Published 9/21/94 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Parts 80, 85, 86, 88 and 600 [AMS-FRL-4892-8] Standards for Emissions From Natural Gas-Fueled, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas- Fueled Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Engines, and Certification Procedures for Aftermarket Conversions AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Final rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Today's rule provides emission standards and test procedures for the certification of new natural gas-fueled, and liquefied petroleum gas-fueled light-duty vehicles, light-duty trucks, heavy-duty engines and vehicles, and motorcycles. The regulations are effective with the 1997 model year, although optional certification prior to the 1997 model year will be available. Today's rule also provides fuel economy test procedures and calculation equations for natural gas-fueled light-duty vehicles and trucks, effective upon publication, to allow these vehicles to be included in a manufacturer's corporate average fuel economy (CAFE). Finally, today's rule provides procedures for the certification of aftermarket conversion equipment to allow a vehicle or engine to operate completely or in part on a fuel other than the fuel for which it was originally designed and manufactured. This action is being taken in order to remove the possibility that the absence of such standards could hinder the development of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas as transportation fuels. These standards are intended to provide a comparable degree of environmental protection to that afforded by the standards applicable to gasoline, diesel and methanol vehicles, and to ensure that aftermarket conversions do not degrade the emissions performance of the vehicles or engines being converted. DATES: Except as specified elsewhere in this DATES section, this final rule is effective September 21, 1994. The effective date of Secs. 80.32, 80.33, 86.001-9(d)(1)(iv), 86.001-28(h), 86.004-9(d)(1)(iv), 86.004-28(h), 86.098-8(d)(1)(iv), 86.098-28(h), 86.099- 8(d)(1)(iv), 86.150-98(d) and 86.157-98 is November 21, 1994, unless notice is received by October 21, 1994 that interested parties wish to submit adverse or critical comments on these sections. If the effective date is changed, timely notice will be published in the Federal Register. The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the regulations is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of September 21, 1994, except as specified elsewhere in this DATES section. 40 CFR 85.503, 85.505, 86.542-90, 86.094-23, 86.095-24, 86.095-35, 86.1242- 90, 86.098-28, 86.113-94, 86.1344-94, 86.142-90, 86.150-98, 86.513-94 and 600.113-93 are not effective until the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection requirements contained in them. A document will be published in the Federal Register when OMB has approved the information collection requirements. ADDRESSES: Written comments on those sections effective November 21, 1994 should be submitted both to the contact person for this rule (see For Further Information Contact) and to the docket for this rulemaking at the following address. Materials relevant to this rule have been placed in Docket No. A-92- 14 by EPA. The docket is located at: Air Docket Section, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460 in room M-1500, Waterside Mall (ground floor), and may be inspected between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. EPA may charge a reasonable fee for copying docket materials. In addition, copies of the Summary and Analysis of Comments document, which develops certain issues relevant to this final rulemaking, may be obtained by request from the contact person below. This document contains the Agency's response to the public comments received in regard to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. John Mueller, Regulation Development and Support Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2565 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105: phone (313) 668-4275. To obtain copies of this final rule or the Summary and Analysis of Comments document please contact Ms. Donna Hoover at (313) 668-4278 or at the above address. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Description of Action A. Timing B. New Vehicle Standards C. Certification Test Fuel Specification D. Test Procedures E. Fuel Economy F. Aftermarket Conversions G. Fees III. Public Participation A. Timing of Requirements B. Standards for HC 1. NMHC vs. THC Standards 2. Heavy-Duty NMHC Standards 3. Evaporative Emission Standards C. Refueling Emission Standards 1. Natural Gas 2. LPG Vehicle/Pump Interface 3. LPG Tank Venting D. Standards for CO and Crankcase Emissions 1. Idle CO 2. Crankcase Emissions E. On-Board Diagnostics F. HC Measurement G. Fuel Composition H. Fuel Economy I. Aftermarket Conversions 1. Applicability 2. Test Procedures 3. On-board Diagnostics 4. Liability IV. Environmental Effects V. Economic Impacts VI. Statutory Authority VII. Executive Order 12866 VIII. Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements IX. Impact on Small Entities X. Judicial Review I. Introduction Recently there has been increasing interest in the use of non-petroleum transportation fuels for a variety of reasons, including the potential environmental benefits offered by these fuels. Natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are among the more prominent of these fuels, along with methanol and ethanol. EPA promulgated emission standards for methanol-fueled vehicles on April 11, 1989 (54 FR 14426) due to the imminent commercialization of those vehicles. However, there are currently no emission standards in place for vehicles which operate, all or in part, on natural gas and LPG. This lack of standards is seen as a potential barrier to the widespread commercial introduction of these vehicles into the marketplace due to the uncertainties the manufacturers face regarding potential future standards where EPA has not yet addressed any of the issues involved. In addition, the recent rise in interest in these fuels has resulted in increased interest in aftermarket conversions (i.e., the conversion of a vehicle or engine to operate on a fuel other than that for which it was originally designed and certified to operate). Again, the lack of defined certification procedures for conversions, as well as the absence of a method to demonstrate good emissions performance of such conversions, are seen as potential barriers to their more widespread use for two reasons. First, the lack of defined certification procedures leads to uncertainty among converters as to whether the conversions they perform constitute tampering and result in the potential associated liability. Second, the potential for environmental benefits associated with gaseous fuels has led to increased interest in marketing conversions as an environmental strategy. The lack of a recognized procedure for confirming emissions performance has been seen as hindering efforts to market conversions in this manner. Thus, in order to remove these potential barriers EPA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing emission standards for natural gas and LPG vehicles, and certification procedures for aftermarket conversions on November 5, 1992 (57 FR 52912). A public hearing was held on December 3, 1992, in Ann Arbor, Michigan at which verbal comments on the NPRM were received. Written comments responding to the proposal were also received from 34 public and private parties. The Agency fully considered all comments received in developing today's final rule. The remaining sections of this preamble describe EPA's resolution of the issues associated with the rulemaking. Section II describes today's action and summarizes the new requirements. Section III reviews the major comments received on the NPRM and the Agency's analysis of those comments. Subsequent sections summarize the technical feasibility, leadtime requirements, environmental effects, and economic effects associated with today's action. II. Description of Action This section describes each provision of today's rule. In general, today's rule extends the coverage of the existing federal motor vehicle emissions program to include natural gas and LPG vehicles (hereinafter referred to as gaseous-fueled vehicles). As such, EPA's current regulations governing certification, production line, and in-use requirements are for the most part adopted for gaseous-fueled vehicles. Rather than present an exhaustive review of the entire federal emissions program, this section contains a basic description of the gaseous-fueled vehicle regulations and highlights where these regulations differ from those currently in place for other vehicles. For additional information on the new or existing program requirements the reader is referred to the accompanying regulations appearing at the end of today's notice, and Title 40, parts 80, 85, 86, 88 and 600 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which this rulemaking amends. A. Timing EPA proposed that these standards be effective with the 1994 model year, and explained that the Agency did not expect that significant lead-time for developing emission control technology would be required for compliance. Nonetheless, because this rule is not being promulgated until after the start of the 1994 model year, EPA no longer believes that there is sufficient time to certify vehicles and engines pursuant to these regulations for the 1994 model year. Further, EPA received several comments stating that leadtime was required for technology development, especially for durability demonstration, in addition to that required for the certification process alone. Therefore, EPA is promulgating the standards to be effective with the 1997 model year. Finally, the refueling requirements for gaseous-fueled vehicles will be implemented consistent with the recently finalized refueling emission standards for other vehicles (three year phase-in beginning with the 1998 model year for light-duty vehicles and the 2001 model year for light-duty trucks)./1/ The requirements for refueling stations will take effect on January 1, 1998 for large volume stations, with a two year delay until January 1, 2000 for those stations which dispense less than 