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- Monday April 13, 2009. According to CPSC spokesperson, final vote on lead exclusion for ATVs and dirt bikes not expected from CPSC today -- will update again tomorrow.
- 4/10/09 -- Update from CPSC spokesperson. No commission vote today on ATV/dirt bike request for a lead exemption. Will most likely be next week.
Recent posts:
- Letter from Senators to Acting Chairman Nord
- Video of Professional riders,MX champions and world-class athletes
talking about the lead ban
- News Release: MIC, SVIA DISAPPOINTED THAT CPSC CHAIRMAN
NANCY NORD INTENDS TO VOTE AGAINST INDUSTRY PETITIONS
- When the new lead standard took effect on February 10, 2009, all youth models of ATVs and dirt bikes designed and intended primarily for children 6 to 12 years of age became classified as banned hazardous substances.
- The reason? Some components in these ATVs and dirt bikes – such as valve stems on tires, aluminum in brake components, and terminals on batteries – contain small quantities of lead, either for safety (such as machining the deep grooves on tire valves to assure tire air retention) or functionality (such as lead in battery terminals needed to conduct electricity). This lead poses no risk for kids.
- Suddenly, dealerships across the United States had to remove perfectly good products from their showrooms – a tough pill for businesses to swallow at any time, but particularly in this economy.
- These are hard working, independent small businesses. What does the government do for them? They don’t get bailout money or a loan. Instead, the government tells them that products that were perfectly safe on February 9 are considered a banned hazardous substance on February 10.
- This issue is far reaching not only financially but also concerning safety. With the suspension of proper sized ATV's and motorcycles suspended, young riders will be tempted to use improperly sized and built machines which could (but Lord willing won't) lead to severe injuries.
- In January, the ATV and dirt bike industries filed a petition with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requesting that their products be excluded from these new lead content provisions, hoping that common sense would prevail in cases like theirs, where scientific evidence shows there will be no increase in a child’s blood lead level from exposure to their products.
- Last Friday 4/2/09 Chairman Nancy Nord announced that she intended to vote against the petition that our industry submitted. We believe that the petition submitted to the agency was based on sound science and showed that there is no measurable risk to children resulting from lead exposure from these products.
- We are in agreement with Chairman's Nord's comment that "the lead content mandates of the CPSIA to the products may have the perverse effect of actually endangering children by forcing youth-sized vehicles off the market and resulting in children riding the far more dangerous adult-sized ATV's."
- CPSC, consumer advocates and industry have worked for years to get kids onto youth model ATVs - many of which are now not available because of the unintended consequences of this legislation.
- Regarding Nord’s proposed stay of enforcement, we need to review the actual text of such a stay before we can comment.
- In addition, it is important to note that CPSC Commissioner Thomas Moore has not yet commented on the petition, nor do we know the position of the state attorneys general on this matter.
- No stay will provide the ATV/motorcycle industry with complete relief because – absent an exclusion - CPSC does not have the power to change the lead content requirements or their applicability to our products.
- It is clear that the only way for our industry to obtain permanent and complete relief is through Congressional action.
- As a result of CPSC’s denial, we must intensify all efforts to get Congressional support for a legislative fix. One way is to strongly advocate two new bills that have been introduced, S. 608 and H.R. 1587.
- Introduced by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., on March 17, S.608 would amend the CPSIA to exclude secondary sales, repair services and certain vehicles, including youth ATVs and motorcycles, from the ban on lead in children's products.
- U.S. Reps. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., Michael Burgess, R-Texas, Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, introduced H.R. 1587 on March 18 in the U.S. House of Representatives to amend the lead prohibition provisions of the CPSIA to provide an exemption for certain off-highway vehicles, along with other purposes.
- The MIC is urging its members, dealers, and enthusiasts to act and show their support for S. 608 and H.R. 1587 by contacting their members of Congress and appropriate committee members via www.StopTheBanNow.com.
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