50 lawmakers now support The Kids Just Want to Ride Act

PICKERINGTON, OH – March 3, 2011 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – Legislation that would exempt kids’ dirtbikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) from the “lead law” that effectively bans them at the end of the year is gaining momentum on Capitol Hill, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

There are now 50 co-sponsors to H.R. 412: The Kids Just Want to Ride Act, which was introduced by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) The bill seeks to exempt kids’ off-highway vehicles (OHVs) from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008, which is also known as the lead law.

The CPSIA bans the making, importing, distributing or selling of any product intended for children 12 and under that contains more than a specified amount of lead in any accessible part. It also requires all children’s products undergo periodic testing by independent laboratories approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which is responsible for implementing the law.

The CPSC has delayed enforcing key portions of the law until after the end of the year. Unless the CPSIA is changed by then, the sale of child-sized dirtbikes and ATVs will effectively be banned.

“As a motorcycling enthusiast myself for many years, I fully respect the importance of improving the safety of kids who ride off-highway motorcycles and ATVs,” said Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.), one of the latest co-sponsors. “But this is just another example of regulations creating the exact opposite effect of their original intent. This law actually makes kids less safe by eliminating appropriately sized off-highway motorcycles and ATVs, and forces young riders onto larger and more powerful machines not designed for them.

“I’m proud to support the Kids Just Want to Ride Act and know that it will keep youth-sized motorcycles and ATVs available for safe and responsible use as they are intended,” Ribble said.

Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.), another co-sponsor, said: “The Kids Just Want to Ride Act will fix the illogical mandate of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and will once again allow our children to safely enjoy outdoor recreational vehicles. I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this common-sense legislation to protect our youth while working to create jobs.”

Ed Moreland, AMA senior vice president for government relations, thanked lawmakers for their bipartisan backing of the bill. He noted it’s important to get as many co-sponsors as possible to increase the bill’s chances of passage.

Moreland urged all concerned riders and parents to contact their federal lawmakers to ask for support.

The easiest way to contact lawmakers is through the Rights section of the AMA website at AmericanMotorcyclist.com.

In addition to Ribble and Landry, the latest co-sponsors of the Kids Just Want to Ride bill include Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Mark Critz (D-Pa.), Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), John Kline (R-Minn.), Tom Latham (R-Iowa), Pete Olson (R-Texas), Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).

For more information, go to http://capwiz.com/amacycle/go/HR412.

SOURCE: American Motorcyclist Association

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Opposition to federal ‘Wild Lands’ policy grows

PICKERINGTON, OH – January 25, 2011 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – Western states governors have added their voices to the chorus of vocal critics of the new federal “Wild Lands” policy that gives administration officials the power to ban responsible off-highway riding on millions of acres of public land.

On Dec. 22, 2010, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed Secretarial Order 3310 creating a new land-use designation called Wild Lands that essentially allows officials in the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to manage public land as if it had received a “Wilderness” land-use designation from Congress, but without requiring congressional approval.

A Wilderness designation is one of the strictest forms of public land management. Once Congress designates an area as Wilderness, nearly all forms of non-pedestrian recreation are illegal. The AMA supports appropriate Wilderness designations that meet the criteria established by Congress in 1964, but anti-access advocates have been abusing the legislative process to ban responsible off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreation on public land.

In December, the AMA and OHV enthusiasts won an important battle when U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) dropped his effort to pass a massive omnibus public lands bill that would have inappropriately designated millions of acres of public land as Wilderness. With the new “Wild Lands” policy, anti-access advocates are now seeking an end-run around Congress.

Federal lawmakers quickly called the Wild Lands policy a “land grab” and a blatant attempt to usurp congressional authority. Off-highway riders sporting “Stop the Land Grab” stickers produced by the AMA and distributed by the Utah Shared Access Alliance (USA-ALL) turned out in droves for a meeting of Utah’s Governor’s Council on Balanced Resources that featured BLM Director Bob Abbey trying to explain the new policy.

Ed Moreland, AMA senior vice president for government relations, sent a letter to Salazar asking him to explain whether the new Wild Lands land-use designation will block traditional routes of travel for off-highway riding. It can be viewed at http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Libraries/Rights_Documents_Federal/Salazar_WildLands_1-11-2011.sflb.ashx.

Governors who have come out against the Wild Lands policy include Wyoming’s Matthew Mead, Idaho’s C.L. “Butch” Otter and Utah’s Gary Herbert.

“This letter is to advise you that I firmly oppose Secretarial Order 3310, which was released just before the Christmas holiday and while many gubernatorial offices, like mine, were in a state of transition,” Mead wrote to Salazar on Jan. 17. “Though you will seek feedback from state BLM offices prior to issuing final agency guidance, the opportunity for public input on the policy itself was never afforded.”

Mead went on to say that the people of Wyoming “want and deserve” a say in land-management policies that affect them.

Otter, meanwhile, called on Salazar to immediately withdraw the order.

“Without any state or public input, the Interior Department has circumvented the sovereignty of states and the will of the public by shifting from the normal planning processes of the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) to one that places significant and sweeping authority in the hands of unelected federal bureaucrats,” Otter said in a letter to Salazar.

