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EPA Moves Against Auto Racing

Jack Hays

Jack Hays

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Our EPA priesthood has decided auto racing and motorsports are a threat to the planet. The idiocy just keeps on comin' . . .


[h=1]The EPA is out of control – now they want to ban hobby race cars[/h] The EPA is seeking to ban the freedom of individuals within the USA to convert street cars into race cars. WUWT reader Wolfpack987 writes: Another example of government abuse of power, the EPA is seeking to remove more freedoms from American citizens in the name of the environment, by prohibiting the act of converting street cars…
Continue reading →
 
Your link is to a wordpress blog...provide something more substantial and I might believe it's something to be pissed about.
 
Jack Hays said:
Our EPA priesthood has decided auto racing and motorsports are a threat to the planet. The idiocy just keeps on comin' . . .


[h=1]The EPA is out of control – now they want to ban hobby race cars[/h] The EPA is seeking to ban the freedom of individuals within the USA to convert street cars into race cars. WUWT reader Wolfpack987 writes: Another example of government abuse of power, the EPA is seeking to remove more freedoms from American citizens in the name of the environment, by prohibiting the act of converting street cars…
Continue reading →
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Thanks very much for posting this.

I generally am a supporter of the EPA, and believe it has an important function. I also can see it has occasionally gotten out of hand. But this is BEYOND TERRIBLE!

I've wrenched and raced since I was a child, and still do, including racing on weekends with my teenage son - though he's usually the wheelman these days, while I'm more often pit-crew & sponsor! :mrgreen:

This really has me upset!
 
Chomsky said:
Thanks very much for posting this.

I generally am a supporter of the EPA, and believe it has an important function. I also can see it has occasionally gotten out of hand. But this is BEYOND TERRIBLE!

I've wrenched and raced since I was a child, and still do, including racing on weekends with my teenage son - though he's usually the wheelman these days, while I'm more often pit-crew & sponsor! :mrgreen:

This really has me upset!
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"When they came for my neighbors, I did nothing..."
 
Chomsky said:
"Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"
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Well, sure, but you have to admit that the "I support the EPA but now they are messing with MY hobby!" was begging for that response.
 
Good luck to them with that. Like guns, there really is no way to stop us. All they'll cause is a resurgence small time machine shops, doing custom grinds for people. That happen to look like loppy cams, and...valve jobs. Yeah, really large valve jobs.


Surely there is someone working either for or above the EPA that understands the law of deminishing returns? Just how much polution are weekend racers putting into the atmosphere? Versus, say, classic cars? Or cow farts? Or human farts, for that matter? Look, I get it, protecting our environment, and specifically, our air, IS important. Really, it is. But how much resources are going to be invested in something like this, versus the actual good to our environment rendered? I mean, is there some data available on that? Some charts I can look at that shows the devastation caused by people ordering parts out of a summit cattalogue, and installing them?


Even without that, whatever. I'm not worried, really. Shocked. Sad. But not really worried. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can stop someone from modifying their car to go faster. There gonna be a law against yanking the back seat and gutting the interior? Dollar for dollar, the best "mod" anyone can do, really, reduces about 100 pounds, costs nothing. There gonna be a law against swapping out different wheels on the car? A law against replacing body panels with carbon fiber (if you got the cash)?

To me, all this shows is how very little these people know about something they deem to be harmful to the american public.
 
jmotivator said:
Well, sure, but you have to admit that the "I support the EPA but now they are messing with MY hobby!" was begging for that response.
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Hah, no argument there!

I see the EPA similar to the police: necessary to society, but we sure don't like it when they take an interest in us.
 
The existing prohibitions and
exemptions in 40 CFR part 1068 related
to competition engines and vehicles
need to be amended to account for
differing policies for nonroad and motor
vehicle applications. In particular, we
generally consider nonroad engines and
vehicles to be ‘‘used solely for
competition’’ based on usage
characteristics. This allows EPA to set
up an administrative process to approve
competition exemptions, and to create
an exemption from the tampering
prohibition for products that are
modified for competition purposes.

