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We are losing our Freedoms Comrade!
5/17/11 update
The following is an update regarding
Yamaha’s efforts to end the ban on youth model ATVs and
Motorcycles caused by the lead provisions of the Consumer
Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), a law passed by
Congress in 2008:
• Yamaha and the Powersports
industry have been diligently working with Congress to end this
ban. Democrats and Republicans in Congress agree that the ban
on these products was unintended and places children in
danger. • Congress took an important first step to fix
this problem on Thursday, May 12, when a House
Subcommittee approved legislation entitled, "Enhancing CPSC
Authority and Discretion Act of 2011 - ECADA”. •
ECADA includes a provision that sets reasonable and achievable
lead limits in the metal parts of "outdoor recreational
products" (youth model ATVs, motorcycles and snowmobiles). The
bill also mandates a total lead content limit of .03% or
less for non-metal parts of these products. • Yamaha and
other industry members support this bill. The bill will next be
considered by the full House Energy and Commerce Committee
during the week of May 23. It is expected to pass and will
then be considered by the entire House of Representatives.
• An amendment to give our products a categorical exclusion
from the lead limits may be offered during the debate on
the House floor. • The bill should pass the House but it
faces an uncertain future in the Democrat-controlled
Senate. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jon Tester (D-MT) and
Joe Manchin (D-WV) have promised to introduce Senate
legislation that would give a categorical exclusion for our
products from the lead provision of the CPSIA. We will continue
to work with these Senators to ensure that they follow
through on their commitment. • WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Please contact your elected representatives to urge them to
support legislation to end to the ban on our youth model
products. Your calls and e-mails are critically important
and do make a difference. To contact your Senator or
Congressman, visit
www.StopTheBanNow.com and follow the
instructions to send an e-mail or letter, or place a call
to your Member of Congress.
What's going on?
5/12/09
We have received a Stay on the CPSIA until 2011, but the fight
is NOT over! We can begin selling parts and accessories
and even youth bikes and ATVs again- but we still need to push
the government for PERMENANT RELIEF
The Motorcycle Industry Council 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.
HISTORY
As of Tuesday, February 10th, 2009, the small powersports industry has all but been shut down.
In a blind attempt to protect our children 12 and under,
the Consumer Products Safety Administration has decided
that because of the lead content in our motorcycles and
ATVs, these products, and parts to fix these products, can
no longer be sold for use by children 12 and under.
This
affects not only dealers and new units but individuals all
across the U.S. Replacement parts
availability for every used unit in the nation- ATVs and
motorcycles you already own- has been suspended and called under question.
Certain parts of a motor vehicle are required by safety
standards to have lead in them, but now products for children
12 and under cannot contain any lead...typical bureaucracy!
This issue is far reaching not only
financially but also concerning safety. With the suspension
of proper sized ATV's and motorcycles, young
riders will be tempted to use improperly sized and built
machines which could (but Lord willing won't) lead to
severe injuries.
- On Friday
4/2/09 CPSC 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 Motorcycle Industry Council 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.
PLEASE ACT NOW!!
What can you do?
1. Write your Congressman, State Senator or any other
government official and tell them what you think!
2. Go to this
web site and follow the links
REMEMBER, this is just the start of our loss of freedoms.
Get active today
SOCIALISM SUCKS- I'll die fighting for
my freedoms- what about you?!
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