WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today praised the House Passage of legislation regarding the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) which included his legislation to end enforcement of an overreaching prohibition of lead in youth-sized ATVs, off-highway motorcycles and snowmobiles.  Rehberg’s bipartisan Kids Just Want to Ride Act was added to a larger piece of legislation sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (CA-45).  It ensures federal regulators won’t force children to ride more dangerous adult-size off-road vehicles.  It also protects jobs throughout the country by allowing dealers to continue selling and repairing the safer youth-sized ATVs, motorcycles and snowmobiles.

“Today, we took a critical step to permanently correct a regulation that was putting our kids at risk and destroying jobs,” said Rehberg, a rancher from Montana.  “Whether it’s riding a 4-wheeler on a ranch in Jordan, a weekend snowmobile adventure with the family in Cooke City or a youth motocross race in Helena, kids are safer riding youth-size machines.  Ending this regulation lets dealers sell and service these safer machines just makes sense, and it creates jobs, too.”

In 2008, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in response to public alarm over the lack of production standards in children’s products.  Unfortunately, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which is responsible for enforcing the CPSIA, refused to exclude ATV, motorcycle and snowmobile engines, brakes, wheels and suspension parts from the CPSIA despite the fact that it’s very difficult for children to physically handle these parts.

In response to concerns that children were going to be forced to ride more dangerous off-road vehicles intended only for adults, Rehberg fought for and succeeded in getting a temporary delay of enforcement from the CPSC.  But the year-long stay of enforcement is not enough, so Rehberg introduced the bipartisan Kids Just Want to Ride Act to solve the problem legislatively.

“This is wonderful news for families around the nation who enjoy responsible motorized recreation,” said Rob Dingman, president and CEO of the American Motorcyclist Association. “It is vital that legislation clear the full Congress and be signed into law by President Obama not only because it will allow families to enjoy riding together, but also so that children aren’t forced to ride adult-sized machines that they may not be able to ride safely.”

The funding measure that keeps the federal government operating through Sept. 30 includes language that bars the U.S. Interior Department from using any money to carry out the new Wild Lands land-use policy, the American Motorcyclist Association(AMA) reports.

The Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution –which was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on April 15 — specifically states that no federal money “may be used to implement, administer, or enforce Secretarial Order No. 3310 issuedby the Secretary of the Interior on Dec. 22, 2010.”

“This is a major victory for responsible off-highway vehicle [OHV] riders andothers concerned about appropriate access to public land,” said EdMoreland, AMA senior vice president for government relations. “But we can’t let up. Anti-access groups will continue pushing for implementation of the Wild Lands policy for the next federal fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.”

Secretarial Order 3310 created the Wild Lands land-use policy. The policy essentially allows federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials to manage public land as if it had received a Wilderness designation from Congress, but without requiring congressional approval.

This new policy, if implemented, is widely expected to restrict or eliminate responsible OHV use in the affected areas.

A Wilderness designation is one of the most restrictive forms of public land management. Once Congress designates an area as Wilderness, nearly all forms of non-pedestrian recreation are illegal.

The AMA supports appropriate Wilderness designations that meet the criteria established by Congress in 1964, but anti-access advocates have been abusing the legislative process to ban responsible OHV recreation on public land.

For and interesting article on the efforts to secure access to trails etc.  <click here>  An excerpt of the article begins:

For years now people involved with off-road riding have been concerned about access to public land. They simply want to be able to go to a national park or lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management to ride their ATVs and enjoy the scenery. To many of these recreationists it doesn’t matter who manages the land as long as they can get to that trail or road they have been hearing about.

PRESS RELEASE: PICKERINGTON, Ohio – A bill that would exempt kids’ off-highway vehicles (OHVs) from the law that effectively bans them at the end of the year is gaining support on the eve of a key congressional hearing, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

Some 61 U.S. House members now support the bill — H.R. 412, the “Kids Just Want to Ride Act,” introduced by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) — that would exempt kids’ OHVs from the lead-content portion of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008.

Also called the “lead law,” the CPSIA bans the making, importing, distributing or selling of any product intended for children 12 and under that contains more than a specified amount of lead in any accessible part. It also requires that all childrens products undergo periodic testing by independent laboratories approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which is responsible for implementing the law.

The CPSC has delayed enforcing key portions of the law until after the end of the year. Unless the CPSIA is changed, the sale of kids’ dirtbikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) will effectively be banned.

The latest support for the Kids Just Want to Ride Act comes just as the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is about to hold a hearing on the CPSIA. The hearing, set for 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 7 in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building, will focus on possible revisions to the CPSIA.

The subcommittee hearing will be webcast live on AmericanMotorcyclist.com beginning at 9 a.m. EDT on Thursday, April 7.

In related news, the AMA will be conducting an AMA Family Capitol Hill Climb on Thursday, May 26, at the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C. The event will promote the future of youth dirtbike and ATV riding, and scores of young riders and their families are expected to attended. The day will begin with a press event introducing the winner of a video contest to focus attention on the plight of children and families impacted by the CPSIA. Following a screening of the winning “Kids Just Want To Ride!” video, all attendees will have the opportunity to meet with their congressional representatives to urge support for the Kids Just Want to Ride Act.

For more information about the the Kids Just Want to Ride Act, the AMA Family Capitol Hill Climb and the Kids Just Want To Ride! video contest, go to AmericanMotorcyclist.com.

Senate Bill S1001aa passed the Senate on a vote 26 to 9. It later passed the House of  Representatives 41 to 27. The Governor signed the bill into law on April 14.