SEMA DECRIES EPA APPROVAL OF CALIFORNIA ADVANCED CLEAN CARS II WAIVER REQUEST

SEMA DECRIES EPA APPROVAL OF CALIFORNIA ADVANCED CLEAN CARS II WAIVER REQUEST

-- Organization will continue nationwide advocacy for technology-neutral approach to reducing carbon emissions, prevent bans of ICE vehicles --

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (Dec. 18, 2024) - The Specialty Equipment Market Association today decried a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve California's request for the Clean Air Act waiver the state needs to implement its Advanced Clean Cars II regulation, a significant blow for our nation's ability to develop groundbreaking solutions for reducing carbon emissions. SEMA contends that by allowing California to overstep its constitutional and state statutory authority, the federal government is a coconspirator in the state's regulatory land grab to advance deeply unpopular policies that the American people have summarily rejected.

SEMA, which champions a technology-neutral approach that fosters innovation and ingenuity, will continue efforts to preserve Americans' rights to vehicle choice and the automotive aftermarket industry's ability to design, manufacture, and bring to market products that help solve the emissions challenge.

SEMA now calls upon President-elect Donald Trump to work quickly and efficiently to reverse this stunning misstep at the federal level.

"Siding with California on these waiver requests is the ultimate bad-faith gesture by President Joe Biden, particularly after our nation's voters last month backed the presidential candidate who promised a 'Day 1' halt to federal EV mandates," said SEMA President and CEO Mike Spagnola. "It's high time that the government stop capitulating to the whims of a single activist state; this is the United States of America, not the United States of California.

"And shame on the EPA. Instead of putting its faith in our nation's innovators to develop multiple, groundbreaking solutions to halt carbon emissions, the EPA instead continues to tilt the playing field in favor of a single technology, the products of which are unsuitable for many Americans. SEMA will continue to fight back against any effort - whether by California or by radical activist policymakers at the federal level - to force vehicle mandates on the American people and deny the automotive aftermarket of its unparalleled ability to deliver cleaner, safer vehicles through innovation and American ingenuity - particularly through alternative-fuel innovations, replacing older engine technologies with newer, cleaner versions, and converting older internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to new electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles. SEMA will exhaust every option to ensure a technology-neutral approach that rewards innovation, ingenuity and practicality."

SEMA is not an anti-EV organization; rather, the organization is steadfast in its belief that a technology-neutral approach is the best way to achieve lower vehicle emissions. By declaring one technology as the preferred solution of government, California will kneecap other potential solutions, regardless of their promise for delivering the results the state seeks. Those at the forefront of American innovation, in tandem with the free market, are owed the opportunity to provide meaningful contributions to efforts to eliminate carbon emissions.

SEMA will continue to pursue its lawsuit against California and its Air Resource Board, filed jointly with NTEA - The Work Truck Association in the U.S. District Court's Eastern District of California, seeking immediate declaratory and injunctive relief to stop electric vehicle mandates CARB intends to implement through its Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulations. The organizations contend that CARB's actions far exceed California's constitutional and state statutory authority, and will have a dire effect on an industry that historically has led the way toward cleaner, safer vehicles through innovation and American ingenuity.

About SEMA

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) serves as a leading voice for the worldwide car culture, representing over 7,000 member companies that create, buy, sell, and use specialty-automotive parts that make vehicles more unique, attractive, convenient, safer, fun, and even like new again. Business member benefits include product development resources, market research, networking, education, legislative advocacy, and more. The Association organizes the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nev., and actively supports the career and business opportunities that the aftermarket generates. The industry contributes nearly $337 billion in economic impact to the U.S. economy, supports 1.3 million jobs nationally, and generates $52.3 billion in parts sales annually. For more information, visit www.sema.org.

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