State takes action to save Alabama racetracks from Obama’s radical environmental agenda

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Attorney General Luther Strange (R-AL) has joined eight other states trying to stop an EPA rule that existentially threatens over forty Alabama racetracks.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a regulation to prohibit conversion of vehicles originally designed for on-road use into race cars. The regulation would also make the sale of certain products for use on such vehicles illegal. The proposed regulation was contained within a non-related proposed regulation entitled “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles—Phase 2.”

“In another example of federal bureaucrats seeking to expand their regulatory reach, the EPA is pushing a proposed change to the federal Clean Air Act to effectively prohibit street vehicles from being converted into off-road race cars,” said Attorney General Strange.

The regulation would impact all vehicle types, including the sports cars, sedans and hatch-backs commonly converted for use at the track. While the Clean Air Act prohibits certain modifications to motor vehicles, it is clear that vehicles built or modified for racing, and not used on the streets, are not the “motor vehicles” that Congress intended to regulate.

“In Alabama and across the country, modifying race cars is a popular pastime and a significant contributor to the economy. In 2014, $36 billion was spent nationally on automotive specialty equipment parts and accessories. Off-road racing parts businesses which sell their products in Alabama and elsewhere, as well as local racetracks, would be adversely affected by the implementation of the new EPA rule.”

The letter from Attorney General Strange and the other attorneys general points out the EPA rule change is contrary to the law and conflicts with the expressed intent of Congress not to subject race cars to the same federal emission standards as street vehicles.

Protecting race cars from onerous emissions requirements was such a concern when Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970 that Alabama Congressman Bill Nichols, who represented Talladega, specifically asked that the Act not penalize “vehicles and vehicle engines manufactured for, modified for or utilized in organized motorized racing events.”

“This prohibition would include even those vehicles used solely at the track and never again used on public roads,” according to the Specialty Equipment Market Association, which represents parts makers that supply the do-it-yourself racer circuit. The group represents a $36 billion market that include 6,633 member-companies.

Alabama has over 40 racetracks open to amateur racers that would be affected by the EPA’s regulation. Modified vehicles that run on the state’s many asphalt and dirt ovals, drag strips, and road courses could be taken out of commission.