Constitution Index · H.J.Res. 87 · 2025-04-02

Providing congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards; Heavy-Duty Vehicle and Engine Emission Warranty and Maintenance Provisions; Advanced Clean Trucks; Zero Emission Airport Shuttle; Zero-Emission Power Train Certification; Waiver of Preemption; Notice of Decision".

Latest official status (2025-06-12): Became Public Law No: 119-15.

Official source ↗

Constitutional grade

A

Constitutional

Congress used its commerce and oversight powers through lawful procedure to block a single-state emissions mandate from functioning as a national rule, protecting liberty and uniform federal law with no rights infringement or taking.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 Amendment I Amendment II Amendment IV Amendment X Amendment IX Amendment V Amendment XIV, Section 1 Article I, Section 7, Clause 2

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The five checks

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress acts within explicit federal authority. Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 grants power to regulate Commerce among the several States, which covers interstate trucking, heavy-duty engines, and the national vehicle market. Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 supports use of the Congressional Review Act process to disapprove an agency Notice of Decision and waiver of preemption. Reasserting a uniform Clean Air Act preemption rule is a textbook commerce regulation, not an unenumerated police power.

Bill of Rights · passes

No provision of the first ten amendments is infringed. The resolution imposes no restriction on speech, religion, press, assembly under the First Amendment, no disarmament under the Second Amendment, no search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment, and no trial or punishment rule under Amendments Five through Eight. It removes rather than creates regulatory mandates on vehicle warranties and zero-emission sales, so Tenth Amendment reserved powers are respected by restoring the uniform federal baseline Congress enacted.

Individual liberty · passes

The resolution reduces government coercion rather than adding it. By nullifying Advanced Clean Trucks, zero-emission shuttle and powertrain certification mandates, and related warranty requirements imposed through the waiver, it expands the freedom of truck owners, operators, and buyers to choose equipment, labor, and property use. No belief, speech, or bodily autonomy is burdened, so the government needs no additional compelling justification under the Ninth Amendment and the liberty protected by the Fifth Amendment.

Decentralization · passes

Interstate heavy-duty vehicle emissions and engine warranties cannot be managed by individuals, families, or single counties because trucks move across state lines. A single state cannot handle the issue without federal involvement because a California-only mandate effectively sets a national market standard for manufacturers and carriers in other states. This resolution does not consolidate power upward; it blocks one state from dictating policy to the rest of the nation and returns the issue to the minimum uniform federal rule under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, leaving states free to regulate matters truly local.

Due process and takings · passes

No person is deprived of life, liberty, or property without process under the Fifth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1. The resolution follows the established Congressional Review Act procedure in chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, with bicameral passage, presentment under Article I, Section 7, Clause 2, and public notice, and it became Public Law 119-15. It takes no private property and orders no compensation-triggering seizure, so the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause is not implicated. It is prospective and non-arbitrary.

Provenance

Grade ID
200
Rubric version
vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0
Graded
2026-10-08 10:45 UTC
Engine
primary SI engine
Source fetched
2026-10-08 09:43 UTC
Source SHA-256
1dc6a077e67d547078c0c553167dcfa74cf6ad30231632bf6b342f339d56d7dd
Checks
si-editorial-standard/1.0: real Constitution citation, language rules

Version history · never overwritten

GradeGradedRubric Source hashStatus
A · #200 2026-10-08 vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0 1dc6a077e67d current

Cite this

Values for America. “Constitutional grade: H.J.Res. 87, Providing congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards; Heavy-Duty Vehicle and Engine Emission Warranty and Maintenance Provisions; Advanced Clean Trucks; Zero Emission Airport Shuttle; Zero-Emission Power Train Certification; Waiver of Preemption; Notice of Decision"..” VFA Constitution Index, grade 200 (rubric vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0), graded October 8, 2026. https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution-index/grades/200. Accessed 2026-10-19.

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