SEMA Efforts Defeat Car Crushing Component of Highway Bill

The Specialty Equipment Market Association, which opposes using federal money to implement car crushing, announced that Congress will not include this part in its upcoming Highway Bill. President Bush is expected to sign the $286.5 billion bill into law before Congress goes on its summer break.

Earlier this decade the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed funding state and local vehicle scrapping programs through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program. SEMA worked with a coalition of other aftermarket trade associations urging Congress not to authorize the proposal.

Steve McDonald, SEMA’s vice president for government affairs, pointed out that vehicle scrapping programs are not a cost-effective method to reduce motor vehicle emissions and unnecessarily remove collector vehicles and parts from the marketplace.

“The leaders pledged not to include vehicle scrappage funding in the highway bill, and they lived up to that pledge," McDonald added.

"SEMA will oppose any future efforts to authorize vehicle scrappage programs, be they on the state or national levels," said McDonald. "We believe that all mobile source emissions reduction programs should be carefully developed to achieve real environmental benefits while keeping the impact on businesses and the public as low as possible. A scrappage program that indiscriminately targets older vehicles, especially well-maintained and infrequently driven collector vehicles, does not meet that criteria."