Save our Racecars! - Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act (RPM Act, 2021)

[rajahfl]

Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act (RPM Act)

PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO RACE! THE EPA IS BANNING RACECARS. TELL CONGRESS TO PASS THE RPM ACT NOW AND STOP THE EPA FROM DESTROYING MOTORSPORTS. YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS NEEDS TO HEAR FROM YOU NOW!

• Street vehicles—cars, trucks, and motorcycles—can't be converted into racecars according to the EPA.
• The EPA has announced that enforcement against high performance parts—including superchargers, tuners, and exhaust systems—is a top priority.
• Even if you are one of the hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts who contacted Congress in the past, we need your support again!
• Tell the bureaucrats in Washington that racecars are off limits!

Say BYE-BYE To Motorsports
90,604 views•Mar 12, 2021

In the news lately...
The Drive article (March 15, 2021)
Torque News article (March 18, 2021)

[RoundelM3]

Ummm...yeah, this is pure BS!

[Wanted_M]

I signed it.
Have you guys seen the EPA hitting several high performance shops looking for illegal defeating emissions devices? It all started with SCT and/or Bully Dog defeating diesel devices. VMP, Lund racing and several others got hit, I'm sure the European auto community is next. Where does it stop .

I know we will have differences in opinion but its also the livelihood of some folks.
https://youtu.be/NzRC3iTKRmk

[NickyC]

What if we all self identify as race cars? Anyone who doesn’t agree then is a horrific evil autophobe.

[FlyingLow78]

I understand that this is a car forum, and opinions may be biased toward the use of tuning devices. However, the RPM Act targets the EPA’s primary method of enforcement regarding vehicle emissions laws - to go after the manufacturer of the equipment. What you see SEMA supporting is the sensationalised view that the bill prevents the EPA from taking away our race cars. The intent is to scare you into supporting a bill that works against your best interests.

To be clear, the EPA doesn’t go after legitimate racing vehicles, but they do go after companies that making tuning modules designed to defeat emissions devices. Those idiots you see rolling coal are one example. Now that election season is over, obviously the industry is launching a media campaign to drum up support for the idea, and they’re only telling the automotive enthusiast half of the story. A quick google search found a bunch of recent articles about it, despite the bill going virtually nowhere since its introduction due to COVID and other political priorities last year.

I’m writing it again: The EPA isn’t concerned about actual race cars being used on racetracks. NASCAR, IRL, drag racing, modifieds, sprint cars, etc are not at risk. We are all aware of how popular devices like the JB4 are for making more power. They do so by, in part, defeating emissions equipment. The EPA doesn’t have the resources to go after all of the JB4 users, so they go after the manufacturers. I’m not a fan of breathing in soot, so I’ll be telling my representatives and senators to vote against this bill.

It has already been discussed at length here: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...hlight=RPM+Act

Read the proposed language here:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-.../2602?s=1&r=59

My comments here: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...6&postcount=42

The bill isn’t lengthy or particularly confusing, so give it a couple minutes to read and decide for yourself.

[4play]

Originally Posted by FlyingLow78

I understand that this is a car forum, and opinions may be biased toward the use of tuning devices. However, the RPM Act targets the EPA’s primary method of enforcement regarding vehicle emissions laws - to go after the manufacturer of the equipment. What you see SEMA supporting is the sensationalised view that the bill prevents the EPA from taking away our race cars. The intent is to scare you into supporting a bill that works against your best interests.

To be clear, the EPA doesn’t go after legitimate racing vehicles, but they do go after companies that making tuning modules designed to defeat emissions devices. Those idiots you see rolling coal are one example. Now that election season is over, obviously the industry is launching a media campaign to drum up support for the idea, and they’re only telling the automotive enthusiast half of the story. A quick google search found a bunch of recent articles about it, despite the bill going virtually nowhere since its introduction due to COVID and other political priorities last year.

I’m writing it again: The EPA isn’t concerned about actual race cars being used on racetracks. NASCAR, IRL, drag racing, modifieds, sprint cars, etc are not at risk. We are all aware of how popular devices like the JB4 are for making more power. They do so by, in part, defeating emissions equipment. The EPA doesn’t have the resources to go after all of the JB4 users, so they go after the manufacturers. I’m not a fan of breathing in soot, so I’ll be telling my representatives and senators to vote against this bill.

It has already been discussed at length here: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...hlight=RPM+Act

Read the proposed language here:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-.../2602?s=1&r=59

My comments here: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...6&postcount=42

The bill isn’t lengthy or particularly confusing, so give it a couple minutes to read and decide for yourself.

+1000

The EPA does not care about amateur auto racing or cars built for that purpose.

SEMA is being highly disingenuous with this bill - their members want to continue to be allowed to sell illegal emissions modifications (DPF/Cat deletes, etc) by adding a "for off road use only" disclaimer.

Recently, the EPA has started to enforce laws that have been on the books for many, many years which penalize those illegally modifying emissions control devices. That is the impetus behind this bill.

