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EPA to Expand E15 Ethanol Fuel Sales into Summer

By General Posts

Following long-fought debate, the Biden Administration announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue a temporary waiver to allow for the summertime sale of gasoline with up to 15% ethanol (E15) to help address high fuel costs. Currently, E15 cannot be sold between June 1 and September 15 due to fuel-volatility concerns that higher blends of ethanol combined with warmer temperatures may lead to increased ground-level ozone formation and smog. The agency will review the waiver every 20 days to determine if remaining in place is justified.

Summertime sales of E15 has been a hot-button issue for years. The Biden Administration says this latest decision is based on its authority to pursue a temporary emergency action.

Ethanol, especially in higher concentrations such as E15, can cause metal corrosion and dissolve certain plastics and rubbers in older automobiles that were not constructed with ethanol-resistant materials and in certain specialty high-performance equipment installed on newer vehicles. SEMA opposes the expansion of E15 gasoline as a lack of clear labeling on gas pumps does not provide sufficient protection to guard against misfuelling.

Join SEMA – visit Website at: https://www.semasan.com/

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Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2021

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This week Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Jon Tester (D-MT), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Joe Manchin (D-WV) reintroduced the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports (RPM) Act of 2021. The bill, S. 2736, ensures that racing enthusiasts continue to have the ability to convert motor vehicles into vehicles used solely for competition. This bill also clarifies that it is legal under federal law to manufacture, sell, distribute, and install race parts that modify the emissions system of a motor vehicle that is used solely for racing.

The bill is in response to actions taken by the EPA in 2015. At that time, the EPA issued a proposed regulation that would prohibit the conversion of emissions-certified motor vehicles into vehicles used in motorsports competitions. The 2015 proposed regulation also prevented the sale or use of emissions-related race parts for those modified vehicles.

An important component of S. 2736 is that it helps protect the aftermarket parts industry. A robust and thriving aftermarket parts industry is vital to the motorcyclist community. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation is part of a broad collaboration of groups working together in D.C. on this topic.

As you may remember, earlier this year the House of Representatives introduced a similar bill, H.R. 3281, that now has 101 cosponsors. To see if your member of the House is a cosponsor of the RPM Act, click here.

If you’d like to read more about the Senate bill, click here.

Look for further updates and calls to actions on this issue before the end of the year!

See you in Atlanta!

Next week is shaping up to be another great Meeting of the Minds! If you make it down to Atlanta, be sure to introduce yourself to our D.C. lobbyist, Rocky Fox. Rocky is always looking to learn about what you are working on back home.

An important part of Meeting of the Minds is making connections between our members around the country and back in D.C. If you have relationships with your hometown Senators or Congressman, make sure Rocky knows!

Let’s have a great few days down South!

https://mrf.org/

About Motorcycle Riders Foundation
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) provides leadership at the federal level for states’ motorcyclists’ rights organizations as well as motorcycle clubs and individual riders.

EPA chief defends decision to pull out of Calif. mpg talks

By General Posts

Washington — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler defended the Trump administration’s decision to pull out of talks with California about new rules for gas mileage.

Speaking to reporters Thursday at the Washington Auto Show, Wheeler said he is confident the Trump administration’s proposal to roll back stringent rules that would require automakers to produce fleets that average more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025 will hold up in court if it is successfully finalized later this year.

“Our goal from the beginning was a 50-state solution,” he said. “I met with (the California Air Resources Board) three times since taking the helm of EPA last July. But despite our best efforts, we could not reach a solution and decided to end the discussions. We embrace federalism and the role of states, but federalism does not mean that one state can dictate the standards for the entire nation.”

Asked what would happen if California proceeds with a lawsuit that has already been filed over the proposal to rule back mileage rules, Wheeler said: “We’ll go to court if they do that. I believe we’re on firm legal footing and I believe that our standards will be upheld by the courts.”

The Trump administration announced last year its intention to ease stringent gas-mileage rules that would have required fleets averaging more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025. The administration proposed a freeze in the mandate after 2020, when their lineups must average 39 mpg.

