May 1, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Milagros R. Elia
Program Manager, Climate and Clean Energy Advocacy
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
milagros@envirn.org
914.455.1165
Washington D.C. – Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.J. Res 87, through Congressional Review Act (CRA) an order to repeal the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) waiver. The House also passed H.J. 89 to repeal the Heavy-Duty Omnibus (HDO) preemption waivers, which are essential to California’s air quality issues. These votes were followed by today’s vote to repeal Advanced Clean Cars II.
For nearly 50 years, California has had the authority to establish vehicle pollution standards that are at least as protective as the federal standards. States that are out of compliance with federal air quality targets have had the explicit right granted under the Clean Air Act to protect their residents’ health by choosing California’s standards.
After yesterday’s vote, Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN, Executive Director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments stated: “We urge the Senate to oppose these unlawful Congressional Review Act Resolutions when they come to the floor next week. These critical clean air standards are already approved by the EPA and are essential for reducing toxic air pollution, protecting public health, and cutting climate-damaging emissions. Cars, SUVs, and trucks are the single largest source of ozone and particle pollution, causing asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, premature births, lung cancer, and premature deaths. The passing of these CRA resolutions removes protections for the millions of vulnerable people who live in communities with unhealthy levels of pollution which means more children will suffer asthma attacks and miss school and more grandparents will die prematurely.”
Advocates remain concerned about the use of CRAs as an attack on procedure as improperly applying CRAs could create a precedent for it being applied to any number of executive actions outside its scope, from approval for Medicaid waivers to changes to K-12 education plans. In early April, the Senate parliamentarian reaffirmed that California’s Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to the Congressional Review Act, however all 3 CRA’s are expected to be taken up by the Senate in the near future.
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The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to promote healthy people and healthy environments by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating evidence-based practice, and influencing policy.
