SEMA Emissions Program Recognized by EPA

Shops can trust that aftermarket products carrying a SEMA Certified-Emissions certification from the Specialty Equipment Market Association comply with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, after a recent EPA advisory opinion was announced in July.

With the formal recognition, the EPA is establishing a regulatory pathway allowing for 49-state sales (excluding California, which continues to require its own executive orders) of products carrying the SEMA certification, assuring shops that the certified upgrade components meet federal emissions standards, according to SEMA officials.

“The EPA has verified what SEMA for years has told regulators at the state and federal levels: that the automotive aftermarket industry has a precise mechanism to support emissions testing compliance with federal laws, and it’s called SEMA Certified-Emissions,” says SEMA CEO Mike Spagnola. “This EPA recognition of the SEMA Certified-Emissions program is nothing short of a pioneering action by the federal government to utilize private-public partnerships in service to industry regulatory compliance efforts. We’re beyond pleased to continue to provide this service to aftermarket businesses so they can bring their innovative products to the market, and with a renewed certainty that our nation’s clean-air laws are being followed.”

The SEMA Certified-Emissions program is the product of years of heavy investment and development by the Specialty Equipment Market Association through its SEMA Garage program, officials note in a press release.

The goal was to create a robust, sustainable and practical pathway to Clean Air Act emissions compliance under federal law.

As a result, the SEMA Garage can now show a documented, reasonable basis for aftermarket products having no adverse impact on emissions, the release states. In the last decade, the EPA has ceded authority to California, enabling the state to serve as a de facto national regulator and require manufacturers to obtain California Air Resources Board (CARB) Executive Orders (EOs) to sell anywhere in the country.

“Americans should not be forced to solely rely on California to certify aftermarket products. Starting today, Americans can trust that products certified by SEMA meet federal requirements and can be used to repair vehicles,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says in the release.

SEMA officials celebrated the program’s recognition, saying it “verifies a transparent, data-driven process to serve as an affordable, accelerated pathway for aftermarket companies to follow. It offers much-needed certainty for aftermarket businesses, particularly with regards to products that meet federal standards (i.e., internal combustion engine products).”

SEMA Certified-Emissions products and components are tested and authorized for specific makes, models, model year and engine configurations, providing a path to emissions compliance for aftermarket companies creating emissions-related components.

The program maintains a centralized, transparent database of compliant products. The publicly searchable database adds to manufacturers’, retailers’, consumers’ and federal stakeholders’ confidence in the integrity of the nation’s emissions standards, according to officials.

Learn more at semagarage.com.