Saved From The Scrapyard
Hobbyist Protections Added
to Lessen Impact of Cash for Clunkers Program
It seemed inevitable. In response to the economic tsunami, nations around
the world have enacted cash for clunkers programs to help jump-start new
car sales. The United States has now joined the crowd. But, there is good
news. The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) and the SEMA Action
Network (SAN) persuaded Congress to spare cars 25-years and older from the
scrappage heap and expand parts recycling opportunities under the new law.
Congress passed the controversial program in June. Consumers who voluntarily
participate, will receive a voucher to help buy a new car in exchange for
scrapping a less fuel-efficient vehicle. The SAN was able to ease the program’s
effects by convincing lawmakers to include a requirement that the trade-in
vehicle be a model year 1984 or newer vehicle. This provision will help safeguard
older vehicles that may possess ‘historic or aesthetic value’ and are irreplaceable
to hobbyists as a source of restoration parts. The measure also allows all
parts to be recycled except the engine. Lawmakers were convinced to permit
the drive train to be recycled if the transmission, drive shaft or rear end
are sold as separate parts.
The cash for clunkers war had two battles. The first ended in mid-February
when President Obama signed a clunker-free stimulus bill into law. For the
previous two months, thousands of SAN members responded in force by deluging
lawmakers with e-mails, faxes and phone calls in opposition to a scrappage
program.
The second battle began on March 30 when President Obama embraced the idea
as part of a financial aid package to help a struggling auto industry. The
signal was sent—when, and not if a scrappage program would be initiated.
The SAN then focused its efforts on lessening the impact of the program on
the hobbyist community.
“SEMA and the SAN are disappointed that Congress ignored evidence that vehicle
scrappage programs will not achieve claimed environmental benefits,” said
Steve McDonald, SEMA’s Vice President of Government Affairs. “However, we
are pleased that lawmakers agreed not to include the older cars and parts
that help drive the passions of many in the automotive hobbyist community.”
Under the program, consumers who agree to scrap a trade-in car that gets
18 miles per gallon or less (15 mpg or less for heavy pick-ups and vans)
will receive a voucher to buy a qualifying new car. The voucher will range
from $3,500 to $4,500 based on the new car’s fuel efficiency. The program
primarily targets SUVs and pickups since most passenger cars manufactured
during the last 25 years get more than the 18 mpg combined city/highway requirement.
The car buyer will receive a $3,500 voucher if they buy a new passenger car
that was rated at 4 mpg higher than the older vehicle, or a new pickup truck/SUV
that was at least 2 mpg higher than the old truck. They will receive a $4,500
voucher if the passenger car was at least 10 mpg higher and the truck/SUV
was at least 5 mpg higher.
Lawmakers want the program to last one year but have only set aside $1 billion
to fund car purchases made from July 1-Nov. 1, 2009. They will seek
another $3 billion later this summer to fund the program into 2010.
“It took countless meetings with lawmakers and their staff in order to secure
the 25-year exemption and recycling provisions,” said SEMA Director of Regulatory
Affairs Stuart Gosswein. “While it proved impossible to kill the scrappage
program, lawmakers were keenly aware of the SAN’s opposition to the program
and wanted to remove any unintended consequences to the hobbyist community.
Your voices were heard.”
Hemmings e-Weekly Volume
3 - Issue 28
12/20/2007 - By David Traver Adolphus
Sticker Stats
New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer has signed legislation that requires
automobile manufacturers to affix a “global warming index” sticker to new
cars and passenger trucks beginning in the 2010 model year, detailing carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. New York State apartment of Environmental
Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis applauded this legislation, saying
the label will be a valuable tool for consumers, similar to mileage ratings
for cars: “ This legislation will promote environmental consumerism by providing
user-friendly information to enable buyers to take into consideration the
impact a vehicle’s emissions have on air quality and climate change.” The
requirement takes effect beginning with 2010 models and applies to passenger
vehicles and light-duty trucks with a gross weight of 8,500 pounds or less.
