{"id":18198,"date":"2016-03-10T14:25:42","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T18:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=18198"},"modified":"2016-03-14T14:27:30","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T18:27:30","slug":"bill-would-protect-modification-of-race-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/bill-would-protect-modification-of-race-cars","title":{"rendered":"Bill would protect modification of race cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Racing_incar\"<\/p>\n

In response to a revved-up grassroots racing community, a bipartisan bill was introduced this week which exempts the modification of production cars for competition from the Clean Air Act.<\/p>\n

It comes in response to language issued by the Environmental Protection Agency that would make such changes illegal \u2014 an action critics said would reverse decades of precedent and threaten the $30 billion racing parts industry.<\/p>\n

The Detroit News\u00a0first reported last month<\/a>\u00a0that Congress was considering legislation after an online petition by the Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association gathered more than 150,000 signatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EPA\u2019s new interpretation of the Clean Air Act would essentially rewrite the law and 46 years of policy and practice,\u201d said SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting. \u201cWithout congressional intervention, the racing community and racing parts manufacturers would be operating outside of that new law and could be targeted for enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The uproar came in response to language added to the Clean Air Act\u2019s Heavy-Duty Greenhouse Gas rules that asserted \u201ccertified motor vehicles and motor vehicle engines and their emission control devices must remain in their certified configuration even if they are used solely for competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EPA has downplayed the rule change. It says the agency \u201cremains primarily concerned with cases where the tampered vehicle is used on public roads, and more specifically with aftermarket manufacturers who sell devices that defeat emission control systems on vehicles used on public roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

While not disputing the EPA\u2019s responsibility to regulate cars modified for the street, opponents feared the agency\u2019s language exposed parts makers to future regulation \u2014 in effect chilling the development of superchargers, turbochargers and other aftermarket equipment.<\/p>\n

Introduced by Congressmen Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y), the \u201cRecognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act\u201d would reiterate Congress\u2019s decades-old intent to exclude off-road vehicles from the Clean Air Act.<\/p>\n

An EPA representative said \u201cthe agency doesn\u2019t comment on pending legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed regulations are scheduled to be finalized this summer. The congressional action comes at a time when the EPA\u2019s efforts to expand regulation of carbon dioxide from the automotive and energy sectors have provoked lawsuits and become an issue in the presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

Republican candidate Marco Rubio responded to SEMA\u2019s petition by calling for the EPA to revoke the rule. \u201cFor years, Marco has been talking about the EPA\u2019s affinity for job-killing regulations, but they go after Americans\u2019 hobbies with pointless power grabs, too,\u201d the Florida senator\u00a0posted on his website<\/a>. \u201cNow, the EPA is coming to your local race track.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to a revved-up grassroots racing community, a bipartisan bill was introduced this week which exempts the modification of production cars for competition from the Clean Air Act. It comes in response to language issued by the Environmental Protection Agency that would make such changes illegal \u2014 an action critics said would reverse decades […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18199,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18198\/revisions\/18199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}