EPA crashes amateur car races with buried regulation

A “power grab” by the Environmental Protection Agency threatens to crash America’s amateur car-racing industry without putting so much as a dent in climate change, warns the chairman of the House Space, Science and Technology Committee. The EPA’s move to regulate emissions on non-road racing vehicles contradicted agency administrator Gina McCarthy’s earlier testimony that the EPA did not have authority over non-road race cars and motorcycles. EPA officials said they are “clarifying” emissions law, yet the Clean Air Act has long exempted non-road vehicles used in competition. The agency has not made a similar move against NASCAR or other professional race circuits.  Smith said the agency’s “backdoor power grab (was) buried in medium- and heavy-duty truck regulations.” Amateur racing interests complained they were ambushed. “In the table of contents for the 629-page rule, there was no reference to ‘Competition Use Engines/Vehicles’ or any similar heading,” said Christopher Kersting, president and CEO of the Specialty Equipment Market Association...more