Congress tries to stop California from setting strict car pollution rules.
S.J.Res. 206 — A joint resolution providing for 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 Pollution Control Standards; Notice of Decision Granting a Waiver of Clean Air Act Preemption for California's 2009 and Subsequent Model Year Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for New Motor Vehicles". · Filed by Eric Schmitt (R-MO) · 11 cosponsors · Introduced Aug 5, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
This bill would reject an EPA decision from 2009. That decision let California make stricter rules for new cars. If this bill passes, California could no longer enforce those stricter rules. Cars sold in California would follow weaker federal pollution rules instead.
Who it affects
People in California and other states that follow California's rules would be affected. They would breathe air with more car pollution. Car makers would face fewer strict rules.
One thing to notice
The bill targets a waiver that is 17 years old. It also affects other states that follow California's rules.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
11 cosponsors: 11 Republicans.
- Aug 5, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Aug 5, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- waiver — Official permission to skip a rule that normally applies to everyone.
- EPA — The Environmental Protection Agency, the government office that makes pollution rules.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,749 characters) on Aug 7, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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