Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10822-10826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04613]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 85, 86, 1036, 1037, 1065, 1066, and 1068

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 523, 534, and 535

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827; NHTSA-2014-0132; FRL-9942-94-OAR]
RIN 2060-AS16; RIN 2127-AL52


Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for 
Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles--Phase 2--Notice of Data 
Availability

AGENCIES: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of 
Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
(NHTSA).

ACTION: Notice of data availability.

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SUMMARY: This Notice provides an opportunity to comment on new 
information being made available by the EPA and by NHTSA, on behalf of 
DOT, related to the proposed Phase 2 Heavy-Duty National Program 
proposed July 13, 2015, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel 
consumption for new on-road heavy-duty vehicles and engines. The new 
information, including memoranda and data, have been placed in the 
public dockets. Data relating to the potential stringency of the 
proposed standards includes: Powertrain data; additional aerodynamic 
test data; supplemental test data relating to drive cycles (and 
frequency thereof) for vocational vehicles; and cycle average mapping 
data. The agencies are soliciting additional comment on certain revised 
test reports, and a revised version of the Greenhouse Gas Emission 
Model (GEM) used both in developing certain of the proposed standards 
and in demonstrating compliance with those standards. Additionally, EPA 
is soliciting further comment on memoranda relating to standard 
applicability and implementation. These memoranda address potential 
requirements for selective enforcement audits and confirmatory testing 
related to greenhouse gas emissions, and applicability of emission 
standards and certification responsibilities for trailers, glider 
vehicles, and glider kits. Finally, EPA is soliciting additional 
comments on issues discussed in a late comment related to light-duty 
motor vehicles used for racing.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 1, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2014-0827 (for EPA's docket) and NHTSA-2014-0132 (for NHTSA's 
docket), by one of the following methods:
     Online: www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov.
     Mail:
    EPA: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Mailcode: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460.
    NHTSA: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery:
    EPA: EPA Docket Center, EPA WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. Such deliveries are only 
accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special 
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    NHTSA: West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern 
Time, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2014-0827 and/or NHTSA-2014-0132, as follows:
    EPA: Direct your comments to Docket ID No EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827. 
EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the 
public docket without change and may be made available online at 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The 
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you 
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment 
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your email 
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the public docket and made

[[Page 10823]]

available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA 
recommends that you include your name and other contact information in 
the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA 
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot 
contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your 
comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, 
any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For 
additional information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket 
Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    NHTSA: Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that 
your comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the 
Docket number NHTSA-2014-0132 in your comments. Your comments must not 
be more than 15 pages long.\1\ NHTSA established this limit to 
encourage you to write your primary comments in a concise fashion. 
However, you may attach necessary additional documents to your 
comments, and there is no limit on the length of the attachments. If 
you are submitting comments electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, we 
ask that the documents submitted be scanned using the Optical Character 
Recognition (OCR) process, thus allowing the agencies to search and 
copy certain portions of your submissions.\2\ Please note that pursuant 
to the Data Quality Act, in order for the substantive data to be relied 
upon and used by the agency, it must meet the information quality 
standards set forth in the OMB and Department of Transportation (DOT) 
Data Quality Act guidelines. Accordingly, we encourage you to consult 
the guidelines in preparing your comments. OMB's guidelines may be 
accessed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/reproducible.html. 
DOT's guidelines may be accessed at http://www.dot.gov/dataquality.htm.
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    \1\ See 49 CFR 553.21.
    \2\ Optical character recognition (OCR) is the process of 
converting an image of text, such as a scanned paper document or 
electronic fax file, into computer-editable text.
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    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed on the 
www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., confidential business 
information or other information whose disclosure is restricted by 
statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not 
placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy 
form. Publicly available docket materials are available either 
electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the 
following locations:

