NRDC: Senate Votes to Keep Polluting Trucks on the Road

WASHINGTON – The Senate approved a Congressional Review Act joint resolution that would overturn emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks that were issued by the Environmental Protection Agency last year.

President Biden vowed to veto the resolution should it make it to his desk.

 The following is a comment from Britt Carmon, federal clean vehicles advocate at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

 “It’s shameful that a majority in the Senate voted to try and allow polluting trucks to harm our air and our health. More than one in three people live in communities with unhealthy levels of truck pollution, and these commonsense standards will help provide them with cleaner air.

“President Biden has promised to uphold these critical protections, so this is just political posturing. It’s an unfortunate sign that many don’t understand the immense public health costs of overturning these protections.

“Manufacturers have the technology to clean up new trucks. The EPA standards are achievable, flexible, and cost-effective. Congress should be ushering in a clean transportation future, not leaving communities gasping for clean air.”

Background:

The Congressional Review Act is a tool used by Congress to strike down regulations issued by federal agencies. If passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law, this resolution of disapproval would strike down EPA’s first action in more than two-decades to update clean air standards for heavy-duty trucks and would have major implications on public health.

EPA estimates that these standards – which begin with truck model year 2027 – will cut health-harming, smog- and soot-forming emissions from these vehicles by nearly 50% by 2045; thereby cutting asthma attacks, heart disease and premature deaths.

For more on the importance of NOx truck standards, please see this blog.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.