As I was wrapping up BenzForce for the week I was hit with a request for a 603 SuperPump that was destined for an om606 swapped into a 2002 Silverado. Initially people might not think that’s any big deal but the person contacting me was from California. I then realized the email address was from California government domain. As my heart rate started to increase, I immediately turned to Google and found that one of my suppliers, Premier Performance as well as Jegs were hit with MAJOR lawsuits for just reselling performance parts into California. There is no way I could survive if I was hit with legal action from a government entity like they were. I did contact the person inquiring about the 603 pump and they have a county issued exemption. Regardless, the situation has driven me to want to come up to speed on the regulations surrounding the aftermarket but it’s almost impossible to get in front of. There is no way a simple shop could ever consume all the legal requirements from every jurisdiction.
For those that live in California, let me start out by saying: I’m sorry. For the performance car enthusiast, you are starting at a deficit, crippled by legislation. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe there is significant value in protecting our environment, but it would be great to have one set of “simple” rules we can follow. For me the tailpipe should dictate things. If the vehicle is for road use and it passes emissions testing (probe readings) who cares about modifications because the performance of the vehicle clearly indicates that it is within allowed specification.
I do believe California leads the nation in sucking the life out of everything performance and is hyper legislative; thus, I think CARB is probably the most restrictive rules I would need to adhere to. I want to comply with the government restrictions therefore when purchasing fuel delivery products, the purchaser, regardless of geographic location, will need to acknowledge that it is for competition use and/or they have fully investigated their local and state regulations.
If you want to learn more, here are some links for you: