§ 600.008-01 - Review of fuel economy data, testing by the Administrator.

(a) Testing by the Administrator. (1) The Administrator may require that any one or more of the test vehicles be submitted to the Agency, at such place or places as the Agency may designate, for the purposes of conducting fuel economy tests. The Administrator may specify that such testing be conducted at the manufacturer's facility, in which case instrumentation and equipment specified by the Administrator shall be made available by the manufacturer for test operations. Any testing conducted at a manufacturer's facility pursuant to this paragraph shall be scheduled by the manufacturer as promptly as possible.

(2) Retesting and official data determination. For any vehicles selected for confirmatory testing under the provisions of paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the Administrator will follow this procedure:

(i) The manufacturer's data (or harmonically averaged data if more than one test was conducted) will be compared with the results of the Administrator's test.

(ii) If, in the Administrator's judgment, the comparison in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section indicates a disparity in the data, the Administrator will repeat the city test or the highway test or both as applicable.

(A) The manufacturer's average test results and the results of the Administrator's first test will be compared with the results of the Administrator's second test as in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section.

(B) If, in the Administrator's judgment, both comparisons in paragraph (a)(2)(i)(A) of this section, indicate a disparity in the data, the Administrator will repeat the city fuel economy test or highway fuel economy test or both as applicable until:

(1) In the Administrator's judgment no disparity in the data is indicated by comparison of two tests by the Administrator or by comparison of the manufacturer's average test results and a test by the Administrator; or

(2) Four city tests or four highway tests or both, as applicable, are conducted by the Administrator in which a disparity in the data is indicated when compared as in paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section.

(iii) If there is, in the Administrator's judgment, no disparity indicated by comparison of manufacturer's average test results with a test by the Administrator, the test values generated by the Administrator will be used to represent the vehicle.

(iv) If there is, in the Administrator's judgment, no disparity indicated by comparison of two tests by the Administrator, the harmonic averages of the city and highway fuel economy results from those tests will be used to represent the vehicle.

(v) If the situation in paragraph (a)(2)(ii)(B)(2) of this section occurs, the Administrator will notify the manufacturer, in writing, that the Administrator rejects that fuel economy data vehicle.

(b) Manufacturer-conducted confirmatory testing. (1) If the Administrators determines not to conduct a confirmatory test under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, manufacturers will conduct a confirmatory test at their facility after submitting the original test data to the Administrator whenever any of the following conditions exist:

(i) The vehicle configuration has previously failed an emission standard;

(ii) The test exhibits high emission levels determined by exceeding a percentage of the standards specified by the Administrator for that model year;

(iii) The fuel economy value of the test is higher than expected based on procedures approved by the Administrator;

(iv) The fuel economy value is close to a Gas Guzzler Tax threshold value based on tolerances established by the Administrator for that model year; or

(v) The fuel economy value is a potential fuel economy leader for a class of vehicles based on Administrator provided cut points for that model year.

(2) If the Administrator selects the vehicle for confirmatory testing based on the manufacturer's original test results, the testing shall be conducted as ordered by the Administrator. In this case, the manufacturer-conducted confirmatory testing specified under paragraph (b)(1) of this section would not be required.

(3) The manufacturer shall conduct a retest of the FTP or highway test if the difference between the fuel economy of the confirmatory test and the original manufacturer's test equals or exceeds three percent (or such lower percentage to be applied consistently to all manufacturer conducted confirmatory testing as requested by the manufacturer and approved by the Administrator).

(i) The manufacturer may, in lieu of conducting a retest, accept the lower of the original and confirmatory test fuel economy results for use in subpart C or F of this part.

(ii) The manufacturer shall conduct a second retest of the FTP or highway test if the fuel economy difference between the second confirmatory test and the original manufacturer test equals or exceeds three percent (or such lower percentage as requested by the manufacturer and approved by the Administrator) and the fuel economy difference between the second confirmatory test and the first confirmatory test equals or exceeds three percent (or such lower percentage as requested by the manufacturer and approved by the Administrator). The manufacturer may, in lieu of conducting a second retest, accept the lowest of the original test, the first confirmatory test, and the second confirmatory test fuel economy results for use in subpart C or F of this part.

(c) Review of fuel economy data. (1) Fuel economy data must be judged reasonable and representative by the Administrator in order for the test results to be used for the purposes of subpart C or F of this part. In making this determination, the Administrator will, when possible, compare the results of a test vehicle to those of other similar test vehicles.

(2) If testing was conducted by the Administrator under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, the fuel economy data determined by the Administrator under paragraph (a) of this section, together with all other fuel economy data submitted for that vehicle under § 600.006(c) or (e) will be evaluated for reasonableness and representativeness per paragraph (c)(1) of this section.

(i) The fuel economy data which are determined to best meet the criteria of paragraph (c) (1) of this section will be accepted for use in subpart C or F of this part.

(ii) City and highway test data will be considered separately.

(iii) If more than one test was conducted, the Administrator may select an individual test result or the harmonic average of selected test results to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section.

(3) If confirmatory testing was not conducted by the Administrator but confirmatory testing was conducted by the manufacturer under the provisions of paragraph (b) of this section, the fuel economy data determined by the Administrator under paragraph (b) of this section, will be evaluated for reasonableness and representativeness per paragraph (c)(1) of this section.

(i) The fuel economy data which are determined to best meet the criteria of paragraph (c)(1) of this section will be accepted for use in subpart C or F of this part.

(ii) City and highway test data will be considered separately.

(iii) If more than one test was conducted, the Administrator may select an individual test result or the harmonic average of selected test results to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section.

(4) If no confirmatory testing was conducted by either the Administrator or the manufacturer under the provisions of paragraph (a) and (b) of this section, respectively, then the data submitted under the provisions of § 600.006(c) or (e) shall be accepted for use in subpart C or F of this part.

(i) City and highway test data will be considered separately.

(ii) If more than one test was conducted, the harmonic average of the test results shall be accepted for use in subpart C or F of this part.

(d) If, based on a review of the fuel economy data generated by testing under paragraph (a) of this section, the Administrator determines that an unacceptable level of correlation exists between fuel economy data generated by a manufacturer and fuel economy data generated by the Administrator, he/she may reject all fuel economy data submitted by the manufacturer until the cause of the discrepancy is determined and the validity of the data is established by the manufacturer.

(e)(1) If, based on the results of an inspection conducted under § 600.005(b) or any other information, the Administrator has reason to believe that the manufacturer has not followed proper testing procedures or that the testing equipment is faulty or improperly calibrated, or if records do not exist that will enable him to make a finding of proper testing, the Administrator may notify the manufacturer in writing of his finding and require the manufacturer to:

(i) Submit the test vehicle(s) upon which the data are based or additional test vehicle(s) at a place he may designate for the purpose of fuel economy testing.

(ii) Conduct such additional fuel economy testing as may be required to demonstrate that prior fuel economy test data are reasonable and representative.

(2) Previous acceptance by the Administrator of any fuel economy test data submitted by the manufacturer shall not limit the Administrator's right to require additional testing under paragraph (h)(1) of this section.

(3) If, based on tests required under paragraph (e)(1) of this section, the Administrator determines that any fuel economy data submitted by the manufacturer and used to calculate the manufacturer's fuel economy average was unrepresentative, the Administrator may recalculate the manufacturer's fuel economy average based on fuel economy data that he/she deems representative.

(4) A manufacturer may request a hearing as provided in § 600.009 if the Administrator decides to recalculate the manufacturer's average pursuant to determinations made relative to this section.