Recently, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) sent Kirk "Hardtail" Willard, Dave Dwyer and Jeff Hennie to meet with EPA officials at the National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Lab, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This was the third time the MRF has sent the same team to Michigan to acquire the most recent information on what is currently going on and what will be happening concerning the EPA rule effecting motorcycle emissions.
The MRF met with Linc Wehrly from the EPA Office of Certification and Innovative Strategies and Rob French of the Assessments and Standards Division. During the meeting some important new information was revealed to the MRF on the status of the rule and what may occur in the future.
If the U.S. were to choose to adopt the World Motorcycle Test Cycle (WMTC) standards, the EPA would have to reintroduce the standards in a newly proposed rule which could provide an opportunity to revisit the prevailing exemptions to the current rule.
The Letter of Guidance proposed by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) will not effect the exemptions detailed in the current rule. It is unclear to the EPA if they can ultimately accept the letter of guidance to carry out the rule the way it is written.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) was assigned to review the effects of the strengthened emissions standards for motorcycles in California to determine if the lower standard did have significant impact on air quality. The review has not commenced and has not been scheduled at this point. However, the review could definitely have an impact on the direction EPA decides to pursue with its Tier 3 standards for motorcycles.
"The MRF is the only national advocacy group, of any kind, that we (the EPA), meet with regularly to discuss the impact of the rulemaking process on their members." Said Linc Wehrly, EPA.
The MRF will continue to be the nation’s leader when it comes to providing accurate, up to date information on the EPA situation as well as all other issues that impact motorcyclists on the federal level.
Ride With The Leaders by joining the MRF at http://www.mrf.org/join.php or call 1-202-546-0983.
(c)All Information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction permitted with attribution. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation, incorporated in 1987, is a membership-based, national motorcyclists' rights organization headquartered in Washington, DC. The first motorcyclists' rights organization to establish a full-time presence in Washington, DC, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation is the only Washington voice devoted exclusively to the street rider. The MRF established MRFPAC in the early 1990s to advocate the election of candidates who would champion the cause of rider safety and rider freedom.
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