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-07-13/pdf/2015-15500.pdf
 
Gimmesometruth said:
The existing prohibitions and
exemptions in 40 CFR part 1068 related
to competition engines and vehicles
need to be amended to account for
differing policies for nonroad and motor
vehicle applications. In particular, we
generally consider nonroad engines and
vehicles to be ‘‘used solely for
competition’’ based on usage
characteristics. This allows EPA to set
up an administrative process to approve
competition exemptions, and to create
an exemption from the tampering
prohibition for products that are
modified for competition purposes.

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-07-13/pdf/2015-15500.pdf
Click to expand...

“This proposed regulation represents overreaching by the agency, runs contrary to the law and defies decades of racing activity where EPA has acknowledged and allowed conversion of vehicles,” said SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting. “Congress did not intend the original Clean Air Act to extend to vehicles modified for racing and has re-enforced that intent on more than one occasion.”
SEMA submitted comments in opposition to the regulation and met with the EPA to confirm the agency’s intentions. The EPA indicated that the regulation would prohibit conversion of vehicles into racecars and make the sale of certain emissions-related parts for use on converted vehicles illegal. Working with other affected organizations, including those representing legions of professional and hobbyist racers and fans, SEMA will continue to oppose the regulation through the administrative process and will seek congressional support and judicial intervention as necessary.
The EPA has indicated it expects to publish final regulations by July 2016.
https://www.sema.org/news/2016/02/08/epa-seeks-to-prohibit-conversion-of-vehicles-into-racecars
 
Jack Hays said:
“This proposed regulation represents overreaching by the agency...blah blah blah
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Yeah, I got the SEMA spin, I'm, showing that SEMA apparently didn't read the rules changes proposal......or for the hard of understanding.....the EPA is aware of adding provisions for race modifications. It took me about 30 minutes using a simple search to find the notes. BFD
 
Gimmesometruth said:
Yeah, I got the SEMA spin, I'm, showing that SEMA apparently didn't read the rules changes proposal......or for the hard of understanding.....the EPA is aware of adding provisions for race modifications. It took me about 30 minutes using a simple search to find the notes. BFD
Click to expand...

Since SEMA has been working on this for quite some time, I suspect their understanding is superior to yours.
 
Jack Hays said:
Since SEMA has been working on this for quite some time, I suspect their understanding is superior to yours.
Click to expand...
Sure, that's why the discussion on changing the original draft.....escaped their notice. But hey Jack, don't address the exert I posted, I bet you can dig up some other media releases from SEMA and eventually bury and hide that inconvenient truth here at the top of this page.

Sorry to pee on your parade.
 
Gimmesometruth said:
Sure, that's why the discussion on changing the original draft.....escaped their notice. But hey Jack, don't address the exert I posted, I bet you can dig up some other media releases from SEMA and eventually bury and hide that inconvenient truth here at the top of this page.

Sorry to pee on your parade.
Click to expand...

I doubt anything escaped their notice. More likely you don't understand.
 
Jack Hays said:
“This proposed regulation represents overreaching by the agency, runs contrary to the law and defies decades of racing activity where EPA has acknowledged and allowed conversion of vehicles,” said SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting. “Congress did not intend the original Clean Air Act to extend to vehicles modified for racing and has re-enforced that intent on more than one occasion.”
SEMA submitted comments in opposition to the regulation and met with the EPA to confirm the agency’s intentions. The EPA indicated that the regulation would prohibit conversion of vehicles into racecars and make the sale of certain emissions-related parts for use on converted vehicles illegal. Working with other affected organizations, including those representing legions of professional and hobbyist racers and fans, SEMA will continue to oppose the regulation through the administrative process and will seek congressional support and judicial intervention as necessary.
The EPA has indicated it expects to publish final regulations by July 2016.
https://www.sema.org/news/2016/02/08/epa-seeks-to-prohibit-conversion-of-vehicles-into-racecars
Click to expand...

