Right to Fix: The Challenger to Californias Auto Emission Stranglehold

PLYMOUTH, Mich.—California’s strict air quality regulations on modified auto parts served as a national compliance benchmark for nearly 60 years, but now a nonprofit industry organization is offering approved testing services, after President Donald Trump’s administration upended the regulatory status quo.The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) received official approval on July 1 for its SEMA Certified-Emissions program, allowing aftermarket manufacturers and vendors to use its emissions testing and certification as reasonable documentation that their products do not adversely affect vehicle emissions under the Clean Air Act and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Tampering Policy.“It’s a game changer in the industry,” Ben Kaminsky, general manager of SEMA’s Detroit garage, told The Epoch Times during a tour of the operation. The garage is a 45,000-square-foot research and testing facility opened in 2022 in Plymouth, Michigan.“Prior to that, there wasn’t really another game in town.”The move follows Trump’s June 29 memorandum “Lowering the Cost of Living by Promoting the Freedom to Fix,” which includes directives to reduce dependence on California’s Air Resources Board (CARB).CARB first regulated the industry in 1967 with the Golden State’s passage of the Mulford–Carrell Air Resources Act. Federal lawmakers subsequently passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, setting federal standards in line with California’s guidelines.Since the act, all auto parts manufacturers seeking to sell in California have been required to obtain an executive order from CARB. Backlogs create lengthy delays, averaging six months and extending to two years or more, according to SEMA data.“The struggle is how quickly that gets through,” Kaminsky said.Long wait times spurred the construction of SEMA’s $13 million facility, which gives the association’s 7,000 members an alternative for compliance testing through certification that can deliver results in days or weeks rather than months or years.Ben Kaminsky, general manager of SEMA’s Detroit Garage, shows advanced emissions technology used in the testing facility in Plymouth, Michigan, on July 28, 2026. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times“It was such an arduous process with CARB, and there was no timeline that you could assign to it,” Kaminsky said while telling of real-world examples of members encountering problems with compliance in the past. He recounted one situation in which he was sitting across from a chief engineer of GM’s Corvette program “in a very uncomfortable meeting” as regulatory delays disrupted operations.SEMA’s member companies include thousands of small businesses, some with only a handful of employees and limited budgets. Waiting 18 months or longer to sell products “could be the death knell for some,” he said.Investing in Small BusinessesSEMA operates two testing facilities. Its original 15,000-square-foot garage was opened in Diamond Bar, California, in 2014 to provide certification opportunities for manufacturers nationwide.The group began offering its certification services in 2022, using the “reasonable basis” pathway outlined in the EPA’s 2020 Tampering Policy, under which manufacturers can use emissions testing to demonstrate that aftermarket products do not adversely affect vehicle emissions.The EPA’s July 2026 decision formally recognized that testing conducted through SEMA’s Certified-Emissions program satisfies the policy’s criteria.“This provides that pathway where you can start getting a return on your investment, like now,” Kaminsky said.Businesses can then opt to wait in line for CARB certification to sell in California, using data from SEMA tests to demonstrate compliance.(Top) A SEMA employee prepares a vehicle for emissions testing at the company’s Detroit Garage in Plymouth, Michigan, on July 28, 2026. (Bottom) SEMA’s Detroit Garage utilizes advanced emissions testing equipment in Plymouth, Michigan, on July 28, 2026. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times“They can use SEMA certified as a stop on the way to the destination of a CARB executive order, or it can be their destination,” Kaminsky said.Manufacturers located in the Midwest and South can also now reduce transportation costs, as previously vehicles and personnel were shipped across the country to California for testing.Technology Driving AdvancementsEmissions testing is an exact science, “a matter of measuring zeroes,” Kaminsky said. That requires a spotless operation, meticulously clean throughout to avoid contamination. At SEMA’s facilities, no engines are started inside the garage, and a special vehicle dolly is used to move vehicles around various testing bays as needed.Testing standards meet CARB’s requirements, with an all-wheel-drive chassis supporting high-horsepower evaluations.Other testing facilities offer compliance testing for original equipment manufacturers, including well-known brands such as Ford, GM, and Toyota, while SEMA specializes in aftermarket businesses.“The magic in the sauce is that not only do we have the testing capabilities, but we have the compliance side of it, so we can coach them through,” Kaminsky said.Other services offered include 3-D scanning, education and training opportunities, and testing for automatic driver assist systems, described as “the latest mountain on the horizon.”Many new vehicles now come equipped with 360-degree cameras, sensors, and lane-assist technologies, all of which complicate aftermarket product testing, as modifications could jeopardize functionality.At the garage, two specialized bays, totaling 5,000 square feet, with floors refinished to a perfectly flat grade, special non-reflective surfaces, and customizable lighting, are equipped to test the impact of products on the complex sensor-based systems.Ben Kaminsky, general manager of SEMA’s Detroit Garage, displays a sign illustrating sensors used in vehicles’ automatic driver assist systems at the organization’s facility in Plymouth, Michigan, on July 28, 2026. