Hmmm. The original wording:

"All cars, except cars with pop-up headlights, shall have clear OEM headlight assemblies in place in the stock headlight..."

Implies pop-up headlights could be removed. We killed that verbiage with the new rule. Since the intent of the rule is to ensure that the resultant openings of headlight removal cannot be used for ducting (requirement to replace h/l with plate) and to keep the car looking stock, I suggest that you can remove the pop-up headlight assembly in its entirety, as long as the headlight cover is properly secured in the stock closed location.

Might be worth sending a request for clarification. - GA