Greetings, Jack. :2wave:

From the link "The EPA indicated that the regulation would prohibit conversion of vehicles into racecars..." WTH? Now I think I've heard everything! Where do they think the original Daytona race cars came from, and why they were modified for racing purposes? Maybe because most adults would not be interested in buying a car that reaches speeds in excess of 200 MPH for city driving? I can't see Congress angering legions of racing fans by allowing this, and I wonder whose bright idea this was in the first place and why? ! What's next? A ban on Derby Downs cars because they are built at home by the kids racing them, which is a rule, but are probably unsafe for children to operate because they don't have a degree in Engineering? *shaking head in wonder at the latest news from the EPA, who sometimes seem to forget who provides the money that pays their salaries!* Enough is enough! :thumbdown:
 
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Jack Hays said:
I simply trust SEMA more than I trust you.
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I know Jack, but your point was about me not understanding something. You see, I understand that this isn't finalized, I understand that the discussion on race mods is already in the loop, I understand that SEMA is going to push against anything that affects the ability of manufacturers to sell aftermarket performance components. I also understand that aftermarket performance parts (as opposed to OEM) is in decline on a per capita basis, US car culture is changing, so SEMA needs to be super reactive to anything that it perceives will hurt its members...so it will play this up, just like the NRA does, to heighten its exposure, to rile up the base.

But go ahead Jack Ryan, tell me what I don't understand.
 
How about Road & Track's thoughts?

No, the EPA Didn't Just Outlaw Your Race Car

No, the EPA Didn't Just Outlaw Your Race Car
The Environmental Protection Agency isn't trying to end motorsports. Breathe a sigh of relief.​
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In other words, the wording included in the bill, and highlighted by SEMA, is not a newly established rule outlawing a previously allowed activity. Instead, with this language, the EPA seeks only to clarify the wording of an existing law—one that has been in place for many years, and that apparently has not hampered our current culture of amateur or semi-professional competition using production road vehicles in any way.
Click to expand...

Hmmm....google search....first hit....


:roll:
 
Gimmesometruth said:
I know Jack, but your point was about me not understanding something. You see, I understand that this isn't finalized, I understand that the discussion on race mods is already in the loop, I understand that SEMA is going to push against anything that affects the ability of manufacturers to sell aftermarket performance components. I also understand that aftermarket performance parts (as opposed to OEM) is in decline on a per capita basis, US car culture is changing, so SEMA needs to be super reactive to anything that it perceives will hurt its members...so it will play this up, just like the NRA does, to heighten its exposure, to rile up the base.

But go ahead Jack Ryan, tell me what I don't understand.
Click to expand...

Whatever you say.
 
Dragonfly said:
How about Road & Track's thoughts?

No, the EPA Didn't Just Outlaw Your Race Car





Hmmm....google search....first hit....


:roll:
Click to expand...

Also from R&T:

We applaud SEMA for bringing this issue to light. Were it not for the organization's diligent analysis of vehicular legislation, none of us would even know about this issue—the EPA proposal was drafted in July 2015, and the public comment period opened and closed with no major coverage. SEMA has been pursuing the issue ever since, submitting comments on the original draft proposal and meeting with EPA agents to discuss the ramifications.
 
Jack Hays said:
Our EPA priesthood has decided auto racing and motorsports are a threat to the planet. The idiocy just keeps on comin' . . .


[h=1]The EPA is out of control – now they want to ban hobby race cars[/h] The EPA is seeking to ban the freedom of individuals within the USA to convert street cars into race cars. WUWT reader Wolfpack987 writes: Another example of government abuse of power, the EPA is seeking to remove more freedoms from American citizens in the name of the environment, by prohibiting the act of converting street cars…
Continue reading →
Click to expand...


Thanks for posting this Jack. Hadn't had time to do it myself.

The EPA is an evil bureaucratic nightmare, hell bent on pushing a social justice agenda via regulatory fiat. The consent of the people be damned. This is a foundational tenant of Socialist Progressvism, the control of people through professional bureaucrats who are not caught up in the ebb and flow of elected office.

Not content to change the way local citizens decide how to live (See the EPA's Environmental Justice Initiative) they seek to place another cut into the collective body of citizens and their right to own personal vehicles. It is their mission to eventually outlaw all forms of transportation other than the mass transit kind.

Billions of dollars of economic activity threatened, and tens of thousands of jobs lost, if the EPA is allowed to carry out their above the citizenry mandates. Any wonder why is it so important to place massive cuts to their budget
 
A racehorse flatulates twice as much methane during a race than it would normally. Why don't we ban horse racing too ? :thumbs:
 
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