Requires Congress to approve certain Clean Air Act exemptions, adds GAO review and reporting, limits executive discretion, and permits citizen suits for unauthorized exemptions.
Introduced April 27, 2026 by Sheldon Whitehouse · Last progress April 27, 2026
Requires Congress to approve certain narrow exemption authorities in the Clean Air Act before the President, EPA Administrator, or other federal officers may use or extend them. It creates new reporting and review steps, including a detailed presidential "special message," Comptroller General review, monthly Federal Register reporting, one‑year limits and periodic reconsideration of exemptions, expedited congressional procedures for approval or disapproval, and a private right of action when a covered exemption is used without an enacted joint resolution. Also removes and renumbers an existing paragraph in Clean Air Act section 112(i), changing the set of procedural requirements that previously governed some exemptions and updating internal cross‑references so the statute reads consistently with the new congressional-approval framework.