§ 1054.120 - What emission-related warranty requirements apply to me?

§ 1054.120 What emission-related warranty requirements apply to me?

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 86 FR 34517, June 29, 2021.

The requirements of this section apply to the manufacturer certifying with respect to exhaust emissions. See 40 CFR part 1060 for the warranty requirements related to evaporative emissions.

(a) General requirements. You must warrant to the ultimate purchaser and each subsequent purchaser that the new engine, including all parts of its emission control system, meets two conditions:

(1) It is designed, built, and equipped so it conforms at the time of sale to the ultimate purchaser with the requirements of this part.

(2) It is free from defects in materials and workmanship that may keep it from meeting these requirements.

(b) Warranty period. Your emission-related warranty must be valid during the periods specified in this paragraph (b). You may offer an emission-related warranty more generous than we require. The emission-related warranty for the engine may not be shorter than any published warranty you offer without charge for the engine. Similarly, the emission-related warranty for any component may not be shorter than any published warranty you offer without charge for that component. If an engine has no hour meter, we base the warranty periods in this paragraph (b) only on the engine's age (in years). The warranty period begins on the date of sale to the ultimate purchaser. The minimum warranty periods are as follows:

(1) The minimum warranty period is two years except as allowed under paragraph (b)(2) or (3) of this section.

(2) We may establish a shorter warranty period for handheld engines subject to severe service in seasonal equipment if we determine that these engines are likely to operate for a number of hours greater than the applicable useful life within 24 months. You must request this shorter warranty period in your application for certification or in an earlier submission.

(3) For engines equipped with hour meters, you may deny warranty claims for engines that have accumulated a number of hours greater than 50 percent of the applicable useful life.

(c) Components covered. The emission-related warranty covers all components whose failure would increase an engine's emissions of any regulated pollutant, including components listed in 40 CFR part 1068, Appendix appendix I, and components from any other system you develop to control emissions. The emission-related warranty covers these components even if another company produces the component. Your emission-related warranty does not need to cover components whose failure would not increase an engine's emissions of any regulated pollutant.

(d) Limited applicability. You may deny warranty claims under this section if the operator caused the problem through improper maintenance or use, as described in 40 CFR 1068.115.

(e) Owners manual. Describe in the owners manual the emission-related warranty provisions from this section that apply to the engine. Include instructions for obtaining warranty service consistent with the requirements of paragraph (f) of this section.

(f) Requirements related to warranty claims. You are required at a minimum to meet the following conditions to ensure that owners will be able to promptly obtain warranty repairs:

(1) You must provide and monitor a toll-free telephone number and an e-mail address for owners to receive information about how to make a warranty claim, and how to make arrangements for authorized repairs.

(2) You must provide a source of replacement parts within the United States. For parts that you import, this requires you to have at least one distributor within the United States.

(3) You must use one of the following methods to show that you will generally be able to honor warranty claims:

(i) If you have authorized service centers in all U.S. population centers with a population of 100,000 or more based on the 2000 census, you may limit warranty repairs to these service providers.

(ii) You may limit warranty repairs to authorized service centers for owners located within 100 miles of an authorized service center. For owners located more than 100 miles from an authorized service center, you must state in your warranty that you will either pay for shipping costs to and from an authorized service center, provide for a service technician to come to the owner to make the warranty repair, or pay for the repair to be made at a local nonauthorized service center. The provisions of this paragraph (f)(3)(ii) apply only for the contiguous states, excluding the states with high-altitude areas identified in 40 CFR part 1068, Appendix III.

(iii) You may use the approach described in paragraphs (f)(3)(i) of this section for some states and the approach described in paragraph (f)(3)(ii) of this section for other states. However, you must have at least one authorized service center in each state unless the whole state is within 100 miles of authorized service centers in other states.

(4) If your plan for meeting the requirements of this paragraph (f) does not include at least 100 authorized repair facilities in the United States or at least one such facility for each 5,000 engines you sell in the United States, you must also post a bond as described in § 1054.690 to ensure that you will fulfill your warranty-repair responsibilities even if you are not obligated to post a bond under that section. Note that you may post a single bond to meet the requirements of this section and § 1054.690.

[73 FR 59259, Oct. 8, 2008, as amended at 86 FR 34517, June 29, 2021]