The aftermarket parts industry is an integral part of car culture as we know it. Modification is at the heart of American automotive culture and the industry reflects this. It pulls in billions in revenue for thousands of businesses and employs millions.

Much of this revenue is gained by providing parts to racing teams who help market these parts through their racing, following the age-old adage: "What races on Sunday sells on Monday". Now, that way of life is in danger, putting the livelihoods of many in this industry at risk.

Let's take a closer look at the RPM bill.

Race Cars
Via: The Manual

What Is The RPM Act?

The RPM Act is a bi-partisan bill brought forth by SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association). If that name sounds familiar, it's because SEMA host a massive aftermarket parts exhibition annually, which has featured some truly incredible builds across the years. Many of these builds shown at SEMA throughout the years are vehicles converted from street-legal to track-only vehicles.

These conversions lie at the heart of the RPM Act, which is aimed at targeting legislation proposed by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to make the conversion of street vehicles to race cars illegal. In 2015, the EPA took up the position that converted vehicles, such as Formula D cars, must remain emissions compliant despite their track-only status. In addition to this, the EPA has recently begun targeting aftermarket parts, such as turbos and superchargers.

The potential ramifications of the EPA's goals are plain to see. The global pandemic has already hit many small businesses hard, and to add these regulations on top could potentially decimate an industry where margins are already incredibly thin. To harm these profits further still would be incredibly damaging.

While the financial ramifications of the EPA's new goals would surely be deeply felt, it raises many questions about how motorsport in the United States would carry on. The environmental effect of motorsport is negligible compared to the hundreds of other issues plaguing our planet's environment, so why is the EPA so insistent on making motorsport the bad guy?

There is always political traction to be gained by targeting something seen as a nuisance by the general population. Perhaps then, it is lobbyists, pushing the EPA to demonize motorsport while large corporations continue to pollute unchecked by the EPA. While this is purely speculative, it is certainly a potential win-win scenario for the EPA. They get to hang the new "bad guy" and look good while looking the other way for more powerful entities.

There's also an argument to be made that some within our community are not helping the cause. Popular YouTubers, the Diesel Brothers make a living "rolling coal", a terrible and boisterous activity where a diesel truck's emissions software is tampered with to produce a cloud of black smoke under acceleration. Advocates of the EPA's plan have openly criticized the Diesel Brothers and use them as an example of why the regulations should pass. While the environmental impact the Diesel Brothers may have is limited in scope compared to motorsport as a whole, they are certainly perpetuating a trend that is helping to vilify the automotive community.

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Race Cars
Via: Petrolicious

What About The Environment?

Motorsport is loud, costly, and often appears to be outwardly bad for the environment. Some forms of motorsport have made efforts to become more sustainable, namely Formula E. The FIA has also taken steps to make other Formula series more environmentally friendly. F1 has announced its plans to be carbon neutral by 2030 and are already using more sustainable fuels.

However, it has to be said: motorsport is not great for the environment. Does this mean that the RPM Act is the way forward, that motorsport should remain exempt from emissions and environmental sustainability? Or is there perhaps a better way to do this that neither SEMA nor the EPA sees, like the steps that the FIA has taken with Formula 1?

Only time will tell, but time is running out. Despite the fact that corporations like Nestle are far more complicit in global warming than tuner shops like GReddy, the automotive community must do its part as well.

By becoming more sustainable in common-sense ways and working together with legislative bodies, the automotive community can carry on into the future while mitigating, if not eliminating, its effect on our planet. By doing this, the community can insulate itself from the kind of predatory legislation the RPM Act hopes to counter.

The automotive industry is driven by passion. Millions of people across the globe are more passionate about it than anything else in their lives. While the RPM Act can help to keep the industry alive for now, steps must be taken to improve the environmental sustainability of the cars we all love, both on and off track.

Via Super Street

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