G/TBT/N/USA/2089  
15 January 2024  
(24-0305) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):  State of 
Maine  
2. Agency responsible:   
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), State of Maine [2119]  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the no tification shall be indicated if different from above:   
Please submit comments to: USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point, Email: usatbtep@nist.gov  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  ], 2.10.1 [  ], 5.6.2 [  ], 5.7.1 [  ], 3.2 [X], 7.2 [  ], 
other :  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Motor 
vehicle emission standards; Environmental protection (ICS code(s): 13.020); Air quality 
(ICS code(s): 13.040); Road vehicles in general (ICS code(s): 43.020); Road vehicle 
systems (ICS code(s): 43.040)  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Chapter 127 -A: 
Advanced Clean Cars II Program (Reposting); (11 page(s), in English)  
6. Description of content:  Proposed rule - In response to a citizen petition, this new rule 
was proposed  (refer to proposed rule number 2023 -P101) to establish motor vehicle 
emission standards for new passenger cars, light -duty trucks, and medium -duty vehicles 
by incorporating the requirements of the California Advanced Clean C ars II regulations, 
beginning model year 2027.  
A public hearing on the proposed Chapter 127 -A was held on 17 August 2023, and the 
comment period closed on 28 August 2023. A final vote on the proposed rule was 
scheduled for the Board meeting on 21 December 2023, however, due to the state of 
emergency resulting from the 18 December storm, that meeting was cancelled. This 
prevented a Board vote on whether to adopt the proposed rule, and forced any potential 
adoption beyond the rule's proposed effective date of  1 January 2024. This also prevents 
the rule from taking effect in time to apply to the 2027 model year. Therefore, the 
proposed rule has been amended to begin with model year 2028, and the Department is 
now requesting comments from the public concerning t his substantive change. The 
Department has also proposed other non -substantive changes to the proposal.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  Prevention of deceptive practices and consumer protection; Protection of the 
environment  G/TBT/N/USA/2089  
 
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  8. Relevant documents:   
Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Rulemaking Proposals: 
https://www.maine.gov/dep/rules/index.html#11 458245  
17 August 2023 Public Hearing on Chapter 127 -A: Advanced Clean Cars II Program: 
https://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/attach.php?id=11458245&an=3  
All Current DEP Rules are accessible at 
https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rules/06/chaps06.htm  
Ch. 127 - New Motor Vehicle Emission Standards 
https://www.maine.gov/sos/ cec/rules/06/096/096c127.doc  
WTO Members and their stakeholders are asked to submit comments to the USA TBT 
Enquiry Point . Comments received by th e USA TBT Enquiry Point from WTO Members and 
their stakeholders by 4pm Eastern  Time on 5 February 2024 will be shared with the Maine 
DEP if received within the comment period.  
9. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined  
Proposed date of entry into force:  To be determined  
10. Final date for comments:  5 February 2024  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2024/TBT/USA/24_00470_00_e.pdf