U.S. lead law gets another reprieve

From the American Motorcyclist Association

PICKERINGTON, OH -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the United States has voted to delay enforcement of portions of the controversial "lead law" that would have banned the sale of kids' dirtbikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

On Feb. 1, the CPSC voted 4-1 to delay enforcement until Dec. 31 of the independent laboratory testing and certification requirements, as well as the lead-content limits, for kids' dirtbikes and ATVs contained within the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008. The decision extends an earlier stay on the testing and certification requirements that was scheduled to expire Feb. 10, and the stay of enforcement on the lead-content provisions that was set to expire May 1.

The CPSC is responsible for implementing the CPSIA, which 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. The law also requires children's products to undergo expensive periodic testing by independent laboratories approved by the CPSC and those products must be certified that they comply with the CPSIA.

"I want to thank all of the AMA and ATVA [All Terrain Vehicle Association] members and riders who used AMA and ATVA tools to request a delay in the enforcement of the law," said Ed Moreland, AMA senior vice president for government relations. "This latest action affords riders much-needed breathing room to allow federal lawmakers to exempt child-sized dirtbikes and ATVs from the law.

"It's important now for anyone concerned about this issue to contact their federal lawmakers to ask them to support H.R. 412, the Kids Just Want to Ride Act, that was introduced by U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) to exempt kids' dirtbikes and ATVs from the law."

Once the revised stay of enforcement expires on Dec. 31, the sale of kids' dirtbikes and ATVs will effectively be banned because it's unknown whether the requirements of the law can be met. That is, unless kids' dirtbikes and ATVs are exempted from the law by an act of Congress before the Dec. 31 deadline.