# S.J.Res. 31 (119th): 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)

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.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: clean_air_act. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: environmental_policy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: hazardous_air_pollutants. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: regulatory_oversight. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 143: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Roll 227: On the Motion to Proceed S.J.Res. 31. Vote type: cloture.
Roll 229: On the Joint Resolution S.J.Res. 31. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The measure removes an anti-backsliding safeguard that limits emissions of persistent, bioaccumulative hazardous air pollutants, which points toward increased harm to neighbors and the environment. It also reflects a real prudential dispute over compliance burdens and agency authority under the Clean Air Act. The operative effect on actual emissions is not fully stated in the metadata, so this is a mixed classification rather than a direct moral verdict.
Theological note: Scripture charges rulers to do justice and not to let neighbors be harmed, and it calls stewards to care for creation. Rules limiting toxic emissions that harm people and land bear on neighbor-love and stewardship. Weighing those duties against the real burdens of compliance and the proper role of regulators is a prudential task, so this measure raises issues of neighbor protection and stewardship without establishing a clear moral verdict.

## Recorded votes

Roll 143: On Passage. Yea 216 · Nay 212 · Other 4.
Roll 227: On the Motion to Proceed S.J.Res. 31. Yea 52 · Nay 40 · Other 8.
Roll 229: On the Joint Resolution S.J.Res. 31. Yea 52 · Nay 46 · Other 2.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/sjres-31-119/