While the off-road season continues on an upward slope, the Specialty Equipment Market Association is keeping an eye on legislation that could affect you as an off-road enthusiast. That means one more level of security for off-roaders nationwide. Check out this month’s SEMA Law & Order update below to see just what SEMA’s been working on!

While new off-road vehicles certainly have their place in the market, we’re going to start things out in regards to vintage trucks and 4x4s. Now thanks to efforts in Arizona, you may not have to have emissions tests done on any road-going vehicle that is 40 years or older. Currently, pre-1966 model vehicles are exempt from emission testing but with EPA approval, this could be changed to include more “classic” years in the near future. A similar bill, which would exempt all vintage vehicles from emission testing is currently on its last leg of consideration in Washington.

In Michigan, historic military vehicle owners can now rest a little easier as a bill, which exempts vehicles not originally equipped with license plate brackets and lighting from having to display an exterior license plate, will soon be signed into law. Now historic military vehicles without proper factory license plate hardware will only have to have a plate available inside the drivers compartment.

In Kentucky, a bill aiming to reduce the presumed value of all vehicles for property tax purposes is currently on its way to be considered by the Senate after passing a full house vote. If passed into law, this bill would value newer vehicles at average trade-in value rather than clean trade-in value, while classic vehicles would be valued less than their current “factory original or classic” trade-in value.

In New Jersey, enthusiasts are pushing for exemption certificates to be issued to owners of vehicles which are exempt from emissions testing, such as historic vehicles and some diesel-powered passenger vehicles. The reason for this push is that while every vehicle in the state is supposed to display an inspection approval certificate on the windshield, vehicles that are exempt from inspection are not issued these documents and subsequently pulled over because they’re believed to be in violation of the display rule.

Moving on to legislation geared only towards modern off-road vehicles, our next update comes from Maryland where legislation has been introduced that would change how emission test failures are handled. If passed, this new bill would allow for a free test (upon owner request) to do an exhaust emissions test on a vehicle that has otherwise failed the on-board diagnostics test. This would give vehicle owners two chances to pass emissions tests with just one fee.

In West Virginia, legislation that would allow locked vehicles equipped with remote starters to be started without possible consequences in regards to the state’s unattended vehicle law (a car can not be left running while unattended), has been approved by the House Roads and Transportation Committee. It now moves on to the House Judiciary Committee for further consideration.

On the federal front, the NHTSA, which implemented Phase 1 regulations in regards to certain functions of aftermarket devices that could distract a vehicle’s driver in 2013, has begun to work on Phase 2 guidelines, which will affect aftermarket equipment and software. Under current regulations, all vehicles manufactured after 2013 must have systems in place to disable certain functions of in-vehicle media systems, like text messaging, inputting an address or browsing the internet, while the vehicle is in a driving gear. On most vehicles, these functions are available once the vehicle is put in park.

In a seperate effort, the NHTSA is looking into requiring all new vehicles to be equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems. If implemented, these systems would transmit information like speed, location and direction to other connected vehicles, allowing for alerts (like flashing lights, seat vibration or audible warning) to be sent to drivers in cases of pending crashes. The NHTSA is expected to finalize a ruling about this potential requirement, said to possibly start with vehicles from the 2016 model year, in the near future.

Summer is prime time for some off-road action and SEMA is backing that up by keeping an eye on legislative action that could affect the off-road hobby. Be sure to check back next month as SEMA continues their legislative prowess and sign up with the SEMA Action Network for up-to-the-minute legislative updates!