Posted on 06/26/2012 3:31:55 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
The Washington State Department of Ecology formally proposed regulations relating to the composition of brake pads, also known as the Better Brakes Law. The Better Brakes Law phases out the use of certain substances including copper, asbestos and several heavy metals from automotive brake pads, both aftermarket and original equipment.
The first requirement to reduce asbestos and several heavy metals goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2015. Copper would be required to be reduced to 5 percent by 2021.
The law was passed due to concern that use of certain substances in brake friction material could cause harm to human health and the environment. California has enacted similar requirements, but has thus far not initiated the development of regulations to implement their statute.
(Excerpt) Read more at aftermarketnews.com ...
You better watch those pennys on the nightstand, too.
I really really wish that at some point an industry that has this type of regulation dumped on them would have the balls to just refuse to sell those products to any gov’t. entity in that particular state. And if the whole industry banded together and did the same thing, the gov’t would quickly realize the folly of their heavy handed regulation. If the gov’t. tried to obtain the product through other channels, all of the mfr’s should refuse to supply those channels and refuse to honor any warrantees on any of the products. If the gob’t continued, the mfr should simply refuse to sell into that particular state.
If industries started doing this, there’d be a whole lot less idiotic regulations by corrupt greedy politicians and screwed up little Mussolini bureaucrats.
Yeah, I understand that there would be a short term sales hit, but the long term would make it much better compared to the increased costs of compliance in the first place.
“I really really wish that at some point an industry that has this type of regulation dumped on them would have the balls to just refuse to sell those products to any gov’t. entity in that particular state. And if the whole industry banded together and did the same thing, the gov’t would quickly realize the folly of their heavy handed regulation.”
I still remember the first tobacco lawsuit in Florida. If I were running a major company, I would have simply stopped selling the stuff in Florida. Assuming other companies followed suit, and even if they didn’t, you’d get significant smuggling from bordering states (massive smuggling if other companies joined in), and tax revenue would have NOSE-DIVED. That would have been the end of the lawsuit craze, before it even got any traction.
I’d love to see every gov’t car and truck in the whole state of Washington sit idle because they don’t have break shoes/pads. If every mfr just said, “Hey, it’ll cost too much, ain’t gonna do it,” you can bet the regs/laws would quickly be obliterated. Capitalism works if you let it. When the regs mandate something too expensive, just don’t make it. Let the gov’t try to find the replacements. But all the mfr’s would have to say the same thing. Just one won’t do it.
But it seems really hard for people to understand the long term costs/losses vs. the short term gains. Just how long do you think the state of Californicate’s gas blending regs would last if the gas companies said, “Sorry, only one blend available. Buy it or don’t run your vehicles.” I suspect it wouldn’t take 48 hours before someone called a special emergency session of the legislature to hastily make changes. That is if any of the legislators could find a bicycle to pedal to get to the capitol.
I just think that the mfr.’s should first just refuse to go along and refuse to sell to the gov’t. The public aren’t the ones making the regs. So what would the gov’t do? Force the mfr to make the product and sell it to the gov’t?
Oh, wait...
The gas companies have said, sorry only one blend available. We all get the CA blend. The oil companies are happy to sell the most expensive blend and charge the prices for it, too. All the western states burn the CA blend, whether they know it or not.
“I’d love to see every gov’t car and truck in the whole state of Washington sit idle because they don’t have break shoes/pads.”
...and there’s a business reason for it. If I ran a company that provided these products, I’d want to be TOTALLY CONVINCED that the alternate materials were safe (which they cannot be). If not, the company would be at huge risk of a lawsuit as people start crashing all over the place.
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