10,000 gallons per month on a gasoline equivalent basis. This phase in for smaller stations is consistent with the approach taken with the dispensing rate limits placed on gasoline refueling stations contained in the evaporative emissions final rule./2/ Note /1/ 59 FR 16262, April 6, 1994. Note /2/ 58 FR 16002, March 24, 1993. EPA proposed that manufacturers be allowed to certify engines and vehicles produced prior to the effective model year in order to include engines in the emissions trading and banking program, and to include vehicles in manufacturers' corporate average fuel economy. EPA received no adverse comments on this aspect of the proposal. For this reason, manufacturers may choose to comply prior to the 1997 model year, including the 1994 model year. Including 1994 model year engines in the emissions trading and banking program and raises an issue whether engines manufactured in model year 1994 prior to the promulgation of this rule may be included in the program. A similar situation was confronted in the original banking and trading rule. There, EPA allowed banking for the full 1990 model year, even though the rule was promulgated on July 26, 1990. See 55 FR 30584, 30587. In that case, EPA placed certain restrictions on the inclusion of 1990 model year engines, to ensure credits were only given for significant reductions below the 1990 standards. This was to ensure that "windfall" credits from exceeding the arguably "lax" pre-1991 standards would not be used in the transition to the more stringent 1991 standards. As a result, if no restrictions on trading and banking were imposed, then the engines that had always exceeded the 1990 standards would for the first time be able to use the extra reductions as "windfall" credits to offset engines that did not yet meet the new and more stringent 1991 standards. See 55 FR at 30597. EPA does not believe such restrictions are necessary in this case. Since 1991, engines using other fuels, such as methanol, have been able to generate credits to offset higher emitting engines. EPA believes that gaseous-fueled engines should have an equal opportunity to use such credits as gasoline-, diesel-, and methanol-fueled engines, now that emissions standards and test procedures are in place in time for the 1994 model year. As EPA explained in the response to comments in the trading and banking final rule, CNG engines were not included at that time due to the absence of standards, test procedures, and certification protocols. See id at 30609. Now that these rules are in place, there is no longer any reason to disadvantage CNG engines vis a vis other fuels. In addition, EPA does not believe that the credits manufacturers might obtain from gaseous-fueled engines are "windfall," since they arguably would not have manufactured such engines in model year 1994 but for EPA's actions to provide an incentive to do so. Rather, EPA believes manufacturers had an incentive to manufacture gaseous-fueled engines based on EPA actions prior to this final rule. EPA proposed these standards in November 1992, and began developing these standards substantially before that. EPA believes this overall incentive further supports allowing manufacturers to include all 1994 model year engines in the trading and banking program. The aftermarket conversion certification procedures contained in today's rule are available to converters as a way of obtaining an exemption from the tampering prohibition. Since this procedure creates an exemption and is optional it will be available upon publication in the Federal Register. EPA's current policy toward conversions will continue to apply to aftermarket conversions which have not received an exemption under this new program./3/ Note /3/ See March 4, 1993 Fact Sheet available in the public docket. The Administrative Procedure Act requires 30 days notice before a rule may become effective, except under certain circumstances such as when the rule recognizes an exemption or when the Agency can demonstrate good cause for immediate effect. The Agency believes it has good cause for this rule to take immediate effect in the case of the new vehicle standards since compliance with the new vehicle standards is optional until well after the 30 day period. In the case of aftermarket conversions, because this rule creates an exemption from the tampering prohibition under section 203 of the Act it does not require 30 days notice, and this exemption will be available upon publication in the Federal Register. B. New Vehicle Standards The new gaseous-fueled vehicle and engine emission standards contained in today's notice are effective with the 1997 model year. Optional compliance prior to the 1997 model year is available to manufacturers who wish to include their vehicles and engines in emissions averaging, trading and banking programs, as well as the CAFE program in the case of natural gas- fueled vehicles. In general, the Agency seeks to control vehicles operated on alternative fuels so that their emissions are no greater than their petroleum-fueled counterparts. Thus, the exhaust emission standards for gaseous-fueled vehicles are numerically equivalent to those which apply to