§571.7. Applicability. — Inbound Citations

(c) Each manufacturer building truck tractors, except vocational tractors or vehicle constructed in accordance with 49 CFR 571.7(e), with a GVWR above 26,000 pounds shall comply with the fuel consumption standards in this paragraph (c) expressed in gallons per 1,000 ton-miles. When applying the fuel consumption standards in this paragraph (c), manufacturers must use the same options they use to comply with EPA in 40 CFR 1037.106 in terms of grouping vehicles and/or engines for purposes of determining applicable standards and determining compliance (i.e., the vehicles and/or engines and must be grouped in the same way for purposes of this paragraph (c) as they are grouped for compliance with EPA's requirements in 40 CFR 1037.106). Engines used in heavy-duty truck tractors vehicles shall comply with the standards in paragraph (d) of this section. Each vehicle must be manufactured to comply for its full useful life. Standards apply to the vehicle subfamilies within each of the tractor vehicle regulatory subcategories in accordance with § 535.4 and 40 CFR 1037.230 and based upon the applicable modeling and testing specified in § 535.6. Determine the vehicles in each regulatory subcategory in accordance with 40 CFR 1037.140.

(1) For model years 2016 and later, each manufacturer's truck tractor subfamilies must comply with the fuel consumption standards in paragraph (c)(3) of this section.

(i) Based on the roof height and the design of the cab, the truck tractor category is divided into subcategories as described in § 535.4. The standards that apply to each regulatory subcategory are shown in paragraphs (c)(2) and (3) of this section, each with its own assigned standard.

(ii) For purposes of certifying vehicles to fuel consumption standards, manufacturers must divide their product lines in each regulatory subcategory into vehicles subfamilies that have similar emissions and fuel consumption features, as specified by EPA in 40 CFR 1037.230, and these subfamilies will be subject to the applicable standards. Each vehicle subfamily is limited to a single model year.

(i) For model years 2013 through 2015, a manufacturer may choose voluntarily to comply early with the fuel consumption standards provided in paragraph (c)(3) of this section. For example, a manufacturer may choose to comply early in order to begin accumulating credits through over-compliance with the applicable standards. A manufacturer choosing early compliance must comply with all the vehicles and engines it manufacturers in each regulatory category for a given model year.

(ii) A manufacturer must declare its intent to voluntarily comply with fuel consumption standards and identify its plans to comply before it submits its first application for a certificate of conformity for the respective model year as specified in § 535.8; and, once selected, the decision cannot be reversed and the manufacturer must continue to comply for each subsequent model year for all the vehicles and engines it manufacturers in each regulatory category for a given model year.

(3) The fuel consumption standards for truck tractors, except for vocational tractors, are given in the following table:

(4) Manufacturers may generate or use fuel consumption credits for averaging, banking, and trading as described in § 535.7(c). This requires that manufacturers calculate a credit quantity if they specify a Family Emission Limit (FEL) that is different than the standard specified in this section. The FEL may not be less than the result of emission and fuel consumption modeling from 40 CFR 1037.520. These FELs serve as the emission standards for the specific vehicle subfamily instead of the standards specified in paragraph (2) of this section.

(5) Manufacturers may certify tractors at or above 120,000 pounds GCWR to the following fuel consumption standards in the following table:

(6) For tractors subject to Phase 1 standards, manufacturers must create separate vehicle subfamilies for vehicles that contain advanced or innovative technologies and group those vehicles together in a vehicle subfamilies if they use the same advanced or innovative technologies. Manufacturers may generate separate credit allowances for advanced and innovative technologies as specified in § 535.7(f)(1) and (2). For vehicles subject to Phase 2 standards, manufacturers may generate separate credits allowance for off-cycle technologies in accordance with § 535.7(f)(2). Separate credit allowances for advanced technology vehicles cannot be generated but instead manufacturers may use the credit multipliers specified in § 535.7(f)(1)(iv) through model year 2026.

(7) Manufacturers may certify Class 7 tractors to Class 8 tractors standards as follows:

(i) A manufacturer may optionally certify 4x2 tractors with heavy heavy-duty engines to the standards and useful life for Class 8 tractors, with no restriction on generating or using fuel consumption credits within the Class 8 averaging set.

(ii) A manufacturer may optionally certify a Class 7 tractor to the standards and useful life applicable to Class 8 tractors. Credit provisions apply as follows:

(A) If a manufacturer certifies all of its Class 7 tractors to Class 8 standards, it may use these Heavy HDV credits without restriction.

