§ 85.510 Exemption provisions for new and relatively new vehicles/engines.

(a) You are exempted from the tampering prohibition with respect to new and relatively new vehicles/engines if you certify the conversion system to the emission standards specified in § 85.525 as described in paragraph (b) in this section; you meet the labeling and packaging requirements in § 85.530 before you sell, import or otherwise facilitate the use of a clean alternative fuel conversion system; and you meet the liability, recordkeeping, and end of year reporting requirements in § 85.535.

(b) Certification under this section must be based on the certification procedures such as those specified in 40 CFR part 86, subparts A, B, and S and 40 CFR part 1065, as applicable, subject to the following exceptions and special provisions:

(1) Test groups and evaporative/refueling families for light-duty and heavy-duty chassis certified vehicles.

(i) Small volume conversion manufacturers and qualified small volume test groups.

(A) If criteria for small volume manufacturer or qualified small volume test groups are met as defined in 40 CFR 86.1838–01, you may combine light-duty vehicles or heavy-duty vehicles which can be chassis certified under 40 CFR part 86, subpart S using good engineering judgment into conversion test groups if the following criteria are satisfied instead of those specified in 40 CFR 86.1827–01.

(1) Same OEM and OEM model year.

(2) Same OBD group.

(3) Same vehicle classification (e.g. light-duty vehicle, heavy-duty vehicle).

(4) Engine displacement is within 15% of largest displacement or 50 CID, whichever is larger.

(5) Same number of cylinders or combustion chambers.

(6) Same arrangement of cylinders or combustion chambers (e.g. in-line, v-shaped).

(7) Same combustion cycle (e.g., two stroke, four stroke, Otto-cycle, diesel-cycle).

(8) Same engine type (e.g. piston, rotary, turbine, air cooled vs. water cooled).

(9) Same OEM fuel type (except otherwise similar gasoline and E85 flexible-fuel vehicles may be combined into dedicated alternative fuel vehicles).

(10) Same fuel metering system (e.g. throttle body injection vs. port injection).

(11) Same catalyst construction (e.g. metal vs. ceramic substrate).

(12) All converted vehicles are subject to the most stringent emission standards used in certifying the OEM test groups within the conversion test group.

(B) EPA-established scaled assigned deterioration factors for both exhaust and evaporative emissions may be used for vehicles with over 10,000 miles if the criteria for small volume manufacturer or qualified small volume test groups are met as defined in 40 CFR 86.1838–01. This deterioration factor will be adjusted according to vehicle or engine miles of operation. The deterioration factor is intended to predict the vehicle's emission levels at the end of the useful life. EPA may adjust these scaled assigned deterioration factors if we find the rate of deterioration non-constant or if the rate differs by fuel type.