other, currently regulated vehicles and engines. The only significant departure from this approach is in the area of hydrocarbon (HC) standards for natural gas fueled vehicles and engines. Prior to the 1994 model year, regulated vehicles (i.e., gasoline, petroleum diesel and methanol) are only required to meet total hydrocarbon (THC) standards. However, beginning with the 1994 model year, currently regulated light-duty vehicles and light-duty trucks will also be required to meet separate nonmethane hydrocarbon (NMHC) standards as part of the Tier 1 requirements of the Clean Air Act./4/ For natural gas-fueled light-duty vehicles and light-duty trucks only the NMHC standards will apply. In the case of natural gas-fueled heavy-duty engines, NMHC standards which provide the same degree of NMHC control as the current THC standards provide for petroleum-fueled vehicles will apply. In the case of LPG vehicles and engines, the HC standards are the same as those for currently regulated vehicles. A summary of today's gaseous-fueled vehicle emission standards is contained in Tables 1 through 4. Note /4/ The Agency uses the phrase "Tier 1" to denote the 1994 and later model year standards in part because they are nearly identical to the Tier 1 standards prescribed by section 202(g) of the Clean Air Act for petroleum- fueled vehicles (56 FR 25724, June 5, 1991). Use of this phrase is not meant to suggest that gaseous-fueled vehicles are subject to the section 202(g) Tier 1 standards. Table 1.--Emission Standards for 1997 and Later Model Year Gaseous-Fueled Light-Duty Vehicles (q/mi)1 Evaporative hydrocarbons Fuel Standards/2/ THC NMHC CO NOX PM/3/ (g/test) Intermediate Useful Life Standards/4/ Natural Gas Tier 0 0.34 3.4 1.0 0.20 2.0 Natural Gas Tier 1 0.25 3.4 0.4 0.08 2.0 LPG Tier 0 0.41 3.4 1.0 0.20 2.0 LPG Tier 1 0.41 0.25 3.4 0.4 0.08 2.0 Full Useful Life Standards/5/ Natural Gas Tier 1 0.31 4.2 0.6 0.10 LPG TIer 1 0.31 4.2 0.6 0.10 /1/ Crankcase emissions are prohibited. Standards apply at all altitudes. For Tier 1 standards, vehicles are required to meet both the intermediate and full useful life standards. /2/ The Tier 1 standards apply to 40 percent of a manufacturer's optionally certified 1994 model year vehicles, 80 percent of optionally certified 1995 vehicles, and 100 percent of optionally certified 1996 vehicles. The Tier 0 standards apply to optionally certified pre-1996 model year vehicles not covered by the Tier 1 standards. /3/ Tier 0 particulate standards apply to diesel-cycle vehicles only. Tier 1 particulate standards apply to all vehicles. /4/ Five years or 50,000 miles, whichever occurs first. /5/ Ten years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first. No full useful life Tier 0 standards. Table 2.--Emissions Standards for 1997 and Later Model Year Gaseous-Fueled Light Light-Duty Trucks (g/mi) /1/ LVW (lb) Standards Line No. Fuel /2/ /3/ THC NMHC Intermediate Useful Life Standards /5/ 1. Natural Gas 0-3750 Tier 1 0.25 2. Natural Gas 3751-5750 Tier 1 0.32 3. LPG 0-3750 Tier 1 0.25 4. LPG 3751-5750 Tier 1 0.32 Full Useful Life Standards /6/ 5. Natural Gas 0-3750 Tier 0 0.67(0.83) 6. Natural Gas 0-3750 Tier 1 0.31 7. Natural Gas 3751-5750 Tier 0 0.67(0.83) 8. Natural Gas 3751-5750 Tier 1 0.40 9. LPG 0-3750 Tier 0 0.80(1.0) 10. LPG 0-3750 Tier 1 0.80 0.31 11. LPG 3751-5750 Tier 0 0.80(1.0) 12. LPG 3751-5750 Tier 1 0.80 0.40 [ ...Table continues... ] Idle Evaporative PM CO (% hydrocarbons Line No. CO NOx /4/ conc.) (g/test) Intermediate Useful Life Standards /5/ 1. 3.4 0.4 0.08 2. 4.4 0.7 0.08 3. 3.4 0.4 0.08 4. 4.4 0.7 0.08 Full Useful Life Standards /6/ 5. 10(14) 1.2 0.26 0.50 2.0(2.6) 6. 4.2 0.6 0.10 0.50 2.0(2.6) 7. 10(14) 1.7 0.13 0.50 2.0(2.6) 8. 5.5 0.97 0.10 0.50 2.0(2.6) 9. 10(14) 1.2 0.26 0.50 2.0(2.6) 10. 4.2 0.6 0.10 0.50 2.0(2.6) 11. 10(14) 1.7 0.13 0.50 2.0(2.6) 12. 5.5 0.97 0.10 0.50 2.0(2.6) /1/ Crankcase emissions are prohibited. Standards in parenthesis apply to vehicles sold in specified high-altitude counties. For the Tier 1 standards, vehicles are required to meet both the intermediate and full useful life standards. /2/ Loaded vehicle weight (i.e., curb weight plus 300 lb.). /3/ The Tier 1 standards apply to 40 percent of a manufacturer's optionally certified 1994 model year vehicles, 80 percent of optionally certified 1995 vehicles, and 100 percent of optionally certified 1996 model year vehicles. The Tier 0 standards apply to optionally certified pre-1996 model year vehicles not covered by the Tier 1 standards. /4/ Tier 0 particulate standards apply to diesel- cycle vehicles only. Tier 1 particulate standards apply to all vehicles, but are phased in beginning one year later than the other Tier 1 standards. /5/ Five years or 50,000 miles, whichever occurs first. /6/ For Tier 0 standards eleven years or 120,000 miles, whichever occurs first. For Tier 1 standards ten years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first. Table 3.--Emissions Standards for 1997 and Later Model Year Gaseous-Fueled Heavy Light-Duty Trucks (g/mi) /1/ Weight Standards Line No. Fuel /2/ /3/ THC NMHC Intermediate Useful Life Standards /5/ 1. Natural Gas 3751-5750 Tier 1 0.32 2. Natural Gas