,324 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 23 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 96% of bills with any report.

August Pfluger, who sponsored the bill, received $1,050,825 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 in 3 reports
• American Petroleum Institute — $4,700,000 in 2 reports
• American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers — $1,160,000 in 1 report
• National Mining Association — $820,000 in 1 report
• American Forest & Paper Association — $710,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• Clean Air Act — The main federal law that sets rules to keep air clean.
• federal penalties — Punishments the national government gives when air quality rules are broken.
• air quality standards — Rules set by the government for how clean the air must be.
• 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.