SJRES-210-119
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Sponsored by Bernie Moreno (R-OH)
What it does
This joint resolution would use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to nullify an EPA decision published January 10, 2025, that approved California's stricter air pollution standards for commercial harbor craft — vessels such as tugboats, ferries, and excursion boats operating in California ports. If enacted, the EPA's approval would have no legal force or effect, and California could not enforce those standards under the federal waiver granted by that decision.
Who benefits
Operators of commercial harbor craft (tugboats, ferries, water taxis, excursion boats, dredges) who would avoid the cost of upgrading or replacing engines to meet California's stricter standards. Marine engine manufacturers who sell equipment meeting current federal — rather than California — standards. Shipping and port logistics companies that rely on harbor craft services and could face higher operating costs passed through from vessel operators. Small harbor craft businesses, which may have fewer resources to absorb compliance costs than large operators.
Who is hurt
Residents of communities near California ports — including Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, and San Diego — who would lose the air quality protections the California rules were designed to provide. Environmental and public health organizations that supported the California standards. California state regulators (CARB) who would lose the authority to enforce the approved standards. Manufacturers of cleaner marine engine technology who anticipated demand driven by the California rules. Other states that follow California's emission standards under Clean Air Act provisions.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that California's commercial harbor craft rules impose significant and unequal compliance costs on vessel operators — many of them small businesses — who must retrofit or replace engines on a compressed timeline, with estimates suggesting per-vessel costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. They contend that the EPA's waiver approval exceeded the agency's proper role by effectively allowing one state to set a de facto national standard for marine engines, since equipment manufacturers must design to California's specifications to access that market, and that Congress — not a single state — should set the terms of interstate commerce in engine standards.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that California's authority to set stricter vehicle and engine emission standards is explicitly granted by Section 209(e) of the Clean Air Act, and that the EPA's waiver approval followed a decades-long, congressionally authorized process specifically designed to let California address its severe air quality problems. They contend that port communities in California already bear disproportionate pollution burdens — with diesel particulate matter linked to elevated rates of asthma and cardiovascular disease — and that nullifying the rule would remove protections for some of the most pollution-exposed populations in the country.
Constitutional context
California's authority to set stricter nonroad engine standards derives from a specific congressional waiver provision in the Clean Air Act (Commerce Clause, Art. I, §8, cl. 3). Post-Loper Bright (2024), courts would independently review whether EPA's waiver decision was within its statutory authority rather than deferring to the agency's interpretation, heightening scrutiny of the underlying rule this resolution seeks to nullify.
Checks and balances
Congress gains the power to nullify the EPA rule through the CRA; if enacted, neither the EPA nor California could reinstate a substantially similar rule without new congressional authorization, shifting regulatory authority from the executive branch and California back to Congress.
Historical precedent
Congress has used the Congressional Review Act to nullify EPA rules before — most notably the 2017 disapproval of the Stream Protection Rule — but CRA resolutions targeting California Clean Air Act waivers specifically are rare and legally contested, as California's waiver authority is a distinct statutory grant.