View all text of Subpart C [§ 1051.201 - § 1051.255]

§ 1051.235 - What emission testing must I perform for my application for a certificate of conformity?

This section describes the emission testing you must perform to show compliance with the emission standards in subpart B of this part.

(a) Test your emission-data vehicles using the procedures and equipment specified in subpart F of this part. Where specifically required or allowed, test the engine instead of the vehicle. For evaporative emissions, test the fuel system components separate from the vehicle.

(b) Select from each engine family an emission-data vehicle, and a fuel system for each fuel type with a configuration that is most likely to exceed the emission standards, using good engineering judgment. Consider the emission levels of all exhaust constituents over the full useful life of the vehicle.

(c) We may measure emissions from any of your test vehicles or engines (or any other vehicles or engines from the engine family), as follows:

(1) We may decide to do the testing at your plant or any other facility. If we do this, you must deliver the test vehicle or engine to a test facility we designate. The test vehicle or engine you provide must include appropriate manifolds, aftertreatment devices, electronic control units, and other emission-related components not normally attached directly to the engine block. If we do the testing at your plant, you must schedule it as soon as possible and make available the instruments, personnel, and equipment we need.

(2) If we measure emissions on one of your test vehicles or engines, the results of that testing become the official emission results. Unless we later invalidate these data, we may decide not to consider your data in determining if your engine family meets applicable requirements.

(3) Before we test one of your vehicles or engines, we may set its adjustable parameters to any point within the physically adjustable ranges (see § 1051.115(c)).

(4) Before we test one of your vehicles or engines, we may calibrate it within normal production tolerances for anything we do not consider an adjustable parameter. For example, this would apply where we determine that an engine parameter is not an adjustable parameter (as defined in § 1051.801) but that it is subject to production variability.

(d) You may use previously generated emission data in the following cases:

(1) You may ask to use carryover emission data from a previous model year instead of doing new tests, but only if all the following are true:

(i) The engine family from the previous model year differs from the current engine family only with respect to model year or other characteristics unrelated to emissions. You may also ask to add a configuration subject to § 1051.225.

(ii) The emission-data vehicle from the previous model year remains the appropriate emission-data vehicle under paragraph (b) of this section.

(iii) The data show that the emission-data vehicle would meet all the requirements that apply to the engine family covered by the application for certification.

(2) You may submit emission data for equivalent engine families performed to show compliance with other standards (such as California standards) instead of doing new tests, but only if the data show that the test vehicle or engine would meet all of this part's requirements.

(3) You may submit evaporative emission data measured by a fuel system supplier. We may require you to verify that the testing was conducted in accordance with the applicable regulations.

(e) We may require you to test a second vehicle or engine of the same or different configuration in addition to the vehicle or engine tested under paragraph (b) of this section.

(f) If you use an alternate test procedure under 40 CFR 1065.10 and later testing shows that such testing does not produce results that are equivalent to the procedures specified in subpart F of this part, we may reject data you generated using the alternate procedure.

(g) If you are a small-volume manufacturer, you may certify by design on the basis of preexisting exhaust emission data for similar technologies and other relevant information, and in accordance with good engineering judgment. In those cases, you are not required to test your vehicles. This is called “design-certification” or “certifying by design.” To certify by design, you must show that the technology used on your engines is sufficiently similar to the previously tested technology that a person reasonably familiar with emission-control technology would believe that your engines will comply with the emission standards.

(h) For fuel tanks that are certified based on permeability treatments for plastic fuel tanks, you do not need to test each engine family. However, you must use good engineering judgment to determine permeation rates for the tanks. This requires that more than one fuel tank be tested for each set of treatment conditions. You may not use test data from a given tank for any other tanks that have thinner walls. You may, however, use test data from a given tank for other tanks that have thicker walls. This applies to both low-hour (i.e., baseline testing) and durability testing. Note that § 1051.245 allows you to use design-based certification instead of generating new emission data.

(i) Measure CO2 and CH4 with each low-hour certification test using the procedures specified in 40 CFR part 1065 starting in the 2011 and 2012 model years, respectively. Also measure N2O with each low-hour certification test using the analytical equipment and procedures specified in 40 CFR part 1065 starting in the 2013 model year for any engine family that depends on NOx aftertreatment to meet emission standards. Small-volume manufacturers may omit measurement of N2O and CH4; other manufacturers may provide appropriate data and/or information and omit measurement of N2O and CH4 as described in 40 CFR 1065.5. Use the same units and modal calculations as for your other results to report a single weighted value for each constituent. Round the final values as follows:

(1) Round CO2 to the nearest 1 g/kW-hr or 1 g/km, as appropriate.

(2) Round N2O to the nearest 0.001 g/kW-hr or 0.001 g/km, as appropriate.

(3) Round CH4 to the nearest 0.001 g/kW-hr or 0.001 g/km, as appropriate.

[70 FR 40495, July 13, 2005, as amended at 73 FR 59249, Oct. 8, 2008; 74 FR 56510, Oct. 30, 2009]