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Racing Threatened at Bonneville Salt Flats (BSF): This year’s Speed Week was cancelled at the BSF due to deteriorating conditions and wet weather. Begun in 1949, Speed Week is the BSF’s largest annual racing event, with hundreds of teams racing every type of vehicle, from hot rods, roadsters and belly tankers to motorcycles, lakesters and streamliners. Despite a rich history of racing for over a century, the salt flats have significantly decreased in size, strength and thickness over a number of decades as salt brine has been channeled away from the area. The BSF’s international track once measured 13 miles long but has been reduced to 8 miles or less. The land has been managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) since 1946. The SAN, along with other organizations and companies comprising the Save the Salt Coalition, has been working for years to help save the BSF. The Coalition is now proposing an advanced reclamation program beyond the salt brine pumping program developed in 1997 between the racing community and the potash mine owner. Elements could include more dry and wet salt returns and a protective salt berm around the racing area.
National Monuments: President Obama has designated three more national monuments, including the 700,000-plus acre Basin and Range National Monument in Eastern Nevada and the 330,000 acre Berryessa Snow Mountain Monument in Northern California. The administration has now designated 19 national monuments since 2009. The SAN opposes the designations since they automatically prohibit new roads or trails for motorized vehicles and require a new land management plan be drafted that can lead to more road closures. The SAN supports legislation in the U.S. Congress to curtail the President’s power to unilaterally designate national monuments by requiring their approval by Congress and the impacted states.
Turn-Key Replica Cars: At the SAN’s request, a bill has been introduced in the U.S. Congress that would enable low volume car manufacturers to produce up to 500 turn-key replica vehicles a year for customers nationwide. These cars resemble vehicles manufactured at least 25 years ago. Very few completed low production vehicles are currently built in the United States. Most on the road today began life as a kit car—an incomplete vehicle or collection of parts sold without an engine/transmission. The states have categories for these cars and many have enacted SAN-model legislation which allows these cars to be titled and registered according to the model year that they most closely resemble (e.g., ’32 hot rod, ’63 Cobra). Replica vehicles participate in car shows, exhibitions and are driven primarily on the weekends. These collector cars are not used as daily drivers. The bill does not impact hobbyists who prefer to assemble their own vehicle and install the engine of their choice. The legislation simply provides the option for an individual to purchase a turn-key vehicle.
Ethanol: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced proposed annual targets under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for the amount of ethanol that is required to be blended into gasoline in 2014, 2015 and 2016. While the targets have been revised down, they still rely on expanded sales of E15 (gas that is 15% ethanol). Ethanol, especially higher concentrations such as E15, can cause metal corrosion and dissolve certain plastics and rubbers in automobiles produced before 2001 that were not constructed with ethanol-resistant materials. The SAN has urged the EPA to support legislation in the U.S. Congress to eliminate the corn-based RFS mandates which is driving the push for E15 sales. The SAN has joined with more than 50 other organizations from the auto, boat, food and energy industries to support passage. The bill is currently awaiting consideration by the House Energy and Power Subcommittee.