    EPA: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, EPA/DC, 
EPA WJC West Building, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Room 3334, 
Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and 
the telephone number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742.
    NHTSA: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. The telephone number for 
the docket management facility is (202) 366-9324. The docket 
management facility is open between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    EPA: Tad Wysor, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, 
Assessment and Standards Division (ASD), Environmental Protection 
Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; telephone number: 
(734) 214-4332; email address: wysor.tad@epa.gov.
    NHTSA: Ryan Hagen, Office of Chief Counsel, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 
DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-2992; ryan.hagen@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This action relates to a previously promulgated Proposed Rule that 
would potentially affect companies that manufacture, sell, or import 
into the United States new heavy-duty engines and new Class 2b through 
8 trucks, including combination tractors, all types of buses, 
vocational vehicles including municipal, commercial, recreational 
vehicles, and commercial trailers as well as \3/4\-ton and 1-ton pickup 
trucks and vans. The heavy-duty category incorporates all motor 
vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 8,500 pounds or greater, 
and the engines that power them, except for medium-duty passenger 
vehicles already covered by the greenhouse gas standards and corporate 
average fuel economy standards issued for light-duty model year 2017-
2025 vehicles. Proposed categories and entities that might be affected 
include the following:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Examples of potentially
           Category              NAICS Code \a\     affected entities
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Industry......................          336110   Motor Vehicle
                                        336111    Manufacturers, Engine
                                        336112    Manufacturers, Engine
                                        333618    Parts Manufacturers,
                                                  Truck Manufacturers,
                                                  Truck Trailer
                                                  Manufacturers,
                                                  Automotive Parts and
                                                  Accessories Dealers.
                                        336120
                                        336212
                                        441310
Industry......................          541514   Commercial Importers of
                                        811112    Vehicles and Vehicle
                                        811198    Components.
Industry......................          336111   Alternative Fuel
                                                  Vehicle Converters.
                                        336112
                                        422720
                                        454312
                                        541514
                                        541690
                                        811198
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Note:
\a\ North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).


[[Page 10824]]

    This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a 
guide for readers regarding entities likely covered by these rules. 
This table lists the types of entities that the agencies are aware may 
be regulated by this action. Other types of entities not listed in the 
table could also be regulated. To determine whether your activities are 
regulated by this action, you should carefully examine the 
applicability criteria in the referenced regulations. You may direct 
questions regarding the applicability of this action to the persons 
listed in the preceding FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

B. Public Participation

    EPA and NHTSA request comment on the information identified in this 
Notice. We are not requesting comment on other aspects of this joint 
proposed rule. This section describes how you can participate in this 
process.

(1) How do I prepare and submit comments?

    There are many issues common to EPA's and NHTSA's proposals. For 
the convenience of all parties, comments submitted to the EPA docket 
will be considered comments submitted to the NHTSA docket, and vice 
versa. Therefore, a commenter only needs to submit comments to either 
of the agency dockets (or choose to submit a comment to both). Comments 
that are submitted for consideration by one agency should be identified 
as such, and comments that are submitted for consideration by both 
agencies should be identified as such. Absent such identification, each 
agency will exercise its best judgment to determine whether a comment 
is submitted on its proposal.

(2) Tips for Preparing Your Comments

    When submitting comments, please remember to:

 Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number)
 Explain why you agree or disagree, suggest alternatives, and 
substitute language for your requested changes
 Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used
 If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced
 Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives
 Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats
 Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified in the DATES section above

(3) How can I be sure that my comments were received?

    NHTSA: If you submit your comments by mail and wish Docket 
Management to notify you upon its receipt of your comments, enclose a 
self-addressed, stamped postcard in the envelope containing your 
comments. Upon receiving your comments, Docket Management will return 
the postcard by mail.

(4) How do I submit confidential business information?

