EPA Regulation Information

BACK IN THE SEPTEMBER 2004 ISSUE , MARJORIE KLEIMAN DID a “How It Works” on the new EPA regulations. It detailed how many in the industry believe these regulations will severely impact what you can and cannot do with your motorcycle, be it a ground-up custom build or a stocker you want to get a few more ponies from. It was an article that many people did not take the time to read. I know this to be true because we received only a handful of letters about the piece. It seems like many people would rather ignore the topic. In fact, even when I tell riders what the new EPA rules will prevent them from doing to their bike, the response I always hear is, “They’ll never be able to do that!” Unfortunately, the EPA already has. The following is a reprint of an MRF Position Paper released on May 12, 2004, titled EPA For The Layman, The Motorcycle Riders Foundation’s Review of the EPA’s Emissions Regulations for Highway Motorcycles for 49 States (except California) Issued In December 2003. In it, the MRF lays out in a simple question and answer format some of the onerous rules that the EPA has passed into law right under our noses. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us, myself included, were asleep at the switch. Thankfully, the MRF was not. Though the organization was not able to stop many of the rulings the EPA slammed through, it was able to get some things changed. Please give the following short article your attention, while there’s still time to change some of what the EPA has in store for us. — Chris

In December of 2000, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) learned that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was proposing California-style emissions standards for the rest of the country for all motorcycles, street and off-road models, in a single rulemaking process. The MRF, working with the Supporting State Motorcyclists’ Rights Organization (SMRO), was instrumental in having street motorcycles removed from that process in September 2001 and placed into a separate EPA proposed rule.

The MRF and SMROs continued to work diligently to impact the final rule through the comment period and into the rule approval process. For a complete chronological review of the many steps taken by the MRF, visit our website at www.mrf.org/epa.php.

The EPA issued its final emissions regulations for highway motorcycles for 49 states on December 23, 2003. These new regulations will become effective in stages, starting in 2006 and harmonize with California’s standards in 2010. You can view the entire 49-page EPA rule by visiting its website at www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPAAIR/2004/January/Day-15/a006.pdf. While this new rule dramatically reduces tail pipe emissions, there are some exemptions written into it for kit bikes, custom motorcycles, and small volume makers.

The MRF does not believe that the exemptions are broad enough or that the rules, as written, fulfill the needs of highway motorcyclists, the small volume makers, and the aftermarket. We fully intend to continue to work for revision of some parts of the rules.

Here we present some of the most frequently asked questions from street riders and an explanation of what the rules will mean to you. This explanation does not apply to California.

A: If you are going to buy a new motorcycle at your local dealer, the only things you may notice are that by the 2006 model year, most motorcycles will come with fuel injection and will require special diagnostic tools for service work. Some may have catalytic converters in the exhaust pipes. Both are in use in some models already. There has been no change to the “anti-tampering” provision of the Clean Air Act.

A: These new EPA regulations only apply to motorcycles built for 2006 and later. You will not be required to retrofit your current motorcycles to make them comply with the new rules.

A: The new EPA rule contains the same language that the old rule contained about this subject — modifying your motorcycle’s engine or exhaust is considered “tampering.” The Clean Air Act, Section 203(a), states that it is illegal “for any person to remove or render inoperative any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle in compliance with regulations under this title prior to its sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser or after such sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser.”

A: Starting in 2006, it will be legal for you to build your own custom motorcycle. In the new EPA rules this is called a “kit bike” and it will not have to be tested to verify that it conforms to the new emissions standards. There are, however, some very specific rules that will apply to your kit bike.

You are only allowed one emissions-exempt kit bike in your lifetime.

You may not sell your once-in-a-lifetime emissions-exempt kit bike for five years after its final assembly.

You may have someone else assemble your kit bike for you as long as you have purchased the components prior to the start of the assembly.

You cannot build your kit bike by modifying a factory-built motorcycle that was certified to meet EPA emissions standards.

You must start with a new engine and frame.

Under the existing rule, all kit bikes are supposed to be tested and certified to meet the 1979 EPA rules.

An EPA-exempt kit bike can be used on the road without any travel restrictions.