I get where they wanted to go and accomplish but previous attempts weren't the correct way, imo.
I get where they wanted to go and accomplish but previous attempts weren't the correct way, imo.
Well you could still get everything you wanted just had to be a little more careful about how it was advertised. Other than a few high profile shops getting their pee-pee slapped there wasn't much of consequence.
The topic of defeat devices hasn't been discussed in our calls for a while. Other priorities have eclipsed this one or it is being addressed in a less direct way. The current administration is shoveling money out the door as fast as possible and it is nearly impossible to keep up at this point. I can see how the colossal CPRG, for example, could be used to farm this out to states. Some New England states were the most vocal about defeat devices. I wouldn't count this as a win just yet, but the lull will perhaps allow industry to fortify.
Given how they operate, public demands for enforcement have gone down.
Keep in mind we are coming into an election cycle and this was not a particularly popular practice with a lot of folks in rural areas and with a certain subset of hobbies and interests. Folks that will be voting in November 2024.
In reply to 93gsxturbo :
If that were the case, enforcement ending would have happened already. Like 6 years ago.
The diesel tuners have gotten slapped hard enough that fewer people are demanding to end coal rolling. Pretty simple.
But one should remember to not brag about defeat devices on public forums. Double that in Green States (CARB states).
My impression from reading the press releases isn't that they're going to stop enforcing the defeat device thing -- it's just that it's no longer prioritized above other enforcement actions that they're taking. That could be interpreted as a reduction in how much they care about it, or it could simply be that they think the enforcement over the last couple years has knocked it down to a level that they now think there are more important things to spend their time on.
The defeat devices were identified as a priority in the last NECI. As expected, there are new priorities for the newest NECI because that's how the NECI works. It's a list of the highest priority problems to be addressed, not a list of everything the EPA is doing. It's like the FBI 10 most wanted list - they're still looking for #11.
The only reason it's being pitched as a surprise is because the SEMA Action Network press releases are always in hysterically overblown lobbyist language and blogs just repeat the first thing they're told.
And the enforcement did have a fairly significant effect. Only the high profile fines got press attention, but there were a bunch of smaller shops hit as well. It's all a matter of public record if you want to read up on it.
I suspect there will be less monitoring of social media, but they will still respond to any complaints of violations. I think they may be required to do so.
I imagine the EPA was not super happy to go after these small-ish companies and individuals. But at some point when there's enough flagrant violations and enough people complaining about them, it can't be ignored forever. The worst offenders that were ruining it for the rest of us were either shut down or sent a message, mission accomplished.
It's not political, I'd bet money that EPA policy isn't the deciding factor for more than a double digit number of people in this country. Also most of this crackdown started under the previous administration, so if it was political it never would have happened in the first place.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Unless epa people are members of social media. Again, there have been epa people here, one ended up as a challenge competitor. But the number of epa folk who are active motor sports participants is quite a bit more than this board thinks.
I think this is not "the EPA having a change of heart" as much as the EPA placing their priorities elsewhere and knowing that they don't have the resources for enforcement of everything. Contrary to popular belief they don't have endless money or resources and have to choose their battles just like every other organization.
In reply to alfadriver :
There may be casual discoveries by random EPA members, but it was my understanding they were actively monitoring social media for violators during the crackdown. That Honda shop in CO, for example.
And he's a great example of just not listening. You can see it in the seminars at the SEMA show, people sitting back in their chairs with their arms crossed and their ears turned off. The owner of that shop has "warned" us that it's impossible to legally sell anything that changes the fuel injection system and does not believe in a CARB EO or any lab testing. He got caught, fined and all he can do is sulk and complain instead of educating himself. He'll probably read one of these blog entries and assume he can go back to doing what he was doing before.
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