Don't Agree with the EPA? Write your Senator!

"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing)
02/09/2016 at 10:39 • Filed to: democracy in action, sema, epa

If you’re like me and you disagree with the new proposed EPA guidelines that would make it illegal to modify a production car for off-road, competition purposes you can write your Senatorand House Reps to let your voice be heard you can find your Senators !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and your State house reps !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

I have written a form letter that I feel accurate conveys my thoughts, feel free to use it: ( edit: please click on the link and paste it into the message you send your senator, kinja is being kinja )

Subject: Please Protect America’s Motorsports Heritage and Automotive Enthusiasts

(Your Senator/Rep Here) ,

It has recently come to my attention that the EPA wishes to enclose language that would ban the conversion of production vehicles into off-road only competition or racing vehicles. The ban is included in a single paragraph of the EPA’s 629-page proposal to set 2021-2027 medium- and heavy-vehicle greenhouse gas targets. The full text of the proposal can be found here : !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

The specific language that concerns me is “Certified 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 or if they become non-road vehicles or engines; anyone modifying a certified motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine for any reason is subject to the tampering and defeat device prohibitions of paragraph (a)(3) of this section and 42 U.S.C.”

There are thousands of racing and motorsports enthusiasts both in (Your State Here) and across the country that would be unable to modify their cars or compete in sanctioned events should this provision to become law. There are hundreds of small businesses that make money and provide well paying jobs to fabricators and mechanics modifying and tuning production vehicles for off road use that would be forced to close their doors due to this legislation. Hot-rodding, modifying your vehicle to your individual tastes and racing have a storied history in this country.

Please use your influence to help the EPA understand that the handful of off-road, track only vehicles that this legislation specifically targets contributes negligibly to the Greenhouse Gas emissions of this country, and protect the Motorsports Heritage of this nation by removing this language from the proposed targets, or offering an exemption for track-only off road vehicles.

Thanks,

(Your name here)

DISCUSSION (18)

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 10:44

What do I do if I’m in Canada?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
02/09/2016 at 10:45

modify your car and don’t worry about an American Federal Agency?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 10:47

THANK YOU

That’s what I’ve been saying on all of these posts (and I’ve already done it).

If you don’t have the initiative to make the people we pay to represent us speak for you, than you have no right to bitch about the end results.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
02/09/2016 at 10:55

Yeah, but our government follows the epa’s lead. If I could help stop the change in the US, it’s less likely to happen here too.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
02/09/2016 at 11:01

Email whoever you email in the crazy north and tell them to use their own brains and think for themselves.

Moose don’t pollute THAT much do they? I also doubt they appreciate being modified.

Sweet Trav > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
02/09/2016 at 11:01

http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/ParlInfo/Compi…

Boxer_4 > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 11:10

Not to be that guy, but “fabricator sand mechanics” in the third paragraph should be “fabricators and mechanics”.

This is going to be sent to Congressmen/State Representatives, afterall.

Sweet Trav > Boxer_4
02/09/2016 at 11:11

nice catch, cant tell if kinja’d or too much coffee this morning.

Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord. > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 11:25

Also while you are at it tell them torepeal the 25 year import ban.

davedave1111 > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 11:33

“the new proposed EPA guidelines that would make it illegal to modify a production car for off-road, competition purposes”

Before you risk making a fool of yourself starting a letter-writing campaign, you might like to check if that’s actually a real thing or not. As far as I could see - but I am not a Lehto lawyer - it’s pretty much fiction, and the FP story was just ridiculous twisting of an out of context quote.

ETA: Have you checked what “paragraph (a)(3) of this section” actually says?

Sweet Trav > davedave1111
02/09/2016 at 11:40

Yes, this is a real thing. It is listed in the federal register under the proposed guidelines for heavy trucks for future model years by the EPA. The good news is that these are just proposed guidelines and not law thus far.

davedave1111 > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 11:52

I think you’ve misunderstood me. The question isn’t whether or not there’s a proposed amendment, but what it actually means. The hysterical ‘the EPA wants to ban racecars’ interpretation is, er, a stretch, to say the least. What you may have missed is that it’s a minor amendment to existing legislation, and so it’s important to read and understand what’s being amended. Since the thing being amended does not have widespread, general applications, nor does the amendment.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/40/86…

The existing legislation says (highlights picked):

§ 86.1854-12 Prohibited acts.

(a) The following acts and the causing thereof are prohibited:

(1) In the case of a manufacturer, as defined by § 86.1803, of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines for distribution in commerce, the sale, or the offering for sale, or the introduction, or delivery for introduction, into commerce, or (in the case of any person, except as provided by regulation of the Administrator), the importation into the United States of any new motor vehicle or new motor vehicle engine subject to this subpart, unless such vehicle or engine is covered by a certificate of conformity issued (and in effect) under regulations found in this subpart (except as provided in Section 203(b) of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7522(b) ) or regulations promulgated thereunder).

[...]

(3)

(i) For any person to remove or render inoperative any device or element of design installed on or in a vehicle or engine in compliance with regulations under this subpart prior to its sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser, or for any person knowingly to remove or render inoperative any such device or element of design after such sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser.

(ii) For any person to manufacture, sell or offer to sell, or install, any part or component intended for use with, or as part of, any vehicle or engine, where a principal effect of the part or component is to bypass, defeat, or render inoperative any device or element of design installed on or in a vehicle or engine in compliance with regulations issued under this subpart, and where the person knows or should know that the part or component is being offered for sale or installed for this use or put to such use.

[...]

(b) For the purposes of enforcement of this subpart, the following apply:

(1) No action with respect to any element of design referred to in paragraph (a)(3) of this section (including any adjustment or alteration of such element) shall be treated as a prohibited act under paragraph (a)(3) of this section if such action is in accordance with Section 215 of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7549 );

It’s clear to me that the ‘no modifications’ part only applies to the removal of emissions-control devices.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 15:12

Thank you. I will do this right now

TheHondaBro > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 19:09

But being involved in the political process is haaaaaaaaaaard.

DrJohannVegas > davedave1111
02/09/2016 at 19:17

It also applies to the transfer of an emissions-controlled engine (pulled, for instance, from a wrecked car) into a vehicle specifically built for competition. The revision to the CFR and the guidelines for implementation specifically note that the rule applies separately and completely to certified motor vehicles and certified engines. In plain-er language: one may not take an LS3 from a out of a Camaro and put it in a drag-race only car without also transferring all emissions-related equipment. What one may do is buy a non-certified LS3 from GM Performance and put it in that same vehicle without any emissions equipment. (There’s a noted exception in the CFR for that, which also means the competition-only engine is likely exempt from emissions rules.) In that sense, the revision to the rule seems a bit silly to me.

But, as I’ve said in previous posts, I do disagree with the “banning racecars” language. What this rule change does is significantly change the legality of modifying a vehicle built for the road for competition-only use. This may have the effect of “banning” (through sufficiently-high degrees of difficulty) some kinds of racecars, however.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
02/09/2016 at 19:36

Enjoy your Freedom™.

NJAnon > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 19:45

Well they’re still trying to get this whole thing kind of ironed out. It is pretty strange this is all of a sudden coming around. I mean is it following the whole sierra club being succesful in their claim to have the pikes peak roads paved?

911e46z06 > Sweet Trav
02/09/2016 at 23:56

My Senators are dickbags. My congressman is cool though. Think I’ll drop him a letter.