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The U.S. House of Representatives held votes this week on Congressional Review Acts related to rolling back harmful, last-minute regulations from the Biden Administration. In debate, U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) led the Republican side to support the measures. In doing so, Rep. Griffith invoked several instances of harmful regulations impacting Ninth District constituents and Virginia industry.

On H.J. Res. 61

This Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution, sponsored by Rep. Griffith, overturns the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Rubber Tire Manufacturing National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) rule. Amendments to NESHAP were finalized by the Biden Administration in November 2024, despite the EPA’s own risk review finding that the rule was not necessary to protect public health or the environment and could not quantify any public health benefits from the rule. 

While not in the Ninth District, Rep. Griffith mentioned the disastrous impact of this rule on the Danville Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

“I am sure some of my constituents drive from eastern Henry County to work at the Danville Goodyear Plant…and that facility would be affected.”

Rep. Griffith also highlights potential long-term effects of the EPA rule on the Salem Yokohama  Tire Manufacturing facility:

“I had under the assumption erroneously that this would affect my Yokohama Tire plant today. I still submit that it could affect them, because what happens at the EPA if they do it now on the larger producers of tires, etc., at some point they are going to look at doing it at the medium-seized producers. And my Yokohama plant employs a lot of people in my District, in my hometown of Salem, Virginia, could be affected long-term.”

While giving remarks, Rep. Griffith referenced the impact of an EPA regulation that led to the closure of the Glen Lyn Plant and, to his belief, the eventual dissolution of the Town charter.

“Several years ago an EPA rule ended up closing down a plant in a small town…In a few weeks after the plant was closed by Appalachian Power, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA hadn’t done it right and the rule was improper and invalidated by the Supreme Court. But they are not going to come back in and reopen the plant.

“Those jobs are lost...As a result, the people their lost their livelihood, their economic resilience because of an erroneous EPA regulation.”

Rep. Griffith’s Congressional Review Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 5. You can see statements from Congressional leadership on Rep. Griffith’s resolution here.

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