40 CFR Part 1039, Subpart B - Emission Standards and Related Requirements

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are extending the comment period for the joint proposed rules “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles—Phase 2,” and also for NHTSA's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The proposed rules were published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2015. The comment period for the proposed rules was to end on September 17, 2015. The DEIS was published to a NHTSA Docket on June 19, 2015, and the comment period for that document was to end on August 31, 2015. The purpose of this action is to extend the comment period for the proposed rules and the DEIS to October 1, 2015.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are announcing a public hearing to be held for the joint proposed rules “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles—Phase 2,” and also for NHTSA's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The proposed rules were published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2015. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement was published on June 19, 2015, and is available on the NHTSA Web site mentioned below. This hearing will be the second of two hearings, which will be held on August 6 and August 18, 2015. The August 6, 2015 hearing was announced in a separate Federal Register notice on July 28, 2015.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) are announcing public hearings to be held for the joint proposed rules “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles—Phase 2,” and also for NHTSA's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The proposed rules were published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2015. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement was published on June 19, 2015, and is available on the NHTSA Web site mentioned below. Two hearings will be held on August 6 and August 18, 2015.

EPA and NHTSA, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, are each proposing rules to establish a comprehensive Phase 2 Heavy-Duty (HD) National Program that will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fuel consumption for new on-road heavy-duty vehicles. This technology-advancing program would phase in over the long-term, beginning in the 2018 model year and culminating in standards for model year 2027, responding to the President's directive on February 18, 2014, to develop new standards that will take us well into the next decade. NHTSA's proposed fuel consumption standards and EPA's proposed carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission standards are tailored to each of four regulatory categories of heavy-duty vehicles: Combination tractors; trailers used in combination with those tractors; heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans; and vocational vehicles. The proposal also includes separate standards for the engines that power combination tractors and vocational vehicles. Certain proposed requirements for control of GHG emissions are exclusive to EPA programs. These include EPA's proposed hydrofluorocarbon standards to control leakage from air conditioning systems in vocational vehicles, and EPA's proposed nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and methane (CH 4 ) standards for heavy-duty engines. Additionally, NHTSA is addressing misalignment in the Phase 1 standards between EPA and NHTSA to ensure there are no differences in compliance standards between the agencies. In an effort to promote efficiency, the agencies are also proposing to amend their rules to modify reporting requirements, such as the method by which manufacturers submit pre-model, mid-model, and supplemental reports. EPA's proposed HD Phase 2 GHG emission standards are authorized under the Clean Air Act and NHTSA's proposed HD Phase 2 fuel consumption standards authorized under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. These standards would begin with model year 2018 for trailers under EPA standards and 2021 for all of the other heavy-duty vehicle and engine categories. The agencies estimate that the combined standards would reduce CO 2 emissions by approximately 1 billion metric tons and save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the life of vehicles and engines sold during the Phase 2 program, providing over $200 billion in net societal benefits. As noted, the proposal also includes certain EPA-specific provisions relating to control of emissions of pollutants other than GHGs. EPA is seeking comment on non-GHG emission standards relating to the use of auxiliary power units installed in tractors. In addition, EPA is proposing to clarify the classification of natural gas engines and other gaseous-fueled heavy-duty engines, and is proposing closed crankcase standards for emissions of all pollutants from natural gas heavy-duty engines. EPA is also proposing technical amendments to EPA rules that apply to emissions of non-GHG pollutants from light-duty motor vehicles, marine diesel engines, and other nonroad engines and equipment. Finally, EPA is proposing to require that rebuilt engines installed in new incomplete vehicles meet the emission standards applicable in the year of assembly, including all applicable standards for criteria pollutants.

This rule consists of three parts. First, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adopting minimum maintenance intervals for replenishment of consumable chemical reductant (commonly known as diesel exhaust fluid, or DEF) in connection with the use of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technologies. Second, EPA is adopting provisions allowing manufacturers of nonroad engines to give operators the means to obtain short-term relief from emission controls while operating in emergency situations, such as those where operation of a nonroad engine or equipment is needed to protect human life, and where obtaining short-term relief from emission controls enables such operation. Third, EPA is adopting minor revisions to the direct final rule for emergency vehicles that became effective August 7, 2012, in response to comments received on the parallel Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

This action establishes more stringent vehicle emissions standards and will reduce the sulfur content of gasoline beginning in 2017, as part of a systems approach to addressing the impacts of motor vehicles and fuels on air quality and public health. The gasoline sulfur standard will make emission control systems more effective for both existing and new vehicles, and will enable more stringent vehicle emissions standards. The vehicle standards will reduce both tailpipe and evaporative emissions from passenger cars, light-duty trucks, medium-duty passenger vehicles, and some heavy-duty vehicles. This will result in significant reductions in pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, and air toxics across the country and help state and local agencies in their efforts to attain and maintain health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Motor vehicles are an important source of exposure to air pollution both regionally and near roads. These vehicle standards are intended to harmonize with California's Low Emission Vehicle program, thus creating a federal vehicle emissions program that will allow automakers to sell the same vehicles in all 50 states. The vehicle standards will be implemented over the same timeframe as the greenhouse gas/fuel efficiency standards for light-duty vehicles (promulgated by EPA and the National Highway Safety Administration in 2012), as part of a comprehensive approach toward regulating emissions from motor vehicles.

EPA is adopting amendments to the technical hardship provisions under the Transition Program for Equipment Manufacturers related to the Tier 4 standards for nonroad diesel engines, and to the replacement engine exemption generally applicable to new nonroad engines. These provisions may have minor impacts on the costs and emission reductions of the underlying regulatory programs amended in this action, though in most cases these are simple technical amendments. For those provisions that may have a minor impact on the costs or benefits of the amended regulatory program, any potential impacts would be small and we have not attempted to quantify the potential changes.

Because EPA and NHTSA, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, received adverse comment on certain elements of the Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle and Nonroad Technical Amendments direct final rule published on June 17, 2013, we are withdrawing those elements of the direct final rule and republishing the affected sections without those elements.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is denying the petition of Plant Oil Powered Diesel Fuel Systems, Inc. (“POP Diesel”) to reconsider the final rules establishing emissions standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from on-road heavy-duty vehicles.