Beginning on June 15, the U.S. Small Business Administration will provide a 100% guarantee on “America’s Recovery Capital” (ARC) loans, a $255 million program established under the Recovery Act of 2009.

President Barack Obama announced plans to set new fuel-economy standards beginning with model year 2012 vehicles and to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through a national standard rather than a patchwork of state-by-state rules.

SEMA urged Congress to include two additional provisions to controversial legislation that would provide a government voucher to consumers who buy a new car in exchange for scrapping a less fuel-efficient vehicle.

Legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) which would designate as wilderness 19 million acres of land in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued the results of a study which indicates that amber rear turn signals may be 5.3% more effective than red rear turn signals at preventing rear-end collisions in which the driver used a turn signal.

After years of debate, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has revised the vehicle roof strength rule, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 216. The new standard will require manufacturers to design vehicle roofs that withstand at least three times the weight of a light-duty vehicle (up to 6,000 lbs.) during a two-sided roof strength test. The current standard, which had remained unchanged since 1971, requires the roof to support at least 1.5 times the vehicle weight when tested on one side only.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has temporarily expanded the size requirements for SBA-backed 7(a) loans in order to help insert more liquidity into the marketplace. The SBA estimates that more than 70,000 small businesses across the country will be eligible for new loans between now and the time the program ends on September 30, 2010, including many auto-sector businesses.