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch TimesAdvocating for AmericansBusinesses can access the garage for expertise and equipment that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive to purchase independently. The layout and combination of electronics and complex machinery were engineered to guide members over regulatory hurdles.“SEMA Garage is where the policy meets the parts,” Coby Lobaugh, grassroots manager for SEMA’s government affairs division, told The Epoch Times during a recent tour.He described the building as “a state-of-the-art facility strategically located in Detroit, where the automotive performance and aftermarket industry can focus on innovative approaches to efficiency, safety, and calibration.”More than 80 automobile-related businesses are located within a three-mile radius of the garage, situated near the Motor City, the historic capital of the automotive world.Nearly 100 companies have received certification from SEMA’s two garages since the program’s inception.Magnuson Superchargers, based in Ventura, California, founded by hot-rod legend Jerry Magnuson, is known for high-quality aftermarket bolt-on power kits designed for racing performance.Vehicles await research and compliance testing at SEMA’s Detroit Garage in Plymouth, Michigan, on July 28, 2026. SEMA’s Detroit Garage offers compliance testing for aftermarket products sold in 49 states, as seen in Plymouth, on July 28, 2026. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch TimesThe company holds nearly 50 SEMA certificates for various supercharger products and touts the benefits of its compliance testing services for the many businesses in the aftermarket industry.“Magnuson Superchargers has always understood the importance of investing in, and developing, our performance upgrades to comply at the federal and state levels, with EPA and CARB requirements,” Todd Payne, vice president of development for the manufacturer, told The Epoch Times.“However, countless other U.S.-based small businesses do not possess the resources or know-how to properly navigate what has for too long been a tangle of regulatory requirements.”Payne thanked the Trump administration and the EPA for clearing a “well-defined path for thousands of small businesses” to certify their products for sale in every state but California.“The EPA is reasserting itself and the Clean Air Act as the standard-bearer of environmental protection after acquiescing to CARB for decades,” Payne said.“Administrator Zeldin’s actions for President Trump’s EPA make it vastly more clear, timely, and cost-effective for the thousands of small automotive aftermarket manufacturers to achieve Clean Air Act compliance via the SEMA Certified-Emissions program, and that will help our entire industry, our millions of employees, and our environment.”Businesses that build parts and kits for high-performance tuning, including member companies Magnuson Superchargers and VMP Performance, face additional rounds of compliance evaluations in which their superchargers are tested on “worst-case vehicles,” with comprehensive emissions, onboard diagnostics, and boost testing.A SEMA employee uses a 3D scanner at the company’s Detroit Garage in Plymouth, Michigan, on July 28, 2026. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times“The complexity of a supercharger system lends itself to extended review times within the regulatory bodies,” Matt Daigle, director of communications for SEMA’s government affairs division, told The Epoch Times.“SEMA Certified-Emissions cuts through the delay by sharing the lab data directly with technical staff for timely review and granting of certification.”Fast-track certification timelines are approximately three months with SEMA, compared to four to six months with CARB, according to the association’s data.Allowing SEMA to provide testing services will increase market access for small businesses, reduce counterfeit products from Chinese manufacturers, and improve the supply of parts Americans need to fix their equipment, according to the EPA.“The CARB process is faulty and backlogged, and its certification takes 12 to 18 months to complete,” a senior EPA official told The Epoch Times by email Aug. 12.“These delays have left small businesses, the majority of aftermarket suppliers, sidelined while Chinese counterfeits flooded the market.”A vehicle sits in an emissions testing cell prior to testing at SEMA’s Detroit Garage in Plymouth, Michigan, on July 28, 2026. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch TimesOfficials commended SEMA’s efforts and highlighted opportunities for more certification programs, welcoming requests from other organizations.“SEMA is well positioned to help American small businesses remain competitive and successful in the aftermarket sector,” the EPA official said.Agency leadership noted Trump’s deregulatory commitments when announcing approval of the certification program.“Americans should not be forced to solely rely on California to certify aftermarket products,” Zeldin said in a statement announcing the new rules, noting Trump’s deregulatory commitments.“With the aftermarket sector being a key piece of the industry, EPA is proud to deliver on the president’s agenda, for the small businesses producing aftermarket parts, and on behalf of the Americans who purchase those parts.”The agency can independently evaluate cases to assess compliance with federal laws.Tools for testing vehicles’ automatic driver assist systems at SEMA’s Detroit Garage in Plymouth, Michigan, on July 28, 2026. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch TimesA nonpartisan industry advocacy group, SEMA is best known for its trade show, the largest in North America, held in Las Vegas in November and attended by more than 150,000 people every year.The show highlights the nation’s largest collection of small businesses at one event, representing an industry that exceeds more than $500 billion in economic impact nationwide, according to the EPA.Officials with CARB did not respond to a request for comment.