Today, House members led by Peter Welch (D-VT) and Brad Sherman (D - CA) introduced a bill to reverse the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision denying California’s request to adopt state tailpipe emissions standards stricter than those at the federal level.

According to Reuters, the proposed “Right to Clean Vehicles Act,” which is not yet available online, would “immediately grant California’s waiver request and also clear the way for 12 other states to set vehicle tailpipe emissions standards.” If so, it would join a similar bill introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer in late January.

Both the Welch/Sherman bill and the Boxer bill would likely face opposition from the automotive industry, and the Welch/Sherman bill could face additional challenges from Congressman Dingell, House Energy and Commerce Chairman, who sees state-by-state climate regulation as a logistical and economic challenge.

The new House bill comes less than a week after EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson published his formal rationale for denying the waiver, in which he asserted that the law does not allow for “California to promulgate state standards for emissions from new motor vehicles designed to address global climate change problems.”

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