Each sticker will include an index that compares the emissions of global warming
gases from the vehicle with the average projected emissions from all vehicles
of the same model year; and identifies the vehicle model within its class
with the lowest emissions of that model year. The index will be based on emissions
of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons
and sulfur hexafluoride. New York plans on modeling its standards on those
set by California. By having parallel standards, automobile manufacturers
won’t be required to develop different stickers for different states, and
consumer groups should be able to provide uniform information to car buyers
The EPA wants to stop old-car restorations
Hemmings Classic Car - FEBRUARY 1, 2008 - BY RICHARD LENTINELLO
My column in HCC #38, "Alternative Painting Techniques," didn't seem to
go over too well with one of our readers. Obviously a spineless, environmental-extremist
wacko, this reader forwarded a copy of my column to the United States Environmental
Protection Agency of New England, whereupon we received a pleasant letter
from Susan Lancey of the Air Permit, Toxics and Indoor Programs Unit. Susan
was kind enough to advise us of some pending legislation that will soon be
signed into law, and sent us a copy of the new regulation.
Ms. Lancey's letter reads:
"I was recently
forwarded a copy of an article titled "Alternative Painting Techniques" published
in the November 2007 issue of Hemmings Classic Car magazine. I noted
that the article did not mention environmental regulations that may apply
to the painting discussed in the article. I am writing to inform you that
on September 17, 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed
federal regulations in the Federal Register which, when finalized, will regulate
surface coating of metal parts and plastic parts, including auto body refinishing.
I have enclosed a copy of the proposed regulation and a fact sheet for your
review.
"This regulation is scheduled to be finalized in December 2007, after consideration
of public comment on the proposed rule. For surface coating operations, the
proposed rule would require sources to implement equipment and management
practices that minimize the amount of coating required and to capture toxic
metal particulates from the process. The equipment practices include confining
spray operations to within a properly filtered spray booth or preparation
station, using high volume low pressure (HVLP) or equivalent spray equipment,
and either cleaning spray guns manually or by using an enclosed spray gun
washer. The management practices include proper training and certification
of painters.
"When published in the Federal Register, the final rule will specify how
it may apply to any person refinishing an automobile. At that time you may
want to inform your readers of the new regulations. You should also be aware
that states have environmental regulations that may also apply to these types
of activities."
Susan was kind enough to include a Fact Sheet, which gave a brief outline
of the impending regulations. Listed among the Action items, one bullet point
read: "The proposed standards apply to area sources that engage in:
- paint stripping operations
that use methylene chloride (MeCl)-containing paint
- surface coating operations
that involve paints that contain metal HAP compounds
- autobody refinishing
But what's truly scary is the
following bullet point:
- Area sources are those that
have the potential to emit less than 10 tons per year of a single toxic air
pollutant or less than 25 tons per year of any combination of toxic air pollutants.
If sources emit more than these amounts, they are called 'major' sources.
I'm concerned with the use
of the word "less" in the above bullet point. Although no home restorer will
ever produce 10 tons per year of a toxic air pollutant, all of us will certainly
produce less than that amount. And therein lies the issue. Basically, what
this regulation is saying is that no one will be allowed to spray a toxic
finish-i.e. auto body paint-outside of the confines of a properly filtered
spray booth. In short, folks, we're screwed.
To find out more details, I called Susan about this regulation. I asked if
the EPA took into consideration how much harm they will be doing to not only
home restorers, but the entire collector-car hobby and associated industry,
too, and was told that the EPA did take into consideration public comment
on the regulation.
When I asked where the EPA obtained these public comments, Susan said they
were gathered from their Web site. So, because this and other proposed federal
regulations are only posted on the EPA Web site, and, let's face it, how
many citizens know to go there, virtually no one knew about it to protest.
Oh yeah, there was only a 30-day window in which to submit an objection to
the regulation, and that window was slammed shut on us back in September.
