California intends to ban ICE vehicles, SEMA and member companies testify

SEMA has opposed "Advanced Clean Cars II" (ACC II) through state and federal regulatory and legislative efforts

Jan. 18, 2024

2 min read

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Mike Spagnola, CEO and president of SEMA, testified along with four SEMA members at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) public hearing in opposition to the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) "Advanced Clean Cars II" (ACC II) regulations to ban the sale of internal combustion engines (ICE) motor vehicles by 2035.

In order for ACC II to be implemented, CARB must receive a waiver from the EPA for the regulations to take effect. The EPA is accepting comments through Tuesday, Feb. 27, on whether it should grant a waiver for the ACC II regulations to take effect. SEMA plans on submitting a comment to the EPA in opposition to CARB's waiver request.

Through state and federal regulatory and legislative efforts, SEMA has continually opposed ACC II. In 2022, SEMA submitted comments opposing the ACC II proposal to CARB. SEMA continues to advocate for Congress to pass a bill to prohibit the EPA from issuing a waiver to California for ACC II and any other regulations that would ban the sale of new ICE vehicles. The SEMA-supported the "Preserving the Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act" passed the U.S. House of Representatives in September. The bill is awaiting action in the U.S. Senate.

SEMA members Kim Pendergast, CEO of Magnuson Superchargers; Mike Copeland, CEO of Arrington Performance; Ian Lehn, CEO of BOOSTane; and Laurel Moorhead, regulatory compliance engineer for Transfer Flow, testified before the EPA on ACC II to express their opposition to the regulation and the impact it will have on small businesses in the specialty automotive aftermarket industry if the EPA grants California a waiver.

"This far-too-fast mandate will create a seismic shift in the automotive industry that will hurt small businesses that don't have the capacity to make the shift this quickly," said Spagnola. "While the federal government is helping some parts of the automotive industry, small businesses aren't recieving billions of dollars in government funds to fund their electric vehicle programs."

This article was originally published on VehicleServicePros.com.