10-03-2001
01NR32 - Major MRO Offensive Aimed at Emissions Regulations Rolls Out in November 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tom Wyld
October 3, 2001 #01-32 Phone: 202-546-0983
01NR32 - Major MRO Offensive Aimed at Emissions Regulations Rolls Out in November 2001
“Let’s roll!”
Topeka, Kansas … The Motorcycle Riders Foundation issued this emergency alert to State Motorcyclists’ Rights Organizations (SMROs):
“Prepare now for a major grassroots offensive aimed squarely at the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rulemaking on street motorcycles.”
The alert was announced at the September 29 Meeting of the Minds members’ banquet, MRF’s premier national leadership summit, a riders gathering that brings together the leaders of the American motorcyclists’ rights movement and key international allies.
The new rule on street bikes, which MRF expects the EPA to issue in November 2001, will be followed by a 60- or 90-day period calling for public comment.
“That public comment period will be met by sustained, intense and dramatic grassroots action by the American motorcyclists’ rights movement,” predicted Tom Wyld, MRF’s Vice President for Government Relations.
In concert with the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Federation of European Motorcycle Associations (FEMA), the Motorcycle Riders Foundation also announced a major global initiative to oppose a draft of the universal motorcycle emissions test procedure. That procedure, called the “World Motorcycle Test Cycle” or WMTC, is gaining momentum and acceptance in Geneva as the single way all governments worldwide will test all motorcycles for emissions compliance.
Speaking on behalf of the International Steering Committee in its consolidated statement, MRF announced an offensive aimed at the defeat the proposed WMTC.
At the September 29 Meeting of the Minds banquet, MRF announced the following initiatives aimed at the domestic environmental regulations threat:
1. MRF will thoroughly examine the rule.
2. MRF will provide to our members and member-SMROs and chapters vital information on rule details, our analysis and likely impacts. Our goal is to generate a superhighway of public comment. “We want every motorcyclist to comment,” Wyld said. “That’s 12 million Americans who ride more than 6 million motorcycles.”
3. MRF urged all SMROs to prepare their members and organizations now for massive grassroots activity from November 2001 through January 2002. This includes visits to Washington during that critical period.
4. MRF is now taking the following actions:
a. We are launching a “threat awareness” campaign aimed squarely at the motorcycle press - both popular magazines and periodicals that service the industry.
b. We are continuing our work with the Small Business Administration and with the White House Office of Management and Budget.
5. MRF will take the following actions:
a. Through networking, seek the involvement and support of small-volume makers, custom shops and the aftermarket.
b. Develop and circulate, in concert with SMROs, “delegation letters” to be signed by as many members of state Congressional delegations as MRF and SMROs can possibly generate.
c. Depending on the severity of the rule, seek the intervention of the Office of Management and Budget within the White House to quash the rule in the course of its required review process.
6. Finally, if and when necessary, seek review and rejection of the rule by the Congress of the United States, either in the normal course of rule review or, if necessary, by the advancement of stand-alone legislation – legislation the Motorcycle Riders Foundation has tentatively dubbed “The Motorcycle Protection Act of 2002.”
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© All information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction
permitted with attribution. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation, incorporated
in 1987, is an independent, membership-based national motorcyclists' rights organization headquartered in Washington D.C. which operates in
co-partnership with State Motorcyclists' Rights Organizations
nationwide. The MRF is involved in federal and state legislation and
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awareness. The MRF provides individual and SMRO member-volunteers with guidance, support and information to protect motorcyclists' rights and
advance motorcycling and its associated lifestyle. The MRF sponsors annual regional and national educational seminars for motorcyclists' rights
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Voice: 202-546-0983, Fax: 202-546-0986, E-Mail: wyld@mrf.org, website:
http://www.mrf.org
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