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".

This bill became law on 2025-06-20 as Public Law No. 119-20.

The summary below describes the bill at the version we last reviewed; the enacted text may differ.

YourVoice.Now Summary

EnvironmentCorporate Benefits

Some plants that give off mercury no longer must keep strict air limits — Congress canceled a 2024 EPA rule.

Environment

Strict pollution limits on some plants — mercury, lead, dioxin included

A plant can move to a lighter class of rules by cutting what it gives off. The canceled rule made it keep meeting the strict limits even after that move.

EPA's power to restore these limits — a new law is needed

The Congressional Review Act does more than cancel a rule. It also stops the agency from putting out a rule much like it, unless a new law allows it.

Corporate Benefits

Relief from strict pollution limits — for plants that switch classes

Plants that move into the lighter class no longer have to keep meeting the stricter federal limits. That lowers what they must spend to follow the rules.

More about this bill

Most people see no change in daily life from this law. It canceled a 2024 rule from the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA. The rule covered plants that give off hazardous air pollution. It said some of them had to keep meeting strict pollution limits. That held true even after they moved into a lighter class of rules. That requirement is now gone. The canceled rule dealt with seven pollutants that linger and build up in the body. Mercury, lead, and dioxin are three of them. Under the Clean Air Act, a plant falls in the strict class if it can give off 10 tons a year of one such pollutant. Below that line, the limits are looser. Congress used the Congressional Review Act to undo the rule. That law lets Congress cancel a new agency rule. The President signed the measure on June 20, 2025. That same law bars the EPA from issuing a rule much like this one, unless a new law allows it.

Congressional Summary

This joint resolution removes the requirements for sources of persistent and bioaccumulative hazardous air pollutants to comply with certain major source emissions standards when those sources reclassify as area sources (which have less stringent standards). Specifically, the joint resolution nullifies the Environmental Protection Agency rule titled Review of Final Rule Reclassification of Major Sources as Area Sources Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act. The rule requires sources that seek to reclassify as area sources to implement certain control methods (e.g., continue to employ emission control methods required under the major sources requirements) to ensure they do not increase emissions beyond the major source requirements applicable at the time of reclassification.

Legislative Subjects

Administrative law and regulatory proceduresAir qualityCongressional oversightEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)Legislative rules and procedure

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: Senate
Status: summarized
Action: Public Law
Action Date: 2025-06-20
Date Added: 2026-07-16
Source: Congress.gov →

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