European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 22, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday october 22, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 3 Epa considering changing import rules for cars Shaf fail of meet . San cards by Clint Swiff Washington Bureau Washington the to Environ mental Protection Agency is considering changing its rules for importing vehicles thai Don l meet . Clean air standards. Of the options the la is considering none would extend the emission standards exemption that lets americans bring one car Home for personal use with out modification if it is More than five years old. An Ila official said he knew of no plans Tor Grard a Thering to protect people who have purchased cars to bring Back to he United states under the five year Rule. An Epa official said As he did two years ago that a decision would be made by Spring. He said the rules would be published by summer and take effect by Jan. I. 1987. In re cell hearings car manufacturers told the Nipa that cars that enter the United states without meeting emission standards arc an environmental and safety Hazard. But converters Lold the Agency that their shops create thousands of jobs. Gypsy car dealers More often than not operate without regard for the Federal and slate environmental and safety Laws Anil regulations that govern franchised dealers Robert Mcelvaine president of the Ameri can International automobile dealers association Lold the i a. Mcllwaine said dealers see so called Gray Market autos in their service Bays that Don l Runcel emission requirements. In some cases the cars Are safety hazards such As those that have catalysis mounted next to fuel lines mounted without heat Shields and welded against the vehicle body he said. The association says it represents 7,000 . Import car distributors. Benjamin Jackson president of the automobile importers compliance association the largest association of Gray Market importers said evidence of prob lems with modifiers work is too scanty to justify shutting Down the Industry. He said a California Survey of 27 cars cited by the panel and the manufacturers was very limited test  Jackson said it did not prove that modifiers did not know How to perform the work or that the work is so difficult that Only factory Aulhorn de shops could do it last fall the Epa tested 27 California cars that had passed Laboratory clean air tests immediately after modification. All but one failed the second i palest some by a wide margin. The complaint that foreign cars converted to meet . Requirements Don l slay clean Long has caused the Agency to look for ways to guarantee thai Gray Market modifications will be durable. The i a is considering three options Rii mingling the Gray Market lit would do this by keeping cars out of the country that were not originally manufactured to american specifications. Limiting imports to vehicles covered by an i a some outfits bring cars Back in the name of a dead person or pick names out of the phone Book. / issued certificate that confirms that the class of vehicle meets . Emission standards. Manufacturers would demonstrate thai their . Specification models meet clean air standards and those models would be certified. The manufacturer would not be required to submit each car rolling off the Assembly line to an emission test. Under this option Gray Market importers could earn certificates to import specific models if they prove their modified cars can pass . Clean air Tesis. Hut Agency officials said they probably still would be required to submit every third car to a test. Individuals wanting to import a Gray Market car would have to get the car converted by the manufacturer or Gray Market converter holding a certificate for Attiat Model. Limiting imports to vehicles covered by an  issued certificate but permitting Gray Market certificate holders to import vehicles not covered by their certificate. They would have 120 Days to convert them. Cars in certified classes could be brought in Only by firms thai held a certificate for them. Now any importer is responsible for converting the non conforming cars it brings in. But the modification shops take the cars to the la approved laboratories for testing. None of the options would extend the emission exemptions for cars More than five years old. An importers spokesman said the exempt Ion has been abused. There Are people out there making a living off the five year  he said. It was supposed to be for people like the Serviceman. Some outfits bring cars Back in the name of a dead person or pick names out of the phone Book. They do the Dot make the cars meet department of transportation safety standards and sell  the l a held a similar hearing two ears ago with out changing the rules. The urgency behind the latest hearing is underscored by the Agency s own figures. Those figures show that there were 1.500 Gray mar Ket imports in 1980. Hut the Agency expects that figure to reach 60.00u this year and twice that next year. The Reagan administration has opposed legislation that would eliminate the Gray Market. Letters from the transportation department and its National Highway traffic safely administration said the department of Justice estimates eliminating the Gray Market would Cost american Consumers several Hundred million dollars a year if they had to pay the factory Price for .-specification car Sand would wipe Oul thousands of jobs in the modification Indus try. That has caused converters to dismiss inc proposal for a ban As unrealistic. Hut elimination of the Industry was the Only option Bow Jaguar and Mercedes Hen said would solve problems such As the durability of modifications. Karl 7,Wica of Bow of North America said the current testing of modified vehicles leaving conversion shops is no guarantee that the parts or work will endure. "7.ero-Milc  Wica said is no substitute for the years of development and testing that factory a Thori de models go through. Diane Black of Jaguar cars inc. Said conveners cannot keep up with engine design changes made Dur ing production. That Means that even if modifiers won Upa certification that they could successfully modify an overseas Model there is no guarantee the next Model they obtained would be the same As the first one they modified. Jaguar has no mechanism for notifying the 200 to 300 importers that would grow up if option three became Law she said. Heavy duty tractor contest in Germany big wheels with a lot of pull deliver loads of fun a determined contestant goes through his Heay paces at the .-style tractor pull in Darmstadt. Is photo by pal Bane by Chris a Saks staff writer Darmstadt Germany heavy duty tractors looking like a Farmer s White lightning Nightmare roared and belched Black smoke. Good us boys hooted and cheered Between pulps of Beer As the huge machines strained under their Concrete burdens. Country music Twan ged Oul of loudspeakers. Just another everyday tractor pull in the Middle of Germany. "1 Don t think it s us big As the ones in the states said pfc. Anthony Petlig. Of the 596th maim co in Darmstadt. Prom what i hear most of their parts come from  the tractor pull was held in Darmstadt sunday. The tractors pulled their Concrete loads on a slanting trailer. The Load is conveyed up the trailer As it is pulled making it heavier. Another group of americans on hand was the inter National Iron motorcycle club whose members Are soldiers from Darmstadt. One member. Spec. 4 Bob Rivers of co a 94th liner in. Was t Loo impressed with the tractors. Usually in the Stales you get a lot of bigger tractors he said. They be got maybe one big one Here that s about  the next tractor pull is scheduled in go Rosheim this sunday and in Wiesbaden nov. 3. In go Rosheim the show will be at the  punkt and in wies Baden at the Bierstadt am spor Plau. Admission is 12 Marks about 54.50 for adults 8 n1 irks about $3 for children