SJRES 31: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "Review of Final Rule Reclassification of Major Sources as Area Sources Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act".

SJRES 31 in plain English: This resolution nullifies a 2024 EPA rule that required industrial facilities emitting persistent and bioaccumulative hazardous air pollutants to keep meeting stricter 'major source' emission standards under the Clean Air Act, even after reclassifying themselves as smaller 'area sources.' By disapproving the rule, Congress removes that requirement, allowing reclassified facilities to follow the less stringent area source standards instead. The resolution has been signed into law.

Stated purpose

This resolution uses Congress's disapproval authority to cancel an EPA rule published in September 2024, making that rule have no legal force or effect.

Key points

• Cancels an EPA rule published September 10, 2024 (89 Fed. Reg. 73293)
• Removes the requirement that facilities emitting persistent and bioaccumulative hazardous air pollutants meet major source emission standards after reclassifying as area sources
• Allows reclassified industrial facilities to follow less stringent area source clean air standards going forward

Arguments supporters make

• The EPA rule went beyond what the Clean Air Act requires by preventing facilities from ever benefiting from a legal reclassification option that Congress intentionally built into the law.
• Removing the rule reduces regulatory burden on manufacturers and industrial facilities, which supporters say lowers costs and protects American jobs without proof of significant added health risk.
• Congress has the right and responsibility to check agency overreach, and using the Congressional Review Act is the proper democratic tool to do so.

Arguments opponents make

• Persistent and bioaccumulative hazardous air pollutants are among the most dangerous because they build up in the environment and in human bodies over time, and this resolution removes a safeguard that kept stricter controls on those specific pollutants.
• Allowing facilities to reduce their pollution controls simply by reclassifying as 'area sources' creates a loophole that could expose nearby residents — often in lower-income or minority communities — to increased toxic air pollution.
• The EPA went through a formal public rulemaking process to craft these protections; overturning it by resolution bypasses that expert review and public comment process entirely.

Tradeoffs

Eliminating this rule reduces compliance costs and regulatory constraints on industrial facilities, but also removes emission control requirements for certain hazardous pollutants that are slow to break down and accumulate in ecosystems and living things; the tension is between economic flexibility for industry and the level of ongoing protection for air quality and public health near those facilities.

Current status in Congress: Became law.

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