The General Assembly’s legislative process for reviewing regulations issued by executive branch agencies will undergo its most severe test in recent history when the Legislative Regulations Review Committee convenes Nov. 28 to approve or reject draft regulations issued by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection that would update our state’s clean air regulations for cars and trucks.

We urge the committee to approve the DEEP’s draft regulations based on the attorney general’s determination that they are consistent with the 2004 Clean Cars statute that mandated the issuance of updated regulations. We also invite the General Assembly in a future lawmaking session to revisit the Clean Cars statute if it wishes to revise the underlying policy.