Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act
Key claim: This bill would stop EPA from letting states use Clean Air Act waivers to limit sales or use of new gasoline and diesel vehicles, and would force EPA to revoke any such waivers granted since the start of 2022.
Abstract
(HR346 · 119th Congress) Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act This bill modifies the waiver process under the Clean Air Act related to state emission control standards for new motor vehicles (or new motor vehicle engines). Under current law, states are preempted from adopting or enforcing emission control standards for new motor vehicles (or new motor vehicle engines) unless the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a waiver authorizing a state to adopt such standards if certain requirements are met. The bill provides that state standards that directly or indirectly limit the sale or use of new motor vehicles with internal combustion engines are not eligible for waivers. The bill also prohibits the EPA from determining that any state standards amended after the bill’s enactment are within the scope of an existing waiver. Additionally, the bill requires the EPA to revoke waivers granted between January 1, 2022, and the date of enactment of this bill if the standards directly or indirectly limit the sale or use of new motor vehicles with internal combustion engines. Latest action (2025-01-13): Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Why this matters
State authority to set stricter vehicle emissions rules — and other states’ ability to adopt them under CAA §177 — hinges on EPA preemption waivers, which have been the primary legal vehicle for California’s ZEV sales mandates. A statutory ban plus retroactive revocation back to 2022 would neutralize both the ACC II passenger-vehicle rules and the Advanced Clean Trucks/Fleets programs in one step, removing the pathway more durably than case-by-case CRA disapprovals and reshaping the compliance planning horizon for automakers and adopting states.