Automakers cheered the decision to reopen the so-called midterm review they were promised when the Obama-era gas mileage rules were agreed to in 2011. But they hoped the Trump administration would quickly reach an agreement with California on a new set of rules to prevent a lengthy legal battle that would leave the mpg requirements for the next half-decade in limbo.

The Trump administration has floated the idea of moving to revoke a longstanding waiver allowing California and other states to set their own stricter auto emissions standards. Thirteen states and Washington, D.C., have adopted California’s mileage rules, meaning automakers could be left with one set of rules for a quarter of the country and another set for the remaining states.

Revoking California’s waiver, which is ensconced in the Clean Air Act, would require an act of Congress that is unlikely with the U.S. House under Democratic control.

Wheeler said the Trump administration is focused on making sure new cars are affordable enough for consumers to purchase new models that are more fuel-efficient.

“Our overarching goal is to get more Americans into newer, safer, cleaner vehicles,” he said, noting that the average age of a car on U.S. roadways is more than 12 years.

Wheeler touted the EPA’s enforcement actions against automakers that have been investigated for emissions violations. The agency reached an $800 million settlement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles this year to resolve allegations from federal regulators that the company used software on about 104,000 diesel-powered pickups and SUVs that is similar to “defeat devices” used by Volkswagen AG to cheat U.S. emissions-testing.

“We’re committed to vigorously enforcing the nation’s environmental laws,” Wheeler said Thursday. “EPA has stopped the sale of over 1 million after-market defeat devices…In this year alone, we’ve stopped roughly 2,220 illegal vehicles and engines at the border and held the importers and the manufacturers accountable for many more illegal foreign products.”

2019 federal spending package increases infrastructure funding

By General Posts

It took a while, but a 2019 spending package was finally approved by Congress, signed by President Trump, and enacted February 15. In addition to the $1.375 billion for southwest border barriers, the package also includes full-year 2019 funding levels for important federal infrastructure programs, including the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Engineering News-Record reports.

The 2019 package is the second year of a two-year, bipartisan House-Senate budget deal that included a pledge to raise overall federal infrastructure spending by $20 billion over 2017 levels. It sets the federal-aid highway obligation ceiling at $45.3 billion, up $1 billion, or 2 percent, from 2018 and equal to the amount authorized in the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), which comes from the Highway Trust Fund.

The legislation also contains $3.25 billion more from the general fund for highways, up from $2.525 billion in 2018. A 2019 “bonus” amount includes $2.73 billion for states, up from $1.98 billion in 2018, and $475 million for bridge replacement and rehabilitation, more than double the 2018 amount.

Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grants received $900 million for 2019, down 40 percent from 2018, but it was not discontinued as President Trump suggested. The program was originally called Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER.

The Federal Transit Administration will receive $13.4 billion for 2019, down $67 million from 2018, with transit formula grants getting $9.9 billion and capital investment grants receiving $2.5 billion, down from $2.6 billion in 2018. An additional $700 million, down from $834 million in 2018, goes for transit infrastructure grants, which include bus facilities and “state of good repair” projects.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program was frozen at 2018’s $3.35 billion, an amount that comes from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Lawmakers also tapped the general fund for an additional $500 million in FAA discretionary airport grants, down 50 percent from 2018.

The EPA’s water infrastructure account will receive $3.6 billion, a 1 percent increase over 2018 levels. Clean Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) will receive $1.7 billion and Drinking Water SRFs will get $1.2 billion.

Ural Phenomenon : the Incredible Sidecar Sub-culture Among Motorcyclists

By General Posts

Soviet Russian espionage during World War II, Nazi motorcycles, hacking, ancient resource rich Ural mountains, a defunct brewery factory, privatization – what have these things got in common? A legendary sidecar wielding motorcycle is what they all mixed together to create in the heat of world economy.

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A legacy of WWII is now an ambassador of goodwill and friendship across the world. We present two-part Feature Article on Ural sidecar motorcycles.