The Senate joined the House Thursday in opposing the Obama administration’s proposed regulations banning race cars.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida made the Environmental Protection Agency rules a national issue last month ahead of the South Carolina primary, calling them an affront to U.S. hobbyists who modify cars into racers to compete on the hundreds of local speedways and dirt tracks that dot the U.S. countryside.
The House introduced legislation to roll back the regulations earlier this week. The Senate followed suit Thursday afternoon.
The GOP-backed “Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2016,” or RPM Act, was introduced by Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Dean Heller of Nevada.
“Both bills seek to ensure that converting street vehicles to race cars used exclusively in competition does not violate the Clean Air Act,” the industry group that is leading the charge against the rule said.
The EPA made a tweak to its light-duty vehicle rules last year that effectively makes the race cars illegal because of modifications owners make to their emission controls.
“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.
“This policy would contradict the Clean Air Act, congressional intent and decades-long application of the law in the marketplace,” said Doug Evans, the group’s chairman of the board. The group “contends that this EPA proposal represents clear agency overreach and is an incorrect reading of the Clean Air Act by current EPA officials.”
