The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing to begin the process of rewriting the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The primary concern of some members of the committee is excessive lawsuits brought by environmental groups to enforce deadlines and force decisions on endangered species classifications.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants to create uniform minimum standards to cover the types of keyless ignition controls being installed in many new cars. The goal is to make it easier for drivers to stop a moving vehicle during a panic situation and to alert drivers who unintentionally attempt to leave the vehicle without it being "locked in park'' or with the engine still running.

The Internal Revenue Service has set the standard business-mileage deduction at 55.5 cents a mile for 2012. The rate is unchanged from when it was last revised in July 2011.

The province of Quebec, Canada has drafted legislation to create a mandatory motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program.  Slated to begin in 2013, motorists would be required to undergo an emissions inspection as a condition for vehicle registration.

The laws and regulations that govern how SEMA members do business have an increased and growing impact on the way automotive specialty-equipment products are made, distributed and marketed. As the nation and our industry struggle with a still balky economy, SEMA’s charge is to stay on top of every relevant state and federal matter of consequence to its membership to ensure the best possible outcome.

On behalf of SEMA’s Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO) and Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA), the SEMA Government Affairs office has updated its compilation of state laws and regulations governing specialty motor vehicles.

The laws and regulations that govern how SEMA members do business have an increased and growing impact on how specialty-equipment products are made, distributed and marketed. As the nation and our industry struggle with a still-balky economy, SEMA's charge is to stay on top of every revenant state and federal matter of consequence to its membership to ensure the best possible outcome. The following are just a few examples of critical legislative/regulatory issues the SEMA Government Affairs office was involved with this year.

Following much-heated debate, Congress approved a two-year extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for all income levels. The SEMA-supported compromise agreement reached by President Obama and Congressional Republicans includes a retroactive extension of the research and development tax credit through 2011, a two-year reinstatement of the estate tax at 35% after the first $5 million, a 100% write-off on capital expenses for businesses during 2011 (up from 50%) and a one-year reduction in the worker’s Social Security payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2%.

The U.S. International Trade Commission issued the first of two reports analyzing intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement in China. The first report outlines the principle types of infringement, which include illegal distribution of copyrighted works, counterfeit trademarks and patent infringement.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has set the standard business-mileage deduction at $.51 per mile for 2011. The rate is $.01 more than allowed during 2010, reflecting slightly higher transportation costs during the past year.