Dear Mr. Calabro:
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for S. 2659, the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports (RPM) Act. Your opinion is very important to me, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond to you on this critical issue.
As you may know, this legislation would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from setting emission standards for any vehicle used exclusively in competitions. The RPM Act was introduced on March 9, 2016, and has been referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works, of which I am not a member.
Recent reports have indicated the EPA intends to ban the conversion of street vehicles into racecars in its rulemaking for heavy-duty greenhouse gas emissions. However, the EPA has indicated that it simply intends to clarify that an existing exemption in the Clean Air Act for non-road vehicles pertains to certain competition vehicles like dirt bikes and snowmobiles, and that tampering with the emission control systems of motor vehicles has always been illegal under the Clean Air Act. I understand that on this issue, as with any other, there are many different viewpoints. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts squarely in mind should the RPM Act come before the Senate for a vote.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance. I invite you to visit my website (
http://menendez.senate.gov) to learn more about how I am standing up for New Jersey families in the United States Senate.
Please do not reply to this e-mail as this address is not monitored. To contact my office, please use the contact form found on my website at
http://menendez.senate.gov/contact/