The Environmental Protection Agency will drop language from a proposed rule that would prevent automobile owners from converting their street vehicles into racecars after one association raised alarms about what it called regulatory overreach.

EPA is currently drafting rules that would implement congressionally mandated greenhouse gas emissions for motor vehicles. As part of that process, the agency included language clarifying that street vehicles could not be converted into racecars that violate emissions standards.

The Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association cried foul, accusing EPA of essentially trying to outlaw racecar conversions. The association's complaint launched a flood of criticism, primarily on conservative news websites already hostile to the agency.

EPA announced Friday it was dropping the controversial language. The agency noted the language didn't actually make any changes—the conversions it sought to prevent are already illegal—but instead was meant to dispel any confusion surrounding the issue. The proposed language ultimate had the opposite effect, EPA said.

"EPA's focus is not on vehicles built or used exclusively for racing, but on companies that don't play by the rules and that make and sell products that disable pollution controls on motor vehicles used on public roads," the agency said. http://1.usa.gov/1pbj1zZ

In a statement issued the same day, SEMA said it wasn't satisfied with EPA's decision. The association wants to strip the agency of its authority to regulate racecar conversions and is asking Congress to pass legislation doing just that.

EPA "continues to assert new-found authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate modification of vehicles for use in competition," SEMA CEO Chris Kersting said. "This means that those converting and racing competition vehicles, and the parts and services industries that support them, do so under new EPA policy that considers the activity illegal."

SEMA's interpretation of the proposed rule has been challenged by media critics who claim the association is exaggerating its case. The technology news site Ars Technica noted the proposed language changed nothing given tampering with emission systems of any vehicle is already illegal. http://bit.ly/1R8kUa8

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