Bill Text: CA AJR49 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Joint Resolution 49 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Federal Clean Air Act.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-08-07 - From printer. [AJR49 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AJR49-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Joint Resolution

No. 49

Introduced by Assembly Members Baker and Burke
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Cunningham, and Mayes)
(Coauthor: Senator Glazer)

August 06, 2018

Relative to vehicular air pollution.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AJR 49, as introduced, Baker. Federal Clean Air Act.

This measure would state that the Legislature opposes the proposed rulemaking amendments by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to adopt the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule and the proposed withdrawal by the United States Environmental Protection Agency of the January 9, 2013, waiver granted under the federal Clean Air Act that, if withdrawn, would prevent California from establishing appropriate emissions and air quality reduction standards.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, Global climate change already has had observable effects on the environment; and

WHEREAS, California is home to eight of the 10 cities in the United States with the worst air pollution; and

WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency was established by President Richard Nixon in 1970 to “make a coordinated attack on the pollutants which debase the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land that grows our food”; and

WHEREAS, Since 1975 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed bipartisan Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to regulate how far the United States’ vehicle fleet must travel on a gallon of fuel, cut air pollution, and increase national security; and

WHEREAS, Section 209 of the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 7401 et seq.), grants California unique authority to set its own vehicular air pollution control standards if granted a waiver by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; and

WHEREAS, In 1972, Governor Ronald Reagan secured California’s first of more than 130 waivers granted over the past 50 years from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to go above and beyond the federal standards, taking historic steps to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, These waivers have had bipartisan support from lawmakers for over one-half of a century; and

WHEREAS, California’s utilization of those waivers has had a transformative effect on vehicle fuel efficiency and the environment, and has contributed to California’s success in reducing smog and lowering California’s carbon emissions to 1990 levels while California has remained one of the world’s largest economies; and

WHEREAS, On August 2, 2018, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and NHTSA officially proposed the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule to amend the existing CAFE regulations for passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks to allow lower vehicle efficiency standards; and

WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency has additionally proposed to withdraw the January 9, 2013, waiver granted under the federal Clean Air Act preemption for California’s stricter standards to improve vehicle efficiency and combat air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, The NHTSA and United States Environmental Protection Agency are currently seeking comments on this proposal for 60 days following the official publication in the Federal Register and will hold three public hearings; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California opposes the proposed rulemaking amendments by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to adopt the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature opposes the proposed withdrawal by the United States Environmental Protection Agency of the January 9, 2013, waiver granted under the federal Clean Air Act that would prevent California from establishing appropriate emissions and air quality reduction standards; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United States, the Governor of California, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, to the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, to the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and to every member of the California State Legislature, including the author, for appropriate distribution.