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SAVE RACING VEHICLES

Published on 12/23/2019


Write your Congressman today with this pre-wrote link to voice your opinion. sema.org/rpm 


RPM Act:

On Tuesday, Rep. McHenry (R-NC) and Rep. Ruiz (D-CA) introduced the RPM Act in the House (you may recall the Senate bill was introduced in October, led by Sen. Burr (R-NC) and Sen. Manchin (D – WV)). We have attached a copy of the House bill, which in its current iteration, does not contain reference to a vehicle registry.  We are pleased to have bipartisan original sponsors of the bill given the Dem’s majority in the house, yet expect this bill will be a starting point for debate and negotiation over specific language (as we experienced previously).

 

Now that the legislation has been introduced in both houses of Congress, we are launching the campaign to get the bill passed in the year ahead. While this will be a challenge in an election year with a deeply divided Congress, we have a potential pathway for the bill by attaching it to one of the larger legislative vehicles (primary target is The Highway Reauthorization bill).

We have attached the “tool kit” we are sending to SEMA members so they can easily empower their enthusiast customers to contact legislators to support RPM. I would ask each of you to use this tool kit to reach your customers urging support.  If you have any questions regarding these materials, please feel free to contact Daniel Ingber (danieli@sema.org) in the DC office. We are also moving forward with our outreach campaign to alert and push the media and the enthusiast community to contact their legislators in support of RPM.  

Status & Process for RPM:  The House version, H.R. 5434, currently has 10 bipartisan cosponsors (6 Rep./4 Dem.), including five members of the House Energy & Commerce (E&C) Committee.  Our goal is for E&C to hold a hearing on the bill and pass the legislation in the first quarter of 2020.  We will simultaneously work to have the RPM Act text included within the House Transportation Committee’s Highway Reauthorization bill.  SEMA has also asked the Senate sponsors of the RPM Act to send a letter asking the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to pass the bill.

Low Volume Vehicle Manufacturers Act – NHTSA Regulations

While still awaiting official publication in the Federal Register, NHTSA today published on the agency website the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for our Low Volume Vehicle Manufacturers Act. We are reviewing the notice now (118 pages) – and so far it appears to be a workable proposed regulation.  (link to the NPRM: https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/replica_vehicle_program_nprm_12172019.pdf)

NHTSA is providing 30 days for public comment on its proposed rule.  SEMA will be submitting comments on behalf of the industry to urge the most favorable regulations so that companies can begin production.  We have attached the SEMA Press Release that will go out today on this positive development. Very pleased to have shaken this matter loose at NHTSA and look forward now to getting a productive final regulation.



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