§ 86.1106-87 - Production compliance auditing.

§ 86.1106-87 Production compliance auditing.

For a model year in which upper limits for heavy-duty engine or heavy-duty vehicle emission standards for one or more exhaust pollutants are specified in § 86.1105-87, a manufacturer may elect to conduct a Production Compliance Audit (PCA) for each engine or vehicle configuration satisfying the following conditions:

(a) Certification test results, pursuant to § 86.082-23, exceed the emission standard for a particular pollutant but do not exceed the upper limit established for that pollutant. In that event, the manufacturer will be offered a qualified certificate of conformity allowing for the introduction into commerce of the specified engine family, Provided, That:

(1) The manufacturer must agree to conduct a PCA of those engines or vehicles;

(2) PCA testing must be conducted on the same configurations that exceeded the standard in certification. In lieu of that requirement, the Administrator may approve testing of a greater or lesser number of configurations provided the manufacturer agrees to pay the NCP determined from the CL of each tested configuration for that configuration and for other non-tested configurations that have similar emission characteristics. If an acceptable showing of similar emission characteristics is not made, the highest CL of the configurations tested will apply to all non-tested configurations exceeding the standard.

(3) The selection of engines or vehicles for PCA testing must be initiated no later than five (5) days after the start of assembly-line production of the specified engine or vehicle configuration, unless that period is extended by the Administrator;

(4) The manufacturer must agree:

(i) To pay the NCP amount calculated as a result of PCA testing on each engine or vehicle, unless the manufacturer successfully challenges the Administrator's determination of the compliance level or penalty calculation or both under § 86.1115-87(c);

(ii) To recall any engines or vehicles introduced into commerce, without invoking the procedural requirements of section 207(c) of the Clean Air Act, if the compliance level for the engine or vehicle configuration of (a)(2) exceeds the upper limit as determined by the PCA;

(5) If the compliance level determined in the PCA is below the emission standard, no NCP will be offered, and all appropriate qualifications will be removed from the qualified certificate of conformity.

(b) An engine or vehicle configuration fails a Selective Enforcement Audit (SEA) under subpart K of 40 CFR part 86 with respect to the standard for a particular pollutant but does not fail with respect to the upper limit established for that pollutant, and no NCP has been previously assessed for that configuration, Provided, That:

(1) The manufacturer must submit a written report to the Administrator within five (5) days after failure to pass the audit containing the following:

(i) A statement that the manufacturer does not intend, at that time, to make any engine and/or emission control system design changes that may remedy the nonconformity; and

(ii) A request from the manufacturer to conduct the PCA, including the date the testing will begin;

(2) Failure to submit the report within five (5) days after the SEA failure will result in the forfeiture of the NCP option, unless a satisfactory justification for the delay is provided to the Administrator;

(3) The selection of any required engines or vehicles for PCA testing must be initiated no later than ten (10) days after the SEA failure unless extended by the Administrator; otherwise, the manufacturer may forfeit the option to elect an NCP;

(4) PCA testing must be conducted on the same configuration that failed the SEA;

(5) Test results from the SEA, together with any additional test results required during the PCA, will be used in establishing a compliance level for the configuration pursuant to § 86.1112-87(a); and

(6) The manufacturer, upon approval by the Administrator to conduct a PCA on a failed SEA engine or vehicle configuration, must agree:

(i) To pay the NCP amount calculated as a result of PCA testing on each engine or vehicle introduced into commerce after the tenth day of the SEA failure, unless the manufacturer successfully challenges the Administrator's determination of the compliance level or penalty calculation or both under § 86.1115-87(c);

(ii) To recall any engines or vehicles introduced into commerce after the tenth day of the SEA failure, without invoking the procedural requirements of section 207(c) of the Clean Air Act, if the compliance level of the engine or vehicle configuration exceeds the upper limit as determined by the PCA.

