Title 16—Commercial Practices--Volume 1
PART 311—TEST PROCEDURES AND LABELING STANDARDS FOR RECYCLED OIL
§ 311.1   Definitions.
As used in this part:
(a) Manufacturer means any person who re-refines or otherwise processes used oil to remove physical or chemical impurities acquired through use or who blends such re-refined or otherwise processed used oil with new oil or additives.
(b) New oil means any synthetic oil or oil that has been refined from crude oil and which has not been used and may or may not contain additives. Such term does not include used oil or recycled oil.
(c) Processed used oil means re-refined or otherwise processed used oil or blend of oil, consisting of such re-refined or otherwise processed used oil and new oil or additives.
(d) Recycled oil means processed used oil that the manufacturer has determined, pursuant to section 311.4 of this part, is substantially equivalent to new oil for use as engine oil.
(e) Used oil means any synthetic oil or oil that has been refined from crude oil, which has been used and, as a result of such use, has been contaminated by physical or chemical impurities.
(f) Re-refined oil means used oil from which physical and chemical contaminants acquired through use have been removed.
§ 311.2   Stayed or invalid parts.
If any part of this rule is stayed or held invalid, the rest of it will remain in force.
§ 311.3   Preemption.
No law, regulation, or order of any State or political subdivision thereof may apply, or remain applicable, to any container of recycled oil, if such law, regulation, or order requires any container of recycled oil, which container bears a label in accordance with the terms of § 311.5 of this part, to bear any label with respect to the comparative characteristics of such recycled oil with new oil that is not identical to that permitted by § 311.5 of this part.
§ 311.4   Testing.
To determine the substantial equivalency of processed used oil with new oil for use as engine oil, manufacturers or their designees must use the test procedures in API 1509, Engine Oil Licensing and Certification System, Seventeenth Edition, September 2012 (Addendum 1, October 2014, Errata, March 2015). The Director of the Federal Register approves this incorporation by reference in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. You may obtain a copy from API, 1220 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20005; telephone: 202-682-8000; internet address: https://www.api.org. You may inspect a copy at the FTC Library, 202-326-2395, Federal Trade Commission, Room H-630, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580. It is also available for inspection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030 or go to http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.
§ 311.5   Labeling.
A manufacturer or other seller may represent, on a label on a container of processed used oil, that such oil is substantially equivalent to new oil for use as engine oil only if the manufacturer has determined that the oil is substantially equivalent to new oil for use as engine oil in accordance with the NIST test procedures prescribed under § 311.4 of this part, and has based the representation on that determination.
§ 311.6   Prohibited acts.
It is unlawful for any manufacturer or other seller to represent, on a label on a container of processed used oil, that such oil is substantially equivalent to new oil for use as engine oil unless the manufacturer or other seller has based such representation on the manufacturer's determination that the processed used oil is substantially equivalent to new oil for use as engine oil in accordance with the NIST test procedures prescribed under § 311.4 of this part. Violations will be subject to enforcement through civil penalties (as adjusted for inflation pursuant to § 1.98 of this chapter), imprisonment, and/or injunctive relief in accordance with the enforcement provisions of Section 525 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6395).