§ 85.1505 - Final admission of certified vehicles.

§ 85.1505 Final admission of certified vehicles.

(a) A motor vehicle or engine may be finally admitted into the United States upon approval of the certificate holder's application to the Administrator. Such application shall be made either by completing EPA forms or by submitting the data electronically to EPA's computer, in accordance with EPA instructions. Such application shall contain:

(1) The information required in § 85.1504(a);

(2) Information demonstrating that the vehicle or engine has been modified in accordance with a valid certificate of conformity. Such demonstration shall be made in one of the following ways:

(i) Through an attestation by the certificate holder that the vehicle or engine has been modified in accordance with the provisions of the certificate holder's certificate, and presentation to EPA of a statement by the appropriate OEM that the OEM will provide to the certificate holder and to EPA information concerning running changes to the vehicle or engine described in the certificate holder's application for certification, and actual receipt by EPA of notification by the certificate holder of any running changes already implemented by the OEM at the time of application and their effect on emissions; or

(ii) Through an attestation by the certificate holder that the vehicle or engine has been modified in accordance with the provisions of the certificate holder's certificate of conformity and that the certificate holder has conducted an FTP test, at a laboratory within the United States, that demonstrates compliance with Federal emission requirements on every third vehicle or third engine imported under that certificate within 120 days of entry, with sequencing of the tests to be determined by the date of importation of each vehicle or engine. Should the certificate holder have exceeded a threshold of 300 vehicles or engines imported under the certificate without adjustments or other changes in accordance with paragraph (a)(3) of this section, the amount of required FTP testing may be reduced to every fifth vehicle or engine. In order to make a demonstration under paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section, a certificate holder must have received permission from the Administrator to do so;

(3) The results of every FTP test which the certificate holder conducted on the vehicle or engine. Should a subject vehicle or engine have failed an FTP at any time, the following procedures are applicable:

(i) The certificate holder may either:

(A) Conduct one FTP retest that involves no adjustment of the vehicle or engine from the previous test (e.g., adjusting the RPM, timing, air-to-fuel ratio, etc.) other than adjustments to adjustable parameters that, upon inspection, were found to be out of tolerance. When such an allowable adjustment is made, the parameter may be reset only to the specified (i.e., nominal) value (and not any other value within the tolerance band); or

(B) Initiate a change in production (running change) under the provisions of 40 CFR 86.084-14(c)(13) or 86.1842-01, as applicable, that causes the vehicle to meet Federal emission requirements.

(ii) If the certificate holder chooses to retest in accordance with paragraph (a)(3)(i)(A) of this section:

(A) Such retests must be completed no later than five working days subsequent to the first FTP test;

(B) Should the subject vehicle or engine fail the second FTP, then the certificate holder must initiate a change in production (a running change) under the provisions of 40 CFR 86.084-14(c)(13) or 86.1842-01, as applicable, that causes the vehicle to meet Federal emission requirements.

(iii) If the certificate holder chooses to initiate a change in production (a running change) under the provisions of 40 CFR 86.084-14(c)(13) or 86.1842-01 as applicable, that causes the vehicle to meet Federal requirements, changes involving adjustments of adjustable vehicle parameters (e.g., adjusting the RPM, timing, air/fuel ratio) must be changes in the specified (i.e., nominal) values to be deemed acceptable by EPA.

(iv) Production changes made in accordance with this section must be implemented on all subsequent vehicles or engines imported under the certificate after the date of importation of the vehicle or engine which gave rise to the production change.

(v) Commencing with the first vehicle or engine receiving the running change, every third vehicle or engine imported under the certificate must be FTP tested to demonstrate compliance with Federal emission requirements until, as in paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section, a threshold of 300 vehicles or engines imported under the certificate is exceeded, at which time the amount of required FTP testing may be reduced to every fifth vehicle or engine.

(vi) Reports concerning these running changes shall be made to both the Manufacturers Operations and Certification Divisions of EPA within ten working days of initiation of the running change. The cause of any failure of an FTP shall be identified, if known;

(4) The applicable deterioration factor;

(5) The FTP results adjusted by the deterioration factor;

(6) Such other information that may be specified by applicable regulations or on the certificate under which the vehicle or engine has been modified in order to assure compliance with requirements of the Act;

(7) All information required under § 85.1510;

(8) An attestation by the certificate holder that the certificate holder is responsible for the vehicle's or engine's compliance with Federal emission requirements, regardless of whether the certificate holder owns the vehicle or engine imported under this section;

(9) The name, address and telephone number of the person who the certificate holder prefers to receive EPA notification under § 85.1505(c); and

(10) Such other information as is deemed necessary by the Administrator.

(b) EPA approval for final admission of a vehicle or engine under this section shall be presumed not to have been granted if a vehicle has not been properly modified to be in conformity in all material respects with the description in the application for certification or has not complied with the provisions of § 85.1505(a)(2) or its final FTP results, adjusted by the deterioration factor, if applicable, do not comply with applicable emission standards.

(c) Except as provided in § 85.1505(b), EPA approval for final admission of a vehicle or engine under this section shall be presumed to have been granted should the certificate holder not have received oral or written notice from EPA to the contrary within 15 working days of the date of EPA's receipt of the certificate holder's application under § 85.1505(a). Such EPA notice shall be made to an employee of the certificate holder. If application is made on EPA forms, the date on a certified mail receipt shall be deemed to be the official date of notification to EPA. If application is made by submitting the data electronically, the date of acceptance by EPA's computer shall be deemed to be the official date of notification to EPA. During this 15 working day period, the vehicle or engine must be stored at a location where the Administrator will have reasonable access to the vehicle or engine for his/her inspection.

[52 FR 36156, Sept. 25, 1987, as amended at 64 FR 23919, May 4, 1999]