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Motorcycle Industry Council: Enthusiasts and
Industry Must Mount Massive Grassroots Effort to
Advocate for Amendment to the CPSIA
CPSC
Recommendations to Amend CPSIA Could Stop the
Ban on Youth Motorcycles and ATVs; Urge Congress
to Act Swiftly on Proposed Changes
IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 19, 2010 – The
Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) supports the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission’s recommendation to Congress to give
the agency more flexibility to grant exclusions
from the lead
content limit to address certain products.
The CPSC requested this flexibility in its
January 15 report to Congress
containing recommendations to improve the
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).
“We are encouraged that the consensus report
of all five Commissioners specifically mentions
ATVs and dirtbikes,
recognizing the dangers to riders caused by the
current ban on youth motorcycles and ATVs,” said
MIC general
counsel, Paul Vitrano.
In addition to the consensus report, MIC is
encouraged that CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum
also called on Congress
to create a new “functional purpose” exclusion
to the lead content limits. This amendment
would permit the
Commission to grant exclusions for youth ATVs
and motorcycles since lead in many accessible
components is necessary
for their functional purpose, contact with those
components is infrequent and the elimination of
lead is impracticable
or impossible based on available scientific or
technical information.
“It is clear that the CPSC strongly believes
that the ban on youth model ATVs and motorcycles
needs to end,” Vitrano
also said. “MIC calls on Congress to draft
legislation as soon as possible to either grant
a categorical exemption for
these products, as provided by H.R. 1587, a
pending bill with 55 bi-partisan co-sponsors, or
to give the CPSC the
flexibility to do so.”
In a Jan. 12 letter, the MIC thanked the CPSC
for its efforts to promote youth safety by
implementing a temporary
stay to make some youth vehicles available
despite the ban. MIC also suggested three
ways to completely or
substantially exclude or exempt youth
off-highway motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles
from those provisions:
1.
a “functional purpose” amendment
2. a categorical
exemption, such as would be provided by H.R.
1587
3. a change in the
definition of “accessibility” for powersports
products
Vitrano said it will again be critical for
enthusiasts and industry to mount a massive
grassroots effort targeting Congress
to advocate for one of these amendments to the
CPSIA. In the coming days, MIC will be
launching advocacy campaigns
through
www.stopthebannow.com.
The MIC letter can be read at this link:
http://tiny.cc/8iJ3x
The Motorcycle Industry Council exists to
preserve, protect and promote motorcycling
through government relations,
communications and media relations, statistics
and research, aftermarket programs, development
of data communications
standards, and activities surrounding technical
and regulatory issues. It is a not-for-profit,
national industry association
representing manufacturers and distributors of
motorcycles, scooters, motorcycle/ATV/ROV parts
and accessories, and
members of allied trades such as insurance,
finance and investment companies, media
companies and consultants. The
MIC is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., with a
government relations office adjacent to
Washington, D.C. First called the MIC in 1970, the organization has been in operation
since 1914. Visit the MIC at
www.mic.org.
Contact the Motor Industry Council Media
Relations at (949) 727-4211 x 3027
About NOHVCC
The National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation
Council, as a national body of OHV recreation
enthusiasts, develops and provides a wide
spectrum of programs, materials and information,
or "tools", to individuals, clubs, associations
and agencies in order to further a positive
future for responsible OHV recreation.
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