Courtesy of SPEEDSPORT.COM
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency has announced it plans to remove wording from a proposed bill that led to many in the racing industry thinking the EPA was trying to ban street-to-race car conversions.
The wording was hidden inside a 629-page proposal that the EPA released last June meant to cut carbon emissions in medium- and heavy-duty trucks. In February the Specialty Equipment Market Ass’n caught wind of the rule and began petitioning to have the wording removed.
The EPA has since received numerous public comments against the proposed rule.
SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting said that while the EPA has withdrawn the proposal, there is still work to be done. SEMA is supporting the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2016 (RPM Act), introduced by, U.S. Representatives Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Bill Posey (R-FL) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY).
The RPM Act will address any doubts regarding regulation of race cars and give the public and race car industry much-needed certainty regarding how the Clean Air Act is applied.
“We want to thank Congress for pushing EPA to withdraw an ill-conceived proposal,” said Kersting. “However, confusion reigns: the agency continues to assert new-found authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate modification of vehicles for use in competition. This means that those converting and racing competition vehicles, and the parts and services industries that support them, do so under new EPA policy that considers the activity illegal. Only clarifying legislation, such as that offered under the RPM Act, will confirm that such activity is legal and beyond the reach of future EPA regulations. The racing industry and public need a long-term solution to eliminate any uncertainty regarding how the Clean Air Act is interpreted.”