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INDUSTRY NEWS OPEI files legal challenge to E15 misfueling rule The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), along with automakers and marine manufactur- ers, announced Sept. 21 a formal legal challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Regulation to Mitigate Misfueling" rule, which was meant to address concerns about 15- percent ethanol blends and non-road products and older model-year vehicles. OPEI and partner groups maintain that EPA's weak labeling effort is completely in- adequate to protect consumers and avoid potential misfueling and damage to millions of legacy products not designed to run on any ethanol fuel higher than E10. "We are asking that the EPA do more to protect the consumer," said Kris Kiser, presi- dent and CEO of OPEI. "We need to educate the public on a new fuel entering the mar- ket that is about to fundamentally change how we purchase and dispense gasoline. And, we need to ensure that consumers can still find E10 for the millions of product — lawn mowers, chain saws, motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATVs and UTVs, boats and older cars — that still use an E10 legacy fuel." OPEI points out that the EPA's prior experience with fuel transitions and misfueling demonstrates that labeling alone is insufficient to prevent misfueling. As the EPA led the transition to unleaded fuels, it reported a misfueling rate of nearly 15 percent al- most 10 years after the introduction of unleaded gasoline — even with a physical bar- rier at the pump. "EPA even denied our petition to mandate the continued availability of E10 so that consumers will still be able to purchase E10 at their local gasoline stations," added Kiser. "Consumers are really on their own at this point, and we just think that is unfair and potentially harmful from both a safety and economic perspective." Husqvarna announces discontinuation of Yazoo|Kees brand Husqvarna Professional Products Inc. announced Sept. 19 the intent to discontinue manufacturing and selling products under the Yazoo|Kees brand name by the end of 2011. "The decision to discontinue the Yazoo|Kees brand is part of our brand rationaliza- tion strategy within the Husqvarna Group," said John Marchionda, vice president of marketing, Husqvarna. Husqvarna will continue to produce similar products under both the Dixon and Husqvarna brands. The company will also continue to process warranty claims for Yazoo|Kees and make available service parts for an extended period of time. Ariens Company celebrates completion of expansion Ariens Company, a family-run, American-owned business with more than 2,000 em- ployees worldwide, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 16 to celebrate the comple- tion of a 26,000-square-foot, $3.8-million expansion at its headquarters in Brillion, Wis. The new space will be home to research and development, as well as engineering and expanded testing capabilities. "The lifeblood, the heartbeat of the company, is in the product development, and that's what we're building here," said Dan Ariens, president and CEO of Ariens Com- pany, who also announced plans to expand the company's workforce on the heels of a 28-percent increase in sales during its past fiscal year. 12 OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com