Michael is talking about Public law 107-319. Yes that is the Fed law that is in our favor. He has some good ideas such as take a citation and fight it and the Chevron defense. Where basically it is precedent that helps determine if an agency can interpreted conflicting laws anyway they want or not.

Public law 107-319 does not apply to the CA Vehicle code and the USFS, NPS, and BLM all don't recognize it nor does the CA state and parks. The Feds use this law: 36 CFR1.4 and 36 CFR 212.1. that still treats low power assist bikes as motorized vehicles and bans them. All of these jurisdictions are separate fronts and will require separate committees. For example Angeles District Parks and a couple of others where there are different decision makers and laws that apply.

This problem has to be fought on a jurisdiction by jurisdiction bases and that's why we are forming separate committees. Volunteers are needed and your contributions if you can't volunteer your time and skill set.

The OC Parks Action Committee's focus is OC Parks. In OC Parks here is the chain of command.

State of CA - AB1096 effect as of 1-1-2016 good to go- defines and allows e-bikes on bike trails and paths
CA Parks (not weighing in- letting the park superintendents run the parks they way they want
OC board of supervisors- The decision maker for OC parks. - Misinformed 
(OC Parks policy advisor) - Misinformed
OC Parks Director - Misinformed
Rangers/peace officers. - Misinformed.

Short story.

1-1-2016 AB-1096 became law in CA (signed by Gov Brown) It defines and gives access to class 1 and 2 low power pedal assist e-bikes. It gives local land managers the right to ban them on certain trails and paths by ordnance.

7-17- 2018 OC Parks bans class 1 and 2 from OC Parks. They announce it as they are opening up certain paves byways to class one and two pedal assist.

Their flawed logic and reason. "They have always been banned" You get the same answer no matter who you ask.

But the truth is that as of 1-1-2016 AB 1096 opened up all bike paths and trails in the state of CA to class one and two low power assist e-bikes for a good reason. It was not until the OC board of supervisors new ordnance on 7-17-18 were enacted were they banned and enforcement started, citations issued and signs started going up. Intimidation and threats of heavy fines have been and are being made.

OC Parks did get one thing right in the 7-17-18 ordnance. They put in an exception for ADA (DOJ 2011 rule) which the Rangers don't like and wish to get rid of. I've heard stories of the rangers keeping a list of those with mobility disabilities but then denials as to the existence of a list. This does not sound legal to me and warrants further investigation. Keeping a list of disabled people (why and for what purpose?) does not smell right to me. Since they read my posts maybe they will get ahead of that.

OC Parks has the right to ban class one and two e-bikes on certain trails per AB 1096. But they are wrong to do so on all bike trails. Only a couple other parks have done so out of over 250 CA state parks and for different reasons. Angeles District Parks being the next biggest offender as they are not even honoring the 2011 DOJ Rule for ADA and we have filed a complaint with the DOJ over that.

We have a petition with over 3600 names on it asking OC parks to allow e-bike access. People for Bikes has on line resources put out by Morgan Director of the E-bikes campaign to debunk many of the objections that you typically encounter. Their focus however is on paved bike trails and passing new state legislation such as AB 1096 on a State by State bases. They have already done so in about 10 states in the last few years. CA is the model legislation. But they like IMBA have to cater to their members that do not like ebikes and will not promote natural surface bike trail access for EMTBs. That is our focus. For OC Parks the reason given is simply "that they have always been banned" which is not true. I am sure the supervisors were just doing what the OC Parks director recommended. The best way to get the supervisors on board is to meet with them and educate them. That is the job of the OC Parks Action Committee. Most of the rest of the world understand the importance and health benefits such as in England and most other developed countries. The US is behind on this.

By the way be careful not to believe the misinformation put out by People for Bikes and others such as where you can and can't ride. One of the purposes of our organization was provide correct information on this because even bike shops were telling people that you could not ride in OC Parks before the ban. The signs were calling these motorized vehicles when they had been redefined as class one and two by AB 1096.

Call to Action: Please join and support The Electric Mountain Bike Association. Membership is free. We desperately need your generous contributions to continue to fight for your right to ride. We are also calling for volunteers for the OC Parks Action Committee and now the Angeles District Parks Action Committee so we can wage this fight on both fronts.

Thank you for your kind support. Pics: bad sign at the entrance to Aliso Woods, Wood Canyon in OC, CA We want the bad signs in OC Parks replaces with good signs in the spirit of AB 1096.