From an AMA press release:

AMA DEFENDS TWO-STROKES AT EPA HEARING

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — At a public hearing yesterday in Virginia, Ed Moreland, Vice President of Government Relations for the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), presented the Association’s position on regulations proposed last month by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The new regulations, contained in the EPA’s “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Control of Emissions from Nonroad Large Spark Ignition Engines and Recreational Engines,” could signal the end of two-stroke off-highway motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) by 2006.

The EPA has proposed national emissions standards covering off-highway motorcycles and ATVs only slightly less stringent than the restrictive requirements now in place in California. Currently, there are no national emissions standards governing off-road motorcycles and ATVs.

“We believe that the EPA’s analysis of recreational off-highway vehicles’ contribution to air pollution is overstated,” said Moreland. “The four-stroke engine shouldn’t be the only path to reducing emissions, and AMA opposes any regulations that would end the availability of two-stroke motorcycles and ATVs.”

In his testimony, Moreland commended the EPA’s proposal of a performance-based emissions standard, rather than one based on engine design, and urged the EPA to allow manufacturers every opportunity to meet a performance-based standard through research and development.

The full text of Moreland’s testimony is available on the AMA’s website: www.AMADirectlink.com.

The AMA urges motorcyclists to ask the EPA to create separate emissions standards for four-stroke and two-stroke motorcycles and ATVs, considering safety, cost, and performance. The comment deadline is December 19, 2001.

Using the AMA’s Rapid Response Center, available at www.AMADirectlink.com, motorcyclists can send comments to the EPA with a click of the mouse. Comments can also be submitted by writing to Margaret Borushko (Docket No. A-2000-01),
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; or by sending an e-mail to [email protected].