If you actually care about "saving our racecars", you could petition the EPA for clarification regarding conversion of road cars into race cars, but this bill does not do that. It's merely to protect the companies allowing trucks to roll coal and selling cat deletes for base model Civics.

Originally Posted by Wanted_M

I signed it.
Have you guys seen the EPA hitting several high performance shops looking for illegal defeating emissions devices? It all started with SCT and/or Bully Dog defeating diesel devices. VMP, Lund racing and several others got hit, I'm sure the European auto community is next. Where does it stop .

I know we will have differences in opinion but its also the livelihood of some folks.

If people's livelihoods involve illegal activities, I don't have any sympathy for them. Follow the law.

[FlyingLow78]

Originally Posted by 4play

If people's livelihoods involve illegal activities, I don't have any sympathy for them. Follow the law.

[Wanted_M]

I'll leave it at this.
It's comforting to know that our government is spending lots of time/effort with tax payers money on the aftermarket car/tuning industry that causes 0.000000000000000001% of the problem. What a joke...

Meanwhile China/India get a pass cause they pay off the right people but hey we have the Paris agreement. Peace out..

[FlyingLow78]

Originally Posted by Wanted_M

I'll leave it at this.
It's comforting to know that our government is spending lots of time/effort with tax payers money on the aftermarket car/tuning industry that causes 0.000000000000000001% of the problem. What a joke...

Meanwhile China/India get a pass cause they pay off the right people but hey we have the Paris agreement. Peace out..

No doubt the problem will get exponentially worse if manufacturers are suddenly insulated by the RPM Act and the EPA has to go after the actual customers. It would require to the EPA to get much, much more manpower, and states would have to make emissions testing much more stringent, which isn’t a good strategy. Vote against the bill to keep our taxes low.

[RugbyBro]

I remember the last RPM act thread on BP - I vaguely remember the conclusion was that it's being misrepresented by aftermarket-industry interests. FWIW I'm of the opinion that anyone who modifies their street car (including myself) has to do so with some level of humility, to understand that it can undone at anytime. I also don't really understand the craze on going catless on street cars - I can appreciate people not wanting their lungs and ears assaulted

[4play]

Originally Posted by Wanted_M

I'll leave it at this.
It's comforting to know that our government is spending lots of time/effort with tax payers money on the aftermarket car/tuning industry that causes 0.000000000000000001% of the problem. What a joke...

Meanwhile China/India get a pass cause they pay off the right people but hey we have the Paris agreement. Peace out..

It's actually a much more significant problem than you make it out to be.

Diesel trucks with DPF/EGR deletes cause over 10x more NOx and PM pollution than Dieselgate each and every year. 15% of all heavy duty trucks are emissions non-compliant. That is an enormous portion of the overall US vehicle fleet.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/c...pollution.html

In areas that struggle to meet AQS, emissions non-compliant vehicles represent significant polluters. I, for one, love having clean air and don't give a single shit about the people illegally modifying their vehicles and the companies that enable such behavior.

This is exactly the sort of problem that the government is good at solving, and exactly the sort of thing I want the government to spend time and money on. Additionally, the budget for enforcement has been the same for the past 17 years - there is no increase in spending to support this crackdown.

Your strawman about China and India's CO2 emissions is false and also not relevant to US air quality and the Clean Air Act.

The US has per capita CO2 emissions that are 2x China's and 9x India's, so even though it is irrelevant to this discussion, you are still wrong.

[Wanted_M]

Originally Posted by 4play

It's actually a much more significant problem than you make it out to be.

Diesel trucks with DPF/EGR deletes cause over 10x more NOx and PM pollution than Dieselgate each and every year. 15% of all heavy duty trucks are emissions non-compliant. That is an enormous portion of the overall US vehicle fleet.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/c...pollution.html

In areas that struggle to meet AQS, emissions non-compliant vehicles represent significant polluters. I, for one, love having clean air and don't give a single shit about the people illegally modifying their vehicles and the companies that enable such behavior.

This is exactly the sort of problem that the government is good at solving, and exactly the sort of thing I want the government to spend time and money on. Additionally, the budget for enforcement has been the same for the past 17 years - there is no increase in spending to support this crackdown.

Your strawman about China and India's CO2 emissions is false and also not relevant to US air quality and the Clean Air Act.

The US has per capita CO2 emissions that are 2x China's and 9x India's, so even though it is irrelevant to this discussion, you are still wrong.

You sure about that but what do I know.
China is the world's largest contributing country to CO2 emissions, a trend that has risen over the years now producing 10.06 billion metric tons of CO2. The biggest culprit of CO2 emissions for China is electricity from burning coal.
In 2019, China was the biggest emitter of fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. A share of almost 30 percent of the world's total CO2 emissions, this is about twice the amount emitted by the second largest emitter the good ole USA.. Now the US per capita is another story.


Global Energy Review for 2020 just released.
https://www.iea.org/articles/global-...ssions-in-2020

[Keca10]

Im all for making the rolling coal shit illegal.

