[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: [email protected].
     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: [email protected].
    NHTSA: Ryan Hagen, Office of Chief Counsel, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 
DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-2992; [email protected].

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:

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                                                 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.
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    \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
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    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