Sponsors (3)
The bill removes federal emissions-related penalties and compliance requirements—restoring rights for vehicle owners and reducing regulatory costs for industry—while increasing risks of poorer air quality, higher public-health and cleanup costs, and shifted burdens to states and cleaner manufacturers.
Manufacturers, importers, and distributors no longer face federal installation or certification requirements for vehicle emissions controls, reducing compliance burdens and regulatory costs.
Vehicle owners and aftermarket modifiers can buy, use, and modify vehicles without risk of new federal civil or criminal penalties.
Individuals with prior federal convictions or civil findings for removing or lacking emissions controls have those penalties vacated and records expunged, restoring certain legal rights and records.
Communities nationwide—especially rural areas and people with respiratory vulnerabilities—are likely to see worse air quality and higher rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses as more vehicles operate without emissions controls; vacated penalties may also reduce deterrence against tampering, amplifying public-health harms.
Taxpayers and communities may incur higher economic costs from increased pollution—higher medical bills, lost workdays, and environmental cleanup—raising public expenditures.
Automakers that continue investing in cleaner vehicles may face an uneven competitive market if others sell vehicles without emissions controls, potentially undermining investment in cleaner technology.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Eliminates federal requirements, enforcement, and liability for emissions control devices and onboard diagnostics on motor vehicles and voids related federal rules and penalties.
Prohibits the federal government from requiring, enforcing, or holding anyone liable for emissions control devices or onboard diagnostic systems on motor vehicles or engines, and nullifies existing federal rules that require those devices. It also bars the EPA from making or enforcing such rules, shields manufacturers, sellers, buyers, users, and modifiers from federal civil and criminal liability for lacking these devices, and requires vacatur of imprisonment penalties and expungement of federal records for past related offenses. The law effectively removes federal emissions-device mandates and erases federal penalties tied to removing or not having those devices, while leaving unchanged any state or local authorities not addressed in the text.
Introduced October 14, 2025 by Cynthia M. Lummis · Last progress October 14, 2025