Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/671116
IN THE WIND P24 EPA WITHDRAWS RACING EMISSIONS PROPOSAL U nder pressure from the AMA, the Specialty Equip- ment Market Association and other organizations and racing sanctioning bodies, the U.S. En- vironmental Protection Agency has announced it has withdrawn its plan to regulate the emissions from motor vehicles, including motorcycles, built or used exclu- sively for racing. Issued in July 2015, the final Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles contained what the EPA described as "clarifying lan- guage" that would have placed new restrictions on competition- only vehicles. The rule would have prevented owners from changing the exhaust systems of street bikes that would be used exclusively in competition events. The AMA joined SEMA and other groups to oppose this proposed new restriction and to support a bill in Congress to prevent EPA intrusion into motorsports. Five members of Congress introduced a bill that would prevent the EPA from regulating the conversion of street bikes and other motor vehicles into competition-only racers. The bi- partisan Recognizing the Protec- tion of Motorsports Act of 2016 (H.R. 4715, RPM Act) would create and clarify an exemption from a proposed EPA regulation for motor vehicles used solely for competition. The AMA included language in the RPM Act that specifically exempts competition motorcy- cles from EPA regulation. U.S. Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Henry Cuellar (D-Tex- as), Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) introduced the bill on March 8. By mid-April the bill had 48 House cosponsors and five in the Senate. More than 3000 AMA Action Alert subscribers sent more than 10,000 messages to their repre- sentatives and senators, urging them to support the RPM Act. Despite the EPA's withdrawal of its plan to regulate the emis- sion of competition-only motor vehicles, the AMA and SEMA believe the RPM Act remains an important piece of legislation because it would prevent the EPA from ever initiating action to regulate emissions produced by race-only vehicles. "The RPM Act would make it clear that it has always been legal to modify motor vehicles— including motorcycles—for competition-only use," said Wayne Allard, AMA vice presi- dent of government relations. "This practice continued un- questioned until last July, when the EPA proposed a new regula- tion that would make these conversions illegal. The EPA has never claimed the conversion of street vehicles into competition vehicles was prohibited before this regulation was proposed." In its April 15 announcement, the EPA said it "supports motors- ports and its contributions to the American economy and commu- nities all across the country." The agency said: "EPA's focus is not on vehicles built or used exclusively for racing, but on com- panies that don't play by the rules and that make and sell products that disable pollution controls on motor vehicles used on public roads. These unlawful defeat de- vices pump dangerous and illegal pollution into the air we breathe. "The proposed language in the July 2015 proposal was never intended to represent any change in the law or in EPA's policies or practices towards dedicated competition vehicles," the EPA said. "Since our attempt to clarify led to confusion, EPA has decided to eliminate the proposed language from the final rule." The agency plans to "continue to engage with the racing in- dustry and others about ways to ensure that EPA supports racing and while maintaining the agen- cy's focus where it has always been: reducing pollution from the cars and trucks that travel along America's roadways and through our neighborhoods." CN