[65fastback]

400 - 750 hp factory made epa compliant cars are everywhere and available to everyone. Find one that suits your needs and shut up. This isn't the 80s anymore we can all go as fast as we want.

[SYT_Shadow]

So, if I take my E92 M3 and want to turn it into a dedicated race car, strip it, gut it, trailer it and go to a decatted xpipe, then
A) does the 'mischaracterized bill' make it impossible or almost impossible for me to get a decatted xpipe? Software to run my decatted car?
Or
B) the 'mischaracterized bill' does not care about my car, because I've turned it into a 'racecar'

If the 'mischaracterized bill' does A, then it IS taking away my racecar. It is perfectly characterized. Unless I have money to buy a car that was built as a racecar originally, I am forced to run full cats/secondary air pump/etc crap on my home built racecar that is only used on the track

If the 'mischaracterized bill' does B, then it indeed mischaracterized and SEMA is fear mongering.

For all those that say SEMA is misconstruing the bill, please clarify


For the record, i hate catless cars on the street

[4play]

Originally Posted by Wanted_M

In 2019, China was the biggest emitter of fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. A share of almost 30 percent of the world's total CO2 emissions, this is about twice the amount emitted by the second largest emitter the good ole USA.. Now the US per capita is another story.

Per capita is a more accurate way to view CO2 emissions.

China produces 2x the emissions compared to the US, but has 4x the people and is rapidly modernizing its economy, so will only improve from here.

You mentioned India before but India's total emissions are less than half of the US and they also have 4x the people.

What's crazy is that countries like Australia are even worse than the US on a per capita basis because of their reliance on coal fired power generation. And middle eastern countries like Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are also heavy emitters because of their oil reserves being burned for energy.

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

So, if I take my E92 M3 and want to turn it into a dedicated race car, strip it, gut it, trailer it and go to a decatted xpipe, then
A) does the 'mischaracterized bill' make it impossible or almost impossible for me to get a decatted xpipe? Software to run my decatted car?
Or
B) the 'mischaracterized bill' does not care about my car, because I've turned it into a 'racecar'

If the 'mischaracterized bill' does A, then it IS taking away my racecar. It is perfectly characterized. Unless I have money to buy a car that was built as a racecar originally, I am forced to run full cats/secondary air pump/etc crap on my home built racecar that is only used on the track

If the 'mischaracterized bill' does B, then it indeed mischaracterized and SEMA is fear mongering.

For all those that say SEMA is misconstruing the bill, please clarify

For the record, i hate catless cars on the street

There is no bill currently proposed that would result in A or B. There are Clean Air Act regulations on the books that the EPA has enforced and continues to enforce that prohibit tampering with emissions control devices. The currently proposed bill that SEMA is supporting would place the onus on individuals rather than manufacturers, which would make the EPA's enforcement activities costlier and more difficult. It also would mean that the EPA could conduct individual enforcement, which means $10k fines to anyone found with tampered emissions controls.

If anything the current rules are closer to 'B' than to 'A' - the EPA does not conduct enforcement on individuals and trailed race cars are not subject to the Clean Air Act regs.

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

So, if I take my E92 M3 and want to turn it into a dedicated race car, strip it, gut it, trailer it and go to a decatted xpipe, then
A) does the 'mischaracterized bill' make it impossible or almost impossible for me to get a decatted xpipe? Software to run my decatted car?
Or
B) the 'mischaracterized bill' does not care about my car, because I've turned it into a 'racecar'

If the 'mischaracterized bill' does A, then it IS taking away my racecar. It is perfectly characterized. Unless I have money to buy a car that was built as a racecar originally, I am forced to run full cats/secondary air pump/etc crap on my home built racecar that is only used on the track

If the 'mischaracterized bill' does B, then it indeed mischaracterized and SEMA is fear mongering.

For all those that say SEMA is misconstruing the bill, please clarify


For the record, i hate catless cars on the street

It’s in between A & B in my view. Nothing stops you from doing anything to your own car AFAIK, and the EPA and state govt doesn’t care about your car being an off road car so long as you don’t drive it on a public road. The mischaracterization comes from SEMA selling this as the EPA is restricting your freedoms to do what you want with your own property (I.e turn a street car into a race car). The bill instead functions to release the aftermarket industry from liability for selling products/services that specifically defeat emissions controls. Now it’s also partially “A” because it would limit your choice as a consumer because aftermarket businesses aren’t supposed to be manufacturing these parts such as DPs or installing them to begin with. Basically, you can do what you want but you may not find the parts to do so as readily available, so somewhere between A & B

Like @65fastback already mentioned in this thread, we live in the age of emissions compliant, 700+HP ICE cars for under $100k. There isn’t really an excuse to be gutting your emissions safeguards in the pursuit of performance on a street registered vehicle. And I’m not saying that I’m judging anyone for modifying their street cars how they want, but as my post above says, we have to maintain humility and understand that we are in the wrong by modifying certified emissions components and should be ready to give it up when push comes to shove. Having said that, it doesn’t seem likely at all that the EPA will come after individuals or that they even have the power to, hence their targeting of businesses.