Automobile owners dreaming of converting their vehicles into something from "The Fast and the Furious" may be prevented by a proposed regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency, and the association representing auto parts suppliers isn't happy with the development.

The Specialty Equipment Market Association recently issued a statement condemning EPA for seeking to prohibit automobile owners from converting on-road vehicles into racecars. While some movies celebrate illegal street racing, SEMA noted that many converted vehicles are used in legal track races.

EPA already prohibits certain vehicle modifications under the Clean Air Act. SEMA believes the new regulation would essentially apply the same emission rules to racecars as it does to on-road vehicles, and that is not what Congress intended.

"This proposed regulation represents overreaching by the agency, runs contrary to the law and defies decades of racing activity where EPA has acknowledged and allowed conversion of vehicles," SEMA CEO Chris Kersting said. "Congress did not intend the original Clean Air Act to extend to vehicles modified for racing and has re-enforced that intent on more than one occasion." http://bit.ly/1o2vx4j

For its part, EPA said the regulation would simply clarify what already is law.

"People may use EPA-certified motor vehicles for competition, but to protect public health from air pollution, the Clean Air Act has—since its inception—specifically prohibited tampering with or defeating the emission control systems on those vehicles," an EPA spokeswoman told Fox News. http://fxn.ws/1RtcRqx

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