New federal legislation would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant or deny California’s “waiver” request to enforce a 2002 vehicle greenhouse gas emissions law by the end of September. The legislation, S 1785 by Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), aims to force EPA administrator Stephen Johnson--repeatedly accused by legislators of foot dragging--to decide on the waiver issue well before the end of this year. Johnson previously stated he would decide the matter by the end of June 2007. This week, he said a decision would not come before late December. “It is inexcusable to wait two years,” complained Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) during a July 26 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meeting. “If ever there was a bipartisan issue, this is the one,” added Boxer, the committee chair. Nelson said his motivation for the legislation was to relieve political gridlock. During his testimony before the Senate committee, the Florida Democrat pointed out that S 1735 “allows states to set standards higher than those set at the federal level. Read: ‘states rights.’” Senator James Inofe (R-OK), Johnson’s sole defender, asserted that California’s waiver should be denied because the state is cooling rather than warming. He added that “rushing” a decision on the matter would be “arbitrary and capricious.” The Democratic senators on the committee accused Johnson of doing the bidding of the Bush administration, which has vigorously opposed state actions to cut greenhouse gases. Johnson provided only evasive answers to the committee’s pointed questions, stating his responses were to the “best of his recollection.” Granting the waiver would slash carbon emissions by 64 million metric tons by 2020, which is the equivalent of taking 12 million cars off the road, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) added.