§ 600.008 - Review of fuel economy, CO2; emissions, and carbon-related exhaust emission data, testing by the Administrator.

§ 600.008 Review of fuel economy, CO₂; emissions, and carbon-related exhaust emission data, testing by the Administrator.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 28201, Apr. 18, 2024.

(a) Testing by the Administrator.

(1)

(i) 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. The tests to be performed may comprise the FTP, highway fuel economy test, US06, SC03, or Cold temperature FTP or any combination of those tests. Any testing conducted at a manufacturer's facility pursuant to this paragraph shall be scheduled by the manufacturer as promptly as possible.

(ii) Starting with the 2012 model year for carbon-related exhaust emissions and with the 2013 model year for CO₂ emissions, the evaluations, testing, and test data described in this section pertaining to fuel economy shall also be performed for CO₂ emissions and carbon-related exhaust emissions, except that CO₂ emissions and carbon-related exhaust emissions shall be arithmetically averaged instead of harmonically averaged, and in cases where the manufacturer selects the lowest of several fuel economy results to represent the vehicle, the manufacturer shall select the CO₂ emissions and carbon-related exhaust emissions value from the test results associated with the lowest selected fuel economy results.

(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 fuel economy 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 test or tests 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 applicable test or tests 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 tests of a single test type 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 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 Administrator 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 FTP or HFET test is higher than expected based on procedures approved by the Administrator;

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

(v) The fuel economy value for the FTP or highway is a potential fuel economy leader for a class of vehicles based on cut points provided by the Administrator.

(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.

(4) The Administrator may request the manufacturer to conduct a retest of the US06, SC03 or Cold Temperature FTP on the basis of fuel economy that is higher than expected as specified in criteria provided by the Administrator. Such retests shall not be required before the 2011 model year.

(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 data from this testing, together with all other fuel economy data submitted for that vehicle under § 600.006(c) or (e) will be evaluated by the Administrator 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, HFET, US06, SC03 and Cold temperature FTP 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 conducted by the manufacturer under the provisions of paragraph (b) of this section, the data from this testing will be evaluated by the Administrator 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, HFET, US06, SC03 and Cold temperature FTP 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, HFET, US06, SC03 and Cold temperature FTP 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 (e)(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.

[71 FR 77931, Dec. 27, 2006, as amended at 75 FR 25703, May 7, 2010. Redesignated and amended at 76 FR 39524, 39529, July 6, 2011; 89 FR 28201, Apr. 18, 2024]