The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill to mandate new automaker safety standards and strengthen the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) authority. The legislation would require the NHTSA to establish new motor vehicle safety standards for unintended accelerations, such as a brake-override requirement.

The Ohio House Transportation Committee unanimously passed SEMA-model legislation to create a vehicle registration and titling classification for street rods and custom vehicles and provide for special license plates for these vehicles. The bill defines a street rod as an altered vehicle manufactured before 1949 and a custom as an altered vehicle at least 25 years old and manufactured after 1948.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a streamlined process for manufacturers for approving fuel conversion systems. The conversion systems allow light- and heavy-duty vehicles to run on alternative fuels (natural gas, propane, alcohol, electricity, etc.) while complying with Clean Air Act emissions standards.

Effective June 15, 2010, employers are required to notify their workers when there is any hexavalent chromium present in the workplace, even when it is below the permissible exposure limit (PEL).

Just months after establishing mileage and emissions standards for model year (MY) 2012–2016 cars and light trucks, the Obama Administration has begun work on even stronger rules for 2017 and beyond. Last week, President Obama directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce emissions of conventional pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides.

In its daily efforts to promote and protect the auto hobby, SEMA continues to partner with lawmakers across the country through the State Automotive Leadership Caucus. Celebrating its five-year anniversary, the caucus is a bipartisan group of state lawmakers whose common thread is a love and appreciation for automobiles. Supported by SEMA's Government Affairs office in Washington, D.C., the caucus serves to raise the motor-vehicle hobby's profile in the state legislatures and in the public's eyes. [Read more] 

SEMA-supported legislation to provide an exemption to automotive hobbyists from the restrictions on salvage yards was signed into law by Vermont  Governor Jim Douglas. The new law increases the regulation of salvage yards and automobile graveyards in the state, but includes a provision stipulating that hobbyists are not to be confused with the owners of automobile graveyards.

Working with the SEMA Action Network (SAN), SEMA convinced Kansas legislators to delete provisions from a revenue bill that increased the fees on antiques, street rods and special-interest vehicles. The language sought to raise the registration fees on these vehicles, including a $10 increase on January 1, 2013, and another $10 increase on January 1, 2014.

SEMA places a wealth of legislative/regulatory information at your fingertips to help your business succeed. All of the material can be accessed through the government affairs page on the SEMA website: www.sema.org. The legislative and regulatory materials are also posted on the SEMA Action Network (SAN) website (www.semasan.com) as a way to involve your customers, the enthusiast community.

Read on for some highlights.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has issued its new test procedure and related requirements to obtain Executive Orders (E.O.s) for emissions-related diesel performance parts. Of note is CARB’s development of a “Parts in Progress List” that identifies companies having submitted all traditional E.O. applications materials but who must now address additional requirements. By following the required steps, parts will be prevented from causing failure of the smog-check test.