Stop Ban On Youth Ohvs

[writeforus]

As you’ll see below, an action by the CPSC would make it illegal to sell youth model OHVs containing any lead products after February 10th. Many OHV frames are coated with paint that contains small quantities of lead and items like battery terminals and valve stem cores contain lead. This will have a negative effect on riders ability to buy youth models, and will result in dealers and manufacturers holding inventory that will hurt an already ailing market.

HELP STOP THE FEBRUARY 10TH BAN ON YOUTH OHVS - - ATV at Off-Road.com

[terra]

They make these blanket laws (where really no additional laws are needed) like this no lead in kids products and they must be tested to prove they don't have lead. This makes things like these small ATV's unsaleable when in reality there is no way the lead in these will harm anyone unless the child is allowed to use them as a chew toy. Another issue with this law is it runs out of business all the small businesses that make childrens items. They don't have the volume sales to afford the testing and if it is not tested then they can't sale the items. It is really a lose situation. Laws need to be actually thought about before they are passed. This was an emotional law. People were upset because of all the toys that had been brought into the country that had lead in them so of course if there is any problems the government needs to jump in and save us all with these laws. Whoever wrote the law feels like he/she is upping his/her status by saving the world and yet it wasn't thought through just rushed through.

[terra]

At the bottom of this article there is a link to have your voice heard to help protect our rights. Please let your voice be heard.

Blaze Of Glory Off Road: ATV Lead Ban, Does It Protect Our Children?

Thanks.

[writeforus]

Protest Event Fact Sheet

Who: Malcolm Smith

What: Kids Love 2 Ride Protest

When: Thursday, March 19, 2009, 6:00am PST

Where: Malcolm Smith Motorsports
7599 Indiana Avenue, Riverside, CA 92504
Malcolm Smith Motorsports

Why: In defiance of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 which prohibits the sale of youth motorcycles and ATVs deemed unhealthy for children under 12 due to suspected high-levels of lead content, motorcycle dealer Malcolm Smith will sell these banned vehicles as a sign of protest.

As a sign of support, a group of small business people and high-profile motorcycle industry celebrities, including racers Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath, Glen Helen Raceway owner Bud Feldkamp, and motorsport design guru Troy Lee have all agreed to be on hand to purchase banned units for use by their own children and grandchildren.

[writeforus]

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- Acting Chairman Nancy Nord of the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has decided to hold off for a year enforcing the new lead law that has forced dealers to yank youth-model off-road motorcycles and ATVs off their showroom floors.

Commissioner Thomas Moore, the second member of the commission, has yet to vote.

The law, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that took effect in February, has stopped the sale of dirt bikes and ATVs for children 12 or under. The law was meant to protect children from dangerous levels of lead in toys, but it was written so broadly that it also governs such things as children's books, clothes, motorcycles and ATVs.

Chairman Nord's statement follows.


STATEMENT OF ACTING CHAIRMAN NANCY NORD
ON THE REQUEST FOR EXCLUSIONS FROM THE LEAD CONTENT LIMITS OF THE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008
April 3, 2009


In considering exclusions, consumer safety must direct the outcome of our deliberations. Therefore, it is with extreme reluctance that I am voting today to deny the petition, filed by companies and associations representing the ATV and motorized bike industries, for an exclusion from the lead content limits found in Section 101 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvements Act (CPSIA). I do this because the clear language of the law requires this result, not because it advances consumer safety. To the contrary, application of the lead content mandates of the CPSIA to the products made by the petitioners 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.

For this reason, in my capacity as chairman, I am directing compliance staff to stay enforcement of Section 101 and related provisions of the CPSIA to this category of products for twelve months and hope my colleague, Commissioner Moore, will join me in making this a unanimous decision by the Commission. During this time-out, it is my hope that Congress will consider how the law needs to be fine-tuned to address this serious child safety dilemma. This enforcement hiatus will also give industry the opportunity to examine what reasonable changes can be made in their products to bring them closer to the requirements Congress set out in the CPSIA. Staff will meet with industry to do more testing to determine how their products can meet the 300 ppm threshold Congress set and determine what is possible. I will expect periodic status reports on progress to this plan.

It is clear that the law does not give the Commission the flexibility to grant an exclusion for petitioners' products. Congress wrote Section 101(b) in such a way as to leave little discretionary power with the agency to grant common sense exclusions. This lack of flexibility was brought to the attention of Congressional staff working on the legislation during the conference process and it was confirmed this is what was intended. As our career staff has discussed on many occasions and as we now have been formally advised by staff, we do not have the statutory authority to grant the exclusion requested in this case.

Even though the career staff of the agency has concluded that we cannot grant the exclusion, they have NOT concluded that petitioners products present a health risk to children because of exposure to lead. To the contrary, staff states "a bigger safety concern than lead exposure is that the elimination of youth ATV sales will most likely increase the number of adult ATV's purchased to be used by younger children; therefore increasing their risk of injury and death."

The issues presented to us in the petition are much more complex than just ordering petitioners to "get the lead out" of their products by a certain date. Petitioners have presented persuasive evidence that lead serves a purpose in the structural integrity of the metals used in the products and that suitable substitutes are not available. They point out the impracticality of using virgin materials for these products, including issues dealing with the recycling of metals. They point out that the approach in the CPSIA is contrary to the approach taken in the rest of the world, e.g. the European Union which has looked at these issues rather extensively and made allowances. These are all issues that the Commission should have the authority to consider but under the rigid language of the CPSIA, we cannot.

The effect of denying the petition is to make Section 101(e) of the CPSIA, which limits the Commission's authority to stay enforcement during rulemaking, no longer applicable. Therefore, during the pendency of a stay of enforcement, ATV's and motorized bikes appropriately sized for children twelve and younger can again be available and the Commission will not seek penalties for violation of Section 101 and related provisions of the CPSIA against those who sell them. I hope that the state attorneys general will follow the lead of the agency on this matter.

All stakeholders-industry, users, Congress, and the Commission-need to come together to fix the statutory problems that have become so apparent, in a common sense approach that does not unnecessarily burden those regulated, yet provides safety for American families.