40 CFR Part 22, Subpart C - Prehearing Procedures

In accordance with the Presidential directive as expressed in the memorandum of January 20, 2017, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” this action temporarily delays until March 21, 2017, the effective date of the regulations listed in the table below. EPA identified 30 regulations that meet those criteria.

This final rule revises the Environmental Protection Agency's (“EPA”) Consolidated Rules of Practice governing the administrative assessment of civil penalties and various other administrative adjudicatory hearings. These revisions simplify the administrative processing of cases by removing inconsistencies, codifying electronic filing and service procedures, and streamlining the procedures in cases initiated at EPA Headquarters. This rule also corrects some punctuation typographical errors found in the Consolidated Rules of Practice. This rule similarly revises EPA's procedures governing decisionmaking in permit appeals. These amendments are procedural in nature and none of these changes are intended to substantively alter the Agency's administrative enforcement actions or review of permit appeals.

EPA and NHTSA, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, are establishing rules for a comprehensive Phase 2 Heavy-Duty (HD) National Program that will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fuel consumption from new on-road medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and engines. NHTSA's fuel consumption standards and EPA's 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 rule also includes separate standards for the engines that power combination tractors and vocational vehicles. Certain requirements for control of GHG emissions are exclusive to the EPA program. These include EPA's hydrofluorocarbon standards to control leakage from air conditioning systems in vocational vehicles and EPA's nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and methane (CH 4 ) standards for heavy-duty engines. Additionally, NHTSA is addressing misalignment between the Phase 1 EPA GHG standards and the NHTSA fuel efficiency standards to virtually eliminate the differences. This action also includes certain EPA-specific provisions relating to control of emissions of pollutants other than GHGs. EPA is finalizing non-GHG emission standards relating to the use of diesel auxiliary power units installed in new tractors. In addition, EPA is clarifying the classification of natural gas engines and other gaseous-fueled heavy-duty engines. EPA is also finalizing 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 requiring that engines from donor vehicles installed in new glider vehicles meet the emission standards applicable in the year of assembly of the new glider vehicle, including all applicable standards for criteria pollutants, with limited exceptions for small businesses and for other special circumstances.

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.