In asking Abbey to appear before the Governor’s Council on Balanced Resources, Utah’s Herbert complained: “There was no policy discussion with the state. There was no formal notice this was being considered. The federal government suddenly administratively locked up additional Utah lands without even consulting us, and we want an explanation.”

Herbert remained opposed to the Wild Lands policy following the Jan. 14 meeting.

Salazar’s order has far-reaching implications because the BLM manages about 245 million acres of public land nationwide, primarily in western states.

Under Salazar’s order, BLM officials will look at the land they manage and decide which land should be labeled “Lands With Wilderness Characteristics.” Once those decisions are made, the officials will go through a public land-use planning process before designating land as “Wild Lands.”

James Holter

SOURCE: American Motorcyclist Association

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Federal Lawmakers Seek Delay in Enforcement of Lead Law

PICKERINGTON, OH – January 10, 2011 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – More than a dozen federal lawmakers are asking the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to delay enforcement of the so-called lead law that effectively bans the sale of kid-sized dirtbikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) drafted the letter and circulated it for other lawmakers to sign before sending it to the CPSC.

The CPSC — charged with carrying out the law known as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 — has already postponed enforcement of a key portion of the law until May 1. The lawmakers want the federal agency to delay the enforcement even longer so that the current Congress can tackle the issue.

“It’s clear the Consumer Product Safety Commission overstepped the intent of the law,” said Rehberg. “The original legislation Congress passed was meant to keep kids safe from lead content in toys. Ironically, the overreaching enforcement puts kids at risk by forcing them to use larger, more dangerous machines that are intended only for adults. An extension of the current stay will provide the necessary time for Congress to fix this problem once and for all.”

The CPSIA bans the making, importing, distributing or selling of any product intended for children 12 and under that contains more than a specified amount of lead in any accessible part. Aimed at children’s toys, the law also ensnared kids’ dirtbikes and ATVs because trace levels of lead can be found in parts such as batteries and brake calipers.

The law also requires all children’s products be tested by independent laboratories approved by the CPSC and be certified that they comply with the law.

“We do not believe the original intent of the CPSIA was to include these vehicles in the Act’s lead-ban provisions, and we support legislation that would permanently exclude them from the lead ban,” the lawmakers said in a Jan. 4 letter to the CPSC.

“As you know, it is extremely important that young motorcycle and ATV riders use only appropriately sized machines,” the lawmakers wrote. “The CPSC, user groups, and the motorcycle and ATV industry all agree that children suffer fewer injuries when they are kept from riding large ATVs designed for adults. The failure to extend the current stay (of enforcement) would be counterproductive to the work that has already been accomplished in promoting youth rider safety.”

“Because of the broad definition of ‘children’s products’ within the CPSIA and the CPSC’s interpretation of the lead provision, a permanent legislative solution is needed to exempt the youth-model ATVs and off-highway motorcycles from the lead ban,” the lawmakers wrote. “We ask the commission to extend the current deadline so that we may address this issue during the 112th Congress.”

To view the letter in its entirety, follow this link: http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/assets/pdf/CPSC_Letter_Final_January_2011.pdf.

Besides Rehberg, others who signed the letter are Reps. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.), Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.), Ron Paul (R-Texas), Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Adrian Smith (Neb.), John Kline (R-Minn.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.).

“It’s encouraging to see these members of the House are stepping up and asking the CPSC to delay enforcement of the law,” said Ed Moreland, AMA senior vice president for government relations. “This sends a clear signal that the issue is on the radar of federal lawmakers and they plan to work to solve the problem so that kids have access to right-sized machines.”

“Now we must show our support,” Moreland said. “With members of the 112th Congress now rolling up their sleeves to get to work, it’s important for all concerned parents and riders to contact their federal lawmakers in the House and Senate to change the lead law. Kids’ dirtbikes and ATVs need to be exempt from the lead-content portion of the CPSIA.”

To contact federal lawmakers today, go to the AMA website at AmericanMotorcyclist.com > Rights > Issues and Legislation and follow the simple instructions.

About the American Motorcyclist Association

Since 1924, the AMA has protected the future of motorcycling and promoted the motorcycle lifestyle. AMA members come from all walks of life, and they navigate many different routes on their journey to the same destination: freedom on two wheels. As the world’s largest motorcycling rights organization, the AMA advocates for motorcyclists’ interests in the halls of local, state and federal government, the committees of international governing organizations, and the court of public opinion. Through member clubs, promoters and partners, the AMA sanctions more motorsports competition and motorcycle recreational events than any other organization in the world. AMA members receive money-saving discounts from dozens of well-known suppliers of motorcycle services, gear and apparel, bike rental, transport, hotel stays and more. Through its support of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame, the AMA preserves the heritage of motorcycling for future generations. For more information, please visit AmericanMotorcyclist.com.

CONTACT: James Holter, +1-614-856-1900, ext. 1280, jholter@ama-cycle.org

SOURCE: American Motorcyclist Association

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