

“You’re talking about a hundred-year legacy in the United States of modifying street-driven vehicles to turn them into race-dedicated cars. “Our position is that the EPA has a gross misinterpretation of this,” Meyer said. But the aftermarket insists the announcement was little more than a PR move, as punitive actions by the EPA continued. In an effort to further quell enthusiast panic, the agency directly addressed its outright support of motorsports.īased on that about-face, you’d expect the fervor to die down. In this message, the EPA noted it wasn’t after individual racers or their vehicles, but rather the aftermarket companies selling race products that frequently end up on the street. 601(a)(3) garnered a fierce response from the aftermarket, and the regulatory agency issued a more clearly worded follow-up. That interpretation means race cars (which are considered “competition vehicles”) built from road cars (which are considered “motor vehicles”) are not exempt from the Clean Air Act. The language stated that the Clean Air Act’s nonroad engine and competition exemptions are not applicable to motor vehicles, nor have they ever been. 601(a)(3), which aimed to clarify the EPA’s position on these types of heavy machines.

Part of that statement included Proposal. Jamie Meyer told R&T.įor background, the EPA released a 600-page document on heavy-duty road vehicles ahead of the 2016 language adjustment.

“It doesn't matter what form of racing you want to participate in, that lifestyle is in jeopardy right now, and it has been in a serious way since 2016,” Performance Racing Industry President Dr. This has created massive issues for the companies responsible for dolling out off-road use parts, with several large brands forced into large financial settlements with the EPA over the past year. Specifically, the language may prevent one from building a race car from any vehicle that carries a VIN tag. The EPA quietly tweaked the language of the Clean Air Act in 2016, which some argue changed the scope of the law entirely. R&T spoke with both sides of this legal battle to better understand the stakes. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. A group of enthusiasts aiming to protect our ability to build race cars have embroiled the EPA in a new lawsuit in the U.S. While the EPA’s current interpretation of the Clean Air Act (CAA) creates hurdles for the aftermarket tuning industry at large, its consequences are further reaching, and may prevent enthusiasts from building race cars out of road cars.