    Any confidential business information (CBI) submitted to one of the 
agencies will also be available to the other agency. However, as with 
all public comments, any CBI information only needs to be submitted to 
either one of the agencies' dockets and it will be available to the 
other. Following are specific instructions for submitting CBI to either 
agency. If you have any questions about CBI or the procedures for 
claiming CBI, please consult the persons identified in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section.
    EPA: Do not submit CBI to EPA through www.regulations.gov or email. 
Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be 
CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD ROM that you mail to EPA, mark 
the outside of the disk or CD ROM as CBI and then identify 
electronically within the disk or CD ROM the specific information that 
is claimed as CBI. Information not marked as CBI will be included in 
the public docket without prior notice. In addition to one complete 
version of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy 
of the comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI 
must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so 
marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set 
forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    NHTSA: If you wish to submit any information under a claim of 
confidentiality, you should submit three copies of your complete 
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential 
business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the address given 
above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. When you send a comment 
containing confidential business information, you should include a 
cover letter setting forth the information specified in our 
confidential business information regulation.\3\
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    \3\ See 49 CFR part 512.
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    In addition, you should submit a copy from which you have deleted 
the claimed confidential business information to the Docket by one of 
the methods set forth above.

(5) How can I read the comments submitted by other people?

    You may read the materials placed in the docket for this document 
(e.g., the comments submitted in response to this document by other 
interested persons) at any time by going to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets. You may also 
read the materials at the EPA Docket Center or NHTSA Docket Management 
Facility by going to the street addresses given above under ADDRESSES.

