40 CFR § 51.370 - Compliance with recall notices.

States shall establish methods to ensure that vehicles subject to enhanced I/M and that are included in either a “Voluntary Emissions Recall” as defined at 40 CFR 85.1902(d), or in a remedial plan determination made pursuant to section 207(c) of the Act, receive the required repairs. States shall require that owners of recalled vehicles have the necessary recall repairs completed, either in order to complete an annual or biennial inspection process or to obtain vehicle registration renewal. All recalls for which owner notification occurs after January 1, 1995 shall be included in the enhanced I/M recall requirement.

(a) General requirements.

(1) The State shall have an electronic means to identify recalled vehicles based on lists of VINs with unresolved recalls made available by EPA, the vehicle manufacturers, or a third party supplier approved by the Administrator. The State shall update its list of unresolved recalls on a quarterly basis at a minimum.

(2) The State shall require owners or lessees of vehicles with unresolved recalls to show proof of compliance with recall notices in order to complete either the inspection or registration cycle.

(3) Compliance shall be required on the next registration or inspection date, allowing a reasonable period to comply, after notification of recall was received by the State.

(b) Enforcement.

(1) A vehicle shall either fail inspection or be denied vehicle registration if the required recall repairs have not been completed.

(2) In the case of vehicles obtaining recall repairs but remaining on the updated list provided in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the State shall have a means of verifying completion of the required repairs; electronic records or paper receipts provided by the authorized repair facility shall be required. The vehicle inspection or registration record shall be modified to include (or be supplemented with other VIN-linked records which include) the recall campaign number(s) and the date(s) repairs were performed. Documentation verifying required repairs shall include the following:

(i) The VIN, make, and model year of the vehicle; and

(ii) The recall campaign number and the date repairs were completed.

(c) Reporting requirements. The State shall submit to EPA, by July of each year for the previous calendar year, an annual report providing the following information:

(1) The number of vehicles in the I/M area initially listed as having unresolved recalls, segregated by recall campaign number;

(2) The number of recalled vehicles brought into compliance by owners;

(3) The number of listed vehicles with unresolved recalls that, as of the end of the calendar year, were not yet due for inspection or registration;

(4) The number of recalled vehicles still in non-compliance that have either failed inspection or been denied registration on the basis of non-compliance with recall; and

(5) The number of recalled vehicles that are otherwise not in compliance.

(d) SIP submittals. The SIP shall describe the procedures used to incorporate the vehicle lists provided in paragraph (a)(1) of this section into the inspection or registration database, the quality control methods used to insure that recall repairs are properly documented and tracked, and the method (inspection failure or registration denial) used to enforce the recall requirements.