[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2555 Reported in Senate (RS)]
Calendar No. 861
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2555
[Report No. 110-407]
To permit California and other States to effectively control greenhouse
gas emissions from motor vehicles, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 24, 2008
Mrs. Boxer (for herself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Lautenberg,
Mr. Cardin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Leahy, Mr.
Kerry, Mr. Obama, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Kennedy, Ms.
Mikulski, Ms. Collins, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Reed,
Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Biden, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. Murray, Ms.
Cantwell, and Mr. Warner) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
June 27, 2008
Reported by Mrs. Boxer, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To permit California and other States to effectively control greenhouse
gas emissions from motor vehicles, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Reducing Global Warming Pollution
from Vehicles Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the State of California has regulated motor vehicle air
emissions more stringently than the Federal Government for more
than 40 years;
(2) in recognition of the pioneering role of the State in
protecting public health and welfare from motor vehicle
emissions, Congress enacted section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act
(42 U.S.C. 7543(b)) that allows the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency (referred to in this Act as the
``Administrator'') to waive Federal preemption of motor vehicle
standards established by the State;
(3) on December 21, 2005, the State requested a waiver of
preemption under that Act for the regulation of the State to
control greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles;
(4) the regulation of the State requires a reduction in the
emissions of greenhouse gases from cars and light trucks sold
in the State;
(5) once a waiver is granted to the State of California for
that regulation, other States may adopt the vehicle emission
standards established by the State of California;
(6) as of the date of introduction of this Act--
(A) 14 other States have adopted or are adopting
the California standards, including Arizona,
Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington;
(B) at least 4 additional States are moving toward
adopting the California standards, including Colorado,
Delaware, Illinois, and Utah; and
(C) taken together, those 19 States represent more
than half of the population of the United States;
(7) the comments submitted to the Administrator
overwhelmingly supported the request of the State of California
for a waiver;
(8) according to legal papers filed by the California
Attorney General, of the approximately 98,000 comments in the
docket of the Environmental Protection Agency, docket, more
than 99.9 percent supported the petition of the State;
(9) notwithstanding that support, on December 19, 2007,
Administrator Stephen Johnson took the extraordinary step of
denying the request of the State, dated December 21, 2005, for
the waiver;
(10) the flat denial by the Administrator of the waiver
request was unprecedented;
(11) according to the Congressional Research Service, the
State of California has requested waivers of preemption under
section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7543(b)) for
vehicle emission standards more than 50 times since that
provision was enacted, and the Administrator has never outright
denied such a request, but instead always granted the requests,
in whole or in part;
(12) the denial of the Administrator of the waiver
reportedly overrode the overwhelming evidence presented by the
technical and legal staff of the Environmental Protection
Agency;
(13) the Administrator sought to justify the denial of the
waiver by arguing that the waiver would create a ``confusing
patchwork'' of State regulations;
(14) in fact, no such patchwork would result from the
granting of the waiver because, under the Clean Air Act (42
U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), if the waiver were granted, there would
continue to be 2 standards for vehicles, as there have been for
30 years--a weaker Federal standard, and a more stringent
California standard adopted by many States across the United
States;
(15) the benefits of permitting the State of California to
establish more stringent vehicle standards, which are
subsequently adopted by other States, are well documented;
(16) the National Academy of Sciences found in 2006 that in
``forcing technology development, California has been a
laboratory for emissions-control innovations. . . . The
original reasons for which Congress authorized California to
have a separate set of standards remain valid. . . . California
should continue its pioneering role in setting mobile-source
emissions standards. The role will aid the State's efforts to
achieve air quality goals and will allow it to continue to be a
proving ground for new emissions-control technologies that
benefit California and the rest of the Nation.'';
(17) the Administrator also sought to justify the denial of
the waiver by arguing that the national fuel economy standards
for vehicles enacted by the Energy Independence and Security
Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-140) would be ``more effective'' at
reducing emissions than the California standards;
(18) however, an analysis by the California Air Resources
Board shows that the California standards, once fully adopted,
would result, by 2020, in approximately twice as large a
cumulative reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in California
as, and more than an 80 percent greater reduction in carbon
dioxide emissions nationally than, would be achieved under the
Federal program;
(19) the argument of the Administrator that national fuel
economy standards eliminate the need for vehicle greenhouse gas
emission controls also runs counter to the analysis of the
Supreme Court in the landmark April 2007 decision of
Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency (127 S. Ct.
1438), in which the Supreme Court--
(A) rejected the argument of the Administrator that
the authority of the Department of Transportation to
regulate vehicle fuel efficiency undercuts the
authority of the Administrator to regulate greenhouse
gases from vehicles; and
(B) noted that the fact ``that DOT [the Department
of Transportation] sets mileage standards in no way
licenses EPA [the Environmental Protection Agency] to
shirk its environmental responsibilities. EPA has been
charged with protecting the public's `health' and
`welfare,' . . . a statutory obligation wholly
independent of DOT's mandate to promote energy
efficiency . . . The two obligations may overlap, but
there is no reason to think the two agencies cannot
both administer their obligations and yet avoid
inconsistency.''; and
(20) it is the sense of Congress that the denial by the
Administrator of the request by the State of California for the
waiver is not supported by science, precedent, or applicable
law.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to permit the State of California and other States to
immediately proceed under the regulation of the State of
California to control greenhouse gas emissions from motor
vehicles, rather than forcing the States to litigate for what
could be several years to vindicate their rights, while climate
change continues to threaten public health and the environment;
and
(2) to provide certainty to automakers, the States, and the
public about future regulatory requirements for greenhouse gas
emissions from motor vehicles.
SEC. 3. WAIVER OF PREEMPTION FOR CALIFORNIA GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION
REGULATION FOR VEHICLES.
Section 209 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7543) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(f) Waiver.--Notwithstanding subsection (b) or any other
provision of law, the application for a waiver of preemption dated
December 21, 2005, submitted to the Administrator pursuant to
subsection (b) by the State of California for the regulation of that
State to control greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles shall be
considered to be approved.''.
Calendar No. 861
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2555
[Report No. 110-407]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To permit California and other States to effectively control greenhouse
gas emissions from motor vehicles, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 27, 2008
Reported without amendment