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Bill to combat lead law gets bipartisan support

Some 37 federal lawmakers have declared their support for a bill that seeks to exempt youth off-road vehicles from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), also known as the lead law.

The CPSIA took effect in 2009 but the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency responsible for implementing the law, has delayed enforcement of key portions of it until the end of 2011.

“The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is an important law with many provisions that help protect our children against toys with lead they may put in their mouth or ingest,” said Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), who is among those who recently signed on to support the bill, H.R. 412. “However, the law did not create a necessary exemption for youth-model motorcycles and ATVs, which do contain some lead in the engines and battery compartments and which children are highly unlikely to put in their mouths.

“This small change to the law will help ensure youth-model motorcycles and ATVs are not pulled from the shelves and remain available to the parents of children who wish to ride appropriately sized vehicles designed just for them that already meet government safety guidelines,” Ross said.

The bill, named the “Kids Just Want to Ride Act,” was introduced by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) and is attracting bipartisan attention, according to an American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) press release.

For more information on the bill, go to http://capwiz.com/amacycle/go/HR412.

To contact lawmakers regarding the bill, go through the Rights section of the AMA website at americanmotorcyclist.com.

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