How nice.
And it's going to get worse. I just learned from another source that, by
the year 2011, the EPA is looking into restricting the sale of auto body paints
to only those who are certified to use the product. It's the EPA's way of
reducing the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released into the
atmosphere. Unless you are certified, and have a $100,000 filtered paint
booth, you won't be able to buy the necessary paints to restore old cars,
trucks or motorcycles.
All these regulations prove once again just how misguided the EPA folks really
are, and how little consideration they have for us. The amount of VOCs that
body shops and hobbyists emit into the air is probably less than 1/100th
of 1 percent of the total amount produced each year. I bet Al Gore creates
more pollution flying around in his private jet each day than 10,000 hobbyists
create in a year of painting old cars. Restoring old cars is the ultimate
form of recycling, yet the EPA wants to stop it. How smart is that?
Although
it's too late to stop the anti-painting law, there's still time to do something
to protect your freedom to buy auto body paint. Go to the EPA Web site, www.epa.gov,
and voice your concerns now, before it's too late.
*SEMA Instrumental in Delivering Pro-Hobbyist EPA Auto body Paint
Rule*
*New Regulation Protects Hobbyists and the Environment*
After incorporating
several recommendations from SEMA, including an exemption for hobbyists who
paint their own vehicles, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released
a final rule to regulate paint stripping, surface coating and auto body-refinishing
operations. The new regulation targets hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) that
the agency believes may cause cancer or other health disorders.
“As this proposal
was deliberated over the last two years, there was significant concerns that
the regulation would have a drastic impact on the ability of individual hobbyists
to purchase and use these types of paint,” said SAN Director Jason Tolleson.
“Through discussions with the EPA, SEMA was able to convince regulators that
a rule could be produced that would develop ‘best practices’ for business
operations while exempting hobbyists who infrequently paint their personal
vehicles.”
As a result,
the regulation does not apply to paint stripping and surface coating performed
by individuals as part of a hobby or for maintenance of their personal vehicles—so
long as those activities do not exceed two motor vehicles (or the equivalent
in pieces) per year. Additionally, the rule does not apply to painting done
with an airbrush or hand-held, non-refillable aerosol cans.
The EPA rule
establishes best practices (spray booth, spray gun cleaning, etc.) for minimizing
HAP emissions during commercial surface-coating operations. All shops are
effectively required to have a filtered spray booth or prep station and use
high-volume low-pressure (HVLP) or equivalent spray equipment. Spray guns
are required to be cleaned manually or with an enclosed spray-gun washer.
The EPA believes many shops have already implemented these best practices.
Under the new
rule, owners and operators are required to provide training for their painters
on how to properly spray surface coatings and clean equipment. The EPA has
established minimum criteria required for in-house training, and painters
would be required to complete refresher training and be re-certified every
five years.
Existing operations
have up to three years to purchase equipment and complete the initial training
of employees. As recommended by SEMA, the EPA will rely on self-certification
for training programs. Nevertheless, companies subject to the rule must send
the EPA a one-time notification form stating that they are in compliance
with the rule or will be within the allotted three years. Companies will
have two years to submit the notification form, which will contain contact
information and a brief description of the operation: number of spray booths,
average number of employed painters, etc. Companies will be required to maintain
in-house records verifying painter training/certification, filter replacement,
a plan to control paint-stripping chemicals, etc.
For more information
about the rule, contact Jason Tolleson at jasont@sema.org or by phone at 202/783-6007,
ext. 39.
*New EPA Autobody
Painting Regulation: *
·
Exempts hobbyists who paint two cars or less per year
·
Business operations are required to have a spray booth, proper filters and
spray gun cleaners.
·
EPA now requires businesses to provide initial notification to the agency
on their paint operations and requires training for all employees involved
in painting activities.
·
Businesses must maintain in-house records verifying compliance, filter replacement
and plans to control hazardous air pollutants within the facility.
New York Assembly
Transportation
Committe
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