SJRES 86 — Congress 119
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 "Air Plan Approval; South Dakota; Regional Haze Plan for the Second Implementation Period".
Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/86
Congress.gov subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures; Air quality; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Parks, recreation areas, trails; South Dakota; Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats; Environmental Protection
Issues impacted: Regulation & Agency Oversight (ai, high), Public Lands & Wildlife (ai, high), Energy & Climate (congress_subject, high)
Official bill text (stored)
Plain-text extraction from Congress.gov text formats. Canonical source remains the official URL above. Full text is prioritized for bills with roll-call votes.
119 SJ 86 IS: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “Air Plan Approval; South Dakota; Regional Haze Plan for the Second Implementation Period”. U.S. Senate 2025-10-01 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. J. RES. 86 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES October 1, 2025 Mr. Whitehouse introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 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 Air Plan Approval; South Dakota; Regional Haze Plan for the Second Implementation Period . That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to Air Plan Approval; South Dakota; Regional Haze Plan for the Second Implementation Period (90 Fed. Reg. 41893 (August 28, 2025)), and such rule shall have no force or effect.
Plain-English summary
Confidence: high · Complexity: simple · Model: grok-4.5
This is a joint resolution — a bill both chambers of Congress pass together — that tries to cancel one specific EPA rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The CRA is a fast-track tool that lets Congress wipe out a recent agency rule so it has no legal force.
The target rule is the EPA’s August 2025 approval of South Dakota’s “regional haze” plan for the second implementation period. Regional haze is the murky air that can dull long-distance views in parks and wild places. States file plans to clean that up; EPA said yes to South Dakota’s version.
If this resolution became law, that EPA approval would be dead on arrival — no force or effect. Folks who’d notice most are people in South Dakota, visitors to nearby parks and wilderness, and anyone who tracks air-quality rules.
We know what the resolution does on paper. We don’t get the full back-and-forth of why lawmakers liked or disliked South Dakota’s plan from the text alone. A Senate motion to even take it up already failed 43–50.
Related issues
How a vote maps to positions
Impartial mapping: which issue position a Yea vs Nay advances. When a bill has multiple floor votes, each roll can have its own mapping. Bill-level entries (no roll listed) apply as a default when a roll has no specific map. Used for legislator alignment.
All rolls (bill default)
| Issue | Yea advances | Nay advances | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulation & Agency Oversight | Disapprove or nullify agency rules | Preserve agency rules and standards | Yea uses the CRA to strip force from the EPA air-plan approval; Nay keeps that published rule in effect. |
| Public Lands & Wildlife | Conservation and preservation first | Status quo / reject this change | Yea voids EPA’s approval of the state regional-haze plan tied to park and wilderness visibility; Nay leaves that approved plan in place. |
| Energy & Climate | Accelerate clean-energy transition | Status quo / reject this change | Yea blocks the approved haze plan (often linked to industrial and power-sector emissions controls); Nay keeps the EPA-approved plan as-is. |