(c) An engine or vehicle configuration, for which an NCP has been previously assessed for a particular pollutant, either passes an SEA with respect to the particular pollutant standard, fails an SEA with respect to the particular pollutant standard but not the previous compliance level, or fails an SEA with respect to the previous compliance level but not the associated upper limit, Provided, That:

(1) The manufacturer must submit a written statement to the Administrator within five (5) days of the conclusion of the SEA requesting a PCA, including the date the PCA testing will begin; otherwise, the manufacturer forfeits the option to establish a new compliance level;

(2) The selection of any required engines or vehicles for PCA testing must be initiated no later than ten (10) days after the conclusion of the SEA unless the period is extended by the Administrator; otherwise, the manufacturer forfeits the option to establish a new compliance level;

(3) PCA testing must be conducted on the same configuration tested during the SEA, and all conditions in the SEA test order must apply to the PCA;

(4) Test results for the SEA, together with any additional test results required during the PCA, will be used in establishing a new compliance level for the configuration pursuant to § 86.1112-87(a);

(5) The manufacturer must agree:

(i) To pay the NCP amount calculated as a result of PCA testing on each engine or vehicle introduced into commerce after the tenth day of the conclusion of the SEA, unless the manufacturer successfully challenges the Administrator's determination of the compliance level or penalty calculation or both under § 86.1115-87(c);

(ii) To recall any engines or vehicles introduced into commerce after the tenth day after the conclusion of the SEA, without invoking the procedural requirements of section 207(c) of the Clean Air Act, if the engine or vehicle configuration exceeds the upper limit as determined by the PCA;

(6) A previously assessed NCP will be terminated and no NCP will be established as a result of the new PCA if the compliance level is determined to be below the applicable emission standards.

(d) The implementation of a production running change that causes the emission level for a particular pollutant to be either above the emission standard but below the associated upper limit for a vehicle or engine configuration for which an NCP has not been previously assessed, or below the associated upper limit for a vehicle or engine configuration for which an NCP has been previously assessed, regardless of the previous compliance level. In that event, the manufacturer will be offered a qualified certificate of conformity allowing for the introduction into commerce of the engine or vehicle configuration resulting from the running change, Provided, That:

(1) The manufacturer must submit a written report to the Administrator outlining the reason for the running change and the date the manufacturer will begin PCA testing;

(2) The manufacturer must agree:

(i) To pay the NCP amount calculated as a result of PCA testing on each engine or vehicle, unless the manufacturer successfully challenges the Administrator's determination of compliance level or penalty calculation or both under § 86.1115-87(c);

(ii) To recall any engines or vehicles introduced into commerce, without invoking the procedural requirements of section 207(c) of the Clean Air Act, if the engine or vehicle configuration exceeds the upper limit as determined by the PCA;

(3) The selection of engines or vehicles for PCA testing must be initiated no later than five (5) days after the start of assembly line production of the engine or vehicle configuration resulting from the running change unless that period is extended by the Administrator; and

(4) If the compliance level is determined to be below the applicable emission standard, a previously assessed NCP will be terminated, an NCP will not be established as a result of the PCA testing, and all qualifications will be removed from the qualified certificate of conformity.

(e) The following requirements are applicable to each PCA under this subpart.

(1) The manufacturer shall make the following documents available to EPA Enforcement Officers upon request;

(i) A properly filed and current application for certification, following the format prescribed by the EPA for the appropriate model year; and

(ii) A copy of the shop manual and dealer service bulletins for the configurations being tested.

(2) Only one mechanic at a time per engine or vehicle shall make authorized checks, adjustments, or repairs, unless a particular check, adjustment, or repair requires a second mechanic as indicated in the shop manual or dealer service bulletins.

(3) A mechanic shall not perform any check, adjustment, or repair without an Enforcement Officer present unless otherwise authorized.

(4) The manufacturer shall utilize only those tools and test equipment utilized by its dealers or those dealers using its engines when performing authorized checks, adjustments, or repairs.

[50 FR 35388, Aug. 30, 1985, as amended at 58 FR 68540, Dec. 28, 1993]