South Dakota Senate Bill 103, which attempted to establish certification provisions regarding the use of replacement crash parts in the repair of certain vehicles, was tabled Feb. 13 during a house hearing. The bill would have declared aftermarket parts certified by the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) to be the legal equivalent of original equipment parts.
"We believe that Senate Bill 103 opens the door for a conflict of interest for those entities that may certify what types of parts are acceptable or not acceptable," says Bob Redding, the Automotive Service Association's (ASA's) Washington D.C. representative who handles all federal and state legislation. "Some certification authorities will be in and some will be out."
Conceivably, a new entity could be launched to start a parts certification process that could be pitched to a state offering a cheaper and quicker alternative, but falls short on quality, he said.
"The door is open to mischief," Redding says. "We are not comfortable with a 50-state part certification program. While not all part certification is bad, this type of initiative, which creates a state-governed parts certification piece in a state that is not set up to determine who is qualified to certify and who is not, raises many troubling issues."
The issue of parts certification should be addressed on the national rather than state level, he said.
"This is too much like the whole insurer regulation model that we have today, which is not working," Redding says. "In one state, anti-steering laws are enforced, while in another, they do not even exist. The state-by-state regulation structure has not worked. Let's not add another level to that by allowing them to certify parts state by state."
The bill's exact language is, "No insurer may require the use of replacement crash parts in the repair of a motor vehicle unless the replacement crash part is at least of like kind and quality to the part being replaced in terms of fit, function and finish. Replacement crash parts certified to meet the standards set by an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recognized entity, including the Certified Automotive Parts Association, are presumed to be at least of like kind and quality to the part being replaced in terms of fit, function and finish."
The bill also would have prevented insurers from requiring the use of non-OEM replacement crash parts in the repair of new vehicles within 12 months of the date of the vehicle's purchase.