[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 130 (Thursday, July 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39251-39252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-16702]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9173-5]


Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles: Announcement of 
Public Workshop for Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines Employing Selective 
Catalyst Reduction Technology

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Public Workshop and Opportunity for Comment.

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SUMMARY: A public workshop is being held to discuss the operation of 
heavy-duty engines equipped with selective catalyst reduction (SCR). 
EPA will be reviewing its policies regarding the operation of SCR-
equipped heavy-duty diesel engines without diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), 
with improper DEF, or when tampering (or some other defect in the SCR 
system) is detected.

DATES: The workshop will be held on July 20, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 4 
p.m. (PST) at the California Air Resources Board, Annex 4 Auditorium, 
9528 Telstar Avenue, El Monte, California 91731, and will be conducted 
with the California Air Resources Board. Parties wishing to present 
information at the workshop are encouraged to notify Ms. Khesha Reed at 
the address noted below.
    Any party may also submit written comments either before or after 
the workshop. All comments are due by August 20, 2010.

ADDRESSES: EPA will make available for public inspection materials 
submitted by any party at the public workshop and any other written 
comments submitted to the Agency. Materials relevant to this proceeding 
are contained in the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, 
maintained in Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0444. The docket is located at 
the Air Docket, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20460, and may be viewed between 8 a.m., and 5:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday. The telephone is (202) 566-1742. A reasonable fee may 
be charged by EPA for copying docket material.
    Additionally, an electronic version of the public docket is 
available through the Federal government's electronic public docket and 
comment system. You may access EPA dockets at http://www.regulations.gov. After opening the http://www.regulations.gov Web 
site, enter EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0444 in ``Search Documents'' to view 
documents in the record. Although a part of the official docket, the 
public docket does not include Confidential Business Information (CBI) 
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Khesha Reed, Compliance and Innovative 
Strategies Division (6405J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave, NW., Washington, DC 20460. E-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    I. Background: Several heavy duty diesel engine manufacturers have 
recently begun utilizing a NOX emission control technology 
called selective catalyst reduction (SCR) to meet EPA standards and 
other requirements. SCR is an established technology that has been 
shown to meet stringent emissions requirements while enabling fuel 
efficiency benefits.
    Currently certified heavy-duty engines utilizing SCR use a nitrogen 
containing reducing agent (aqueous urea) injected into the exhaust gas 
upstream of the catalyst. Other types of reducing agents may also be 
used by SCR technology. The reducing agent needs to be replenished 
periodically. Without the reducing agent, the efficiency of the SCR 
catalyst drops to zero and NOX emissions can potentially 
increase substantially. The efficiency of the SCR system can also be 
affected by the use of improper reducing agent or tampering with the 
SCR system.
    The need to replenish the reducing agent (hereafter called diesel 
exhaust fluid, or DEF, although the reducing agent need not be fluid) 
and the possibility that SCR technology could be rendered ineffective 
by operation on an empty DEF tank are addressed by EPA's existing 
regulations regarding allowable and necessary maintenance and 
adjustable parameters. These regulations also apply in the case where 
inadequate DEF could be used or where the SCR system may be subject to 
tampering. Certified engine configurations include provisions and 
inducements designed to address these regulatory concerns.
    EPA has previously provided guidance to heavy-duty diesel engine 
manufacturers in March 2007 and December 2009 to facilitate 
manufacturer planning in advance of certification.\1\ In addition, in 
November 2009 EPA published in the Federal Register the approval of 
specific maintenance intervals for DEF refills for certain 
manufacturers.\2\
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    \1\ See ``Certification Procedure for Light-Duty and Heavy-Duty 
Diesel Vehicles and Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines Using Selective 
Catalyst Reduction (SCR) Technologies'' dated March 27, 2007 and the 
``Revised Guidance for Certification of Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines 
Using Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) Technologies'' dated 
December 30, 2009.
    \2\ See 74 FR 57671 (November 9, 2009).
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    II. Public Workshop: EPA is commencing a public process designed to 
provide a thorough review of EPA's policies regarding the operation of 
SCR-equipped heavy-duty diesel engines without DEF, with improper DEF, 
or when tampering (or some other defect in the SCR system) is detected 
for future 2011 and later model year engines, in order to ensure, among 
other things, that SCR-equipped engines are designed to properly 
control emissions as required under applicable law and regulations. 
Although EPA has previously provided guidance to manufactures regarding 
the initial introduction and certification of SCR-equipped heavy-duty 
diesel engines, consistent with past practice we believe it is 
appropriate for EPA to review and reexamine its policies as 
technologies are introduced into the market place. As part of this 
process, EPA intends to review any information that has become 
available to determine whether its policies regarding SCR-equipped 
engines should be revised. The scope of the review includes review of 
the ``Revised Guidance for Certification of Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines 
Using Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) Technologies'' dated December 
30, 2009. As part of EPA's

[[Page 39252]]

review we will take into consideration the use of other reductants, in 
addition to current aqueous urea DEF, and will reexamine requisite 
infrastructure needs, any issues regarding the emission of unregulated 
pollutants, and any potential safety concerns. EPA is conducting the 
workshop with the California Air Resources Board in order that all 
relevant information be timely shared and considered by all affected 
parties; however, any final policies reached by EPA will be 
independently made and based upon applicable federal law and 
regulations. Any representations made by the California Air Resources 
Board regarding this matter are not binding upon EPA.
    Procedures for Public Participation: Submit your comments, 
identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0444, by one of the 
following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (202) 566-1741.
     Mail: Air and Radiation Docket, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2010-0444, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 6102T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please include a total 
of two copies.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, Public Reading Room, EPA 
West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, 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.
     Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OAR-2010-0444. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
online at http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made 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.
    Persons with comments containing proprietary information must 
distinguish such information from other comments to the greatest 
possible extent and label it as ``Confidential Business Information'' 
(CBI). If a person making comments wants EPA to base its decision in 
part on a submission labeled as CBI, then a non-confidential version of 
the document that summarizes the key data or information should be 
submitted for the public docket. To ensure that proprietary information 
is not inadvertently placed in the docket, submissions containing such 
information should be sent directly to the contact person listed above 
and not to the public docket. Information covered by a claim of 
confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA only to the extent allowed and 
by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR Part 2. If no claim of 
confidentiality accompanies the submission when EPA receives it, EPA 
will make it available to the public without further notice to the 
person making comments.

    Dated: July 1, 2010.
Margo Tsirigotis Oge,
Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
[FR Doc. 2010-16702 Filed 7-7-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P