Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has worked out an agreement with Senate leadership to hold a vote on her “disapproval resolution” on June 10, a spokesman for the senator said. The vote will be on whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be allowed to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

Murkowski negotiated the agreement with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) last week to “extend the privilege status of her disapproval resolution until June 10,” said spokesman Robert Dillon.

The senator from Alaska introduced the disapproval resolution in January (see NGI, Jan. 25). If ratified it would negate the EPA’s December endangerment finding, and thus the agency’s ability to use its CAA authority to regulate GHGs. The endangerment ruling, which found that carbon dioxide and GHG emissions pose a threat to public health and welfare, provides the legal trigger for the agency to regulate emissions under the CAA (see NGI, Dec. 14, 2009).

Murkowski, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has accused the EPA of attempting to impose “backdoor climate regulation” through its use of CAA authority. She argues GHG emissions should be addressed in climate legislation rather than in regulation, and by Congress — not the Obama administration.

The bipartisan resolution has 41 cosponsors, including Murkowski. It would require only 51 votes to pass the Senate. A similar resolution is pending in the House.

The resolution of disapproval is a rarely used instrument by Congress. It has been attempted only twice in the past, once successfully.

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