C. Background

    As part of the Climate Action Plan announced in June 2013,\4\ the 
President directed the EPA and NHTSA to set the next round of standards 
to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency 
for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and engines. More than 70 percent 
of the oil used in the United States and 28 percent of GHG emissions 
come from the transportation sector, and since 2009 EPA and NHTSA have 
worked with industry and the State of California to develop ambitious, 
flexible standards for both the fuel economy and GHG emissions of 
light-duty vehicles and the fuel efficiency and GHG emissions of heavy-
duty vehicles and engines.
5 6 Throughout every stage of development for these programs, EPA and NHTSA (collectively, the agencies, or ``we'') have worked in close partnership not only with each other, but with the vehicle and engine manufacturing industries, environmental community leaders, and the State of California, among other entities, to create a single, effective set of national standards. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \4\ The White House, The President's Climate Action Plan (June, 2013). http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/climate-action-plan. \5\ The White House, Improving the Fuel Efficiency of American Trucks--Bolstering Energy Security, Cutting Carbon Pollution, Saving Money and Supporting Manufacturing Innovation (Feb. 2014), 2. \6\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2014. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2012. EPA 430-R-14- 003. Mobile sources emitted 28 percent of all U.S. GHG emissions in 2012. Available at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-Inventory-2014-Main-Text.pdf --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The agencies' proposed Phase 2 standards (80 FR 40138, July 13, 2015) would phase in through model year [[Page 10825]] 2027, and were intended to result in an ambitious, yet achievable program that would allow manufacturers to meet standards through a mix of different technologies at reasonable cost. The proposed Phase 2 program would build on and advance the model years 2014-2018 Phase 1 program in a number of important ways including: Basing standards not only on currently available technologies but also on utilization of technologies now under development or not yet widely deployed while providing significant lead time to assure adequate time to develop, test, and phase in these controls; developing standards for trailers; further encouraging innovation and providing flexibility; including vehicles produced by small business manufacturers; incorporating enhanced test procedures that (among other things) allow individual drivetrain and powertrain performance to be reflected in the vehicle certification process; and using an expanded and improved compliance simulation model. This notice alerts the public to new information placed in the agencies' public dockets, and solicits comment on that information. The information takes the form of raw data, revised test reports, and memoranda that in some instances indicate potential implications of the data for purposes of standard stringency and implementation. In addition to information placed into the docket by the agencies, EPA also solicits comments on issues discussed in a late public comment that addresses proposed regulations related to light-duty motor vehicles used for racing. The agencies will accept comments on these materials through April 1, 2016. The agencies will not address new comments extraneous to these materials in the final rulemaking or its associated documents. D. Newly Docketed Materials on Which the Agencies Are Seeking Public Comment ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EPA Docket No. NHTSA Docket No. Title Description ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1626.......... NHTSA-2014-0132-0181.. Greenhouse Gas A new release of the GEM Emissions Model (GEM) simulation tool contains P2v2.1. revisions that include fixing bugs identified by commenters; enhancements to accommodate cycle averaged fuel maps, transmission efficiency test results, and axle efficiency test results; refinements to the transmission shifting strategies; revised vocational vehicle drive cycle weightings; and a revised road grade profile. Details regarding the revisions are included in the summary file in the docket entry. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1620.......... NHTSA-2014-0132-0182.. Default Gasoline EPA sponsored testing of a Engine Fuel Map for heavy-duty gasoline engine Use in GEM. at Southwest Research Institute. Those results were used to develop a new default fuel map that could be used to develop the final spark-ignited vocational vehicle standards. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1622.......... NHTSA-2014-0132-0183.. Oak Ridge National EPA sponsored additional Laboratory Powertrain testing on heavy-duty Data. powertrains at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Cycle results are presented from two powertrain configurations. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1619.......... NHTSA-2014-0132-0184.. Southwest Research EPA sponsored additional Institute Program testing on two heavy-duty Update on Cycle engines each with two Average Mapping Data. different horsepower ratings. Information includes the cycle average testing results and findings are included. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1623.......... NHTSA-2014-0132-0185.. Final Southwest A pre-peer review draft Research Institute version of this report was Report to NHTSA: released in June of 2015. Commercial Medium- Independent peer review and Heavy-Duty Truck and public release of the Fuel Efficiency draft report identified Technology Study-- errors in the analysis in Report #2. the draft report that were corrected in this final version. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1624.......... NHTSA-2014-0132-0186.. Supplemental EPA conducted additional Aerodynamic Data from aerodynamic testing using EPA Testing. the coastdown, constant speed, wind tunnel, and computational fluid dynamics test procedures since the NPRM was issued. This docket entry includes the raw data from each of these test programs. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1621.......... NHTSA-2014-0132-0187.. Vocational Vehicle The National Renewable Drive Cycle Data: Energy Laboratory (NREL) Draft Report produced collaborated with EPA and by the National conducted a vocational Renewable Energy vehicle segmentation Laboratory entitled evaluation based on NREL's ``The Development of Fleet DNA database. This Vocational Vehicle analysis is intended to Drive Cycles and inform the final Segmentation''. vocational vehicle drive cycle weightings. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1625.......... NHTSA-2014-0132-0188.. Additional Discussion Commenters raised concerns of Selective about the proposed audit Enforcement Audit and testing and the need for Confirmatory Testing consideration of for Aerodynamic compliance margins for the Parameters. audit's results. The memorandum provides additional discussion of how EPA's audits could be conducted, and key principles related to these requirements. [[Page 10826]] EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1627.......... NHTSA-2014-0132-0189.. Legal Memorandum Draft legal memorandum Discussing Issues discussing issues relating Pertaining to to authority under the Trailers, Glider Clean Air Act to Vehicles, and Glider promulgate emission Kits under the Clean standards for trailers and Air Act. glider vehicles, certification responsibilities of manufacturers of trailers and glider kits, and potential CO2 emission standards for different model year glider vehicles. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827-1469-A1....... Not Applicable; this Public Comment from This comment addresses how is in relation to an the Specialty a proposed amendment EPA-specific section Equipment Market related to the Clean Air of the NPRM. Association. Act's prohibition of tampering of emission controls would impact light-duty vehicles used for racing and raises questions about whether adequate notice was given for this proposed amendment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issued under authority of 49 U.S.C. 32901, 32905, and 32906; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.95. Dated: February 24, 2016. Raymond R. Posten, Associate Administrator for Rulemaking, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Dated: February 24, 2016. Christopher Grundler, Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Environmental Protection Agency. [FR Doc. 2016-04613 Filed 3-1-16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P