President Donald Trump has signed into law three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions disapproving California’s vehicle emission waivers.

The U.S. House passed the reversal of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s approval of a waiver for California and 11 states to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. Shortly after, the Senate approved the reversal.

In December, the EPA granted the California Air Resources Board (CARB)’s requested waiver to implement and enforce its Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) regulations for light-duty vehicles to mandate that all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in California be zero emissions by 2035.

Under the Clean Air Act, California can adopt emissions requirements independent of EPA regulations to meet its air quality challenges. The state must seek a waiver from the EPA for new motor vehicle emission standards. Other states can also adopt the regulations.

In February, Zeldin and Trump along with the newly created National Energy Dominance Council, announced that the EPA would transmit to Congress three waiver rules granted by the Biden EPA — California’s Advanced Clean Cars II, Advanced Clean Trucks, and Heavy-Duty Engine Omnibus NOx to comply with the agency’s duties under the CRA.

The Congressional disapproval of California’s EV mandates is another step toward ending an EV mandate on all Americans under Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order, according to the EPA.

On Thursday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a written statement that Trump’s actions “delivered a decisive blow” to California’s EV mandate.

“The [former President Joe] Biden EPA rules granting California’s waivers allowed one coast to set national policy while imposing significant costs and limiting consumer choice for Americans in every state,” Zeldin said. “We are working to end the EV mandate because, in part, doing so will usher in a new era of prosperity for American auto workers, providing the economic liberty needed to restore this quintessential industry. Thank you to all the members of Congress who did their part to get these resolutions on President Trump’s desk. The president campaigned on this, the American people voted for it, and this Administration is proudly delivering on this mandate. Today is a great day for consumer freedom.”

Congress also approved House Joint Resolution 87 (Advanced Clean Trucks) to nullify other California emissions regulations, including motor vehicle and engine pollution control standards and advanced clean trucks.

In response to Trump signing House Joint Resolution 88, John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, reiterated that the EV sales mandates were “never achievable and wildly unrealistic.”

“Worse than unachievable — these EV mandates were going to be harmful,” he said in a written statement. “Harmful to auto affordability, to consumer choice, to industry competitiveness, and economic activity. Customers don’t want the government telling them what kind of car to buy. What they want is a range of choices, like efficient gas-powered, battery electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

“President Trump deserves credit for identifying this problem and doing something about it. He got behind this repeal before the EV mandates did real damage to the auto industry in America, stood up for customer choice, and helped restore a degree of balance to U.S. emissions regulations.”

Mike Spagnola, president and CEO of SEMA, posted on LinkedIn Thursday that the association was part of the signing ceremony at the White House, adding that “it was a true honor… and to have SEMA’s work on this issue recognized.”

In May, Spagnola posted on the platform that SEMA recognized “a potentially devastating shift in the automotive landscape” three years ago, as EV mandates became a reality, starting in California and then spreading to nearly a dozen other states, leading to the association’s push to stop the mandates.

“Even the federal government got on board,” he wrote. “SEMA saw this happening and knew it could not sit idly… Along the way, states not named California got wise to the harms of EV mandates. Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Vermont each backed off pledges to follow California’s emissions policies, while North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, West Virginia, and 8 other states passed SEMA-supported ‘ban the ban’ legislation to ensure such mandates never take effect again.”

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