Driving Force Newsletter - February 2010

[4N2NR]

The SAN Races North
SAN Supports Leaded-Fuel Exemption for Race Vehicles in Canada

Canada and the United States have their fair share of differences. For example, Canada’s head of state is the queen of England, the government is run by a prime minister rather than a president and it has a parliament and provinces rather than a congress and states. What separates Canada from the United States, though, isn’t nearly as significant as the similarities that unite them. One of those similarities is a love of cars, racing and the culture that surrounds them. It is that bond that brought the SAN to Canada in 2007 and is the reason we work with great organizations, such as the National Association of Automobile Clubs of Canada (NAACC) to promote and protect the hobby north of the U.S. border.

To further that mission, the SAN is supporting a proposal issued by Environment Canada to indefinitely extend an exemption that permits the use of leaded gasoline in competition motor vehicles. The exemption has been renewed several times since it was first established in 1996, but was set to expire in 2010. SAN had previously opposed efforts to terminate the exemption and effectively ban vehicles using leaded fuel. The new proposal recognizes the relationship between the Canadian and U.S. racing industries and adopts a consistent environmental approach to leaded-fuel use. Environment Canada will conduct a five-year review and revisit the exemption issue, if necessary, based on science, technology and fuel-replacement developments. Meanwhile, the agency will work with the racing industry to encourage a voluntary reduction or phase-out of leaded racing fuel.

Entire February Newsletter