(B) This paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(B) applies if a manufacturer certifies some Class 7 tractors to Class 8 standards under this paragraph (c)(7)(ii) but not all of them. If a manufacturer includes Class 7 tractors in a subfamily of Class 8 tractors with an FEL below the standard, exclude the production volume of Class 7 tractors from the credit calculation. Conversely, if a manufacturer includes Class 7 tractors in a subfamily of Class 8 tractors with an FEL above the standard, it must include the production volume of Class 7 tractors in the credit calculation.

(8) Manufacturers may combine dissimilar vehicles into a single vehicle subfamilies for applying standards and for testing in special circumstances as follows:

(i) For a Phase 1 vehicle model that straddles a roof-height, cab type, or GVWR division, manufacturers can include all the vehicles in the same vehicle family if it certifies the vehicle family to the more stringent standard. For roof height, the manufacturer must certify to the taller roof standard. For cab-type and GVWR, the manufacturers must certify to the numerically lower standard.

(ii) For a Phase 2 vehicle model that includes a range of GVWR values that straddle weight classes, manufacturers may include all the vehicles in the same vehicle family if it certifies the vehicle family to the numerically lower fuel consumption standard from the affected service classes. Vehicles that are optionally certified to a more stringent standard under this paragraph are subject to useful-life and all other provisions corresponding to the weight class with the numerically lower fuel consumption standard. For a Phase 2 tractor model that includes a range of roof heights that straddle subcategories, a manufacturer may include all the vehicles in the same vehicle family if it certifies the vehicle family to the appropriate subcategory as follows:

(A) A manufacturer may certify mid-roof tractors as high-roof tractors, but it may not certify high-roof tractors as mid-roof tractors.

(B) For tractor families straddling the low-roof/mid-roof division, a manufacturer may certify the family based on the primary roof-height as long as no more than 10 percent of the tractors are certified to the otherwise inapplicable subcategory. For example, if 95 percent of the tractors in the family are less than 120 inches tall, and the other 5 percent are 122 inches tall, a manufacturer may certify the tractors as a single family in the low-roof subcategory.

(C) Determine the appropriate aerodynamic bin number based on the actual roof height if the CdA value is measured. However, use the GEM input for the bin based on the standards to which the manufacturer certifies. For example, of a manufacturer certifies as mid roof tractors some low-roof tractors with a measured CdA value of 4.2 m 2, it qualifies as Bin IV; and must input into GEM the mid-roof Bin IV value of 5.85 m 2.

(9) Tractors meeting the definition of vocational tractors in 49 CFR 523.2 must comply with requirements for heavy-duty vocational vehicles specified in paragraphs (b) and (d) of this section. For Phase 1, Class 7 and Class 8 tractors certified or exempted as vocational tractors are limited in production to no more than 21,000 vehicles in any three consecutive model years. If a manufacturer is determined as not applying this allowance in good faith by EPA in its applications for certification in accordance with 40 CFR 1037.205 and 1037.610, a manufacturer must comply with the tractor fuel consumption standards in paragraph (c)(3) of this section. No production limit applies for vocational tractors subject to Phase 2 standards.

(10) Small manufacturers are to allowed convert low and mid roof tractors to high roof configurations without recertification, provided it is for the purpose of building a custom sleeper tractor or conversion to a natural gas tractor as specified in 40 CFR 1037.150(r).

(11) The following useful life values apply for the standards of this section:

(i) 185,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first, for vehicles at or below 33,000 pounds GVWR.

(ii) 435,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first, for vehicles above 33,000 pounds GVWR.

(12) Secondary vehicle manufacturers that qualify as small manufacturers may convert low- and mid-roof tractors to high-roof configurations without recertification for the purpose of building a custom sleeper tractor or converting it to run on natural gas, as follows:

(i) The original low- or mid-roof tractor must be covered by a valid certificate of conformity by EPA.

(ii) The modifications may not increase the frontal area of the tractor beyond the frontal area of the equivalent high-roof tractor with the corresponding standard trailer. If a manufacturer cannot use the original manufacturer's roof fairing for the high-roof tractor, use good engineering judgment to achieve similar or better aerodynamic performance.

(iii) The agencies may require that these manufacturers submit annual production reports as described in § 535.8 and 40 CFR 1037.250 indicating the original roof height for requalified vehicles.

(13) A manufacturer complies with the standards of this part as described in § 535.10.