1 State of California

AIR RESOURCES BOARD

Notice of Public Availability of Modified Text

PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO THE CALIFO RNIA

REGULATION FOR NEW 1997 AND LATER OFF-HIGHWAY RECRE ATIONAL

VEHICLES AND ENGINES

Public Hearing Date: July 20, 2006 Public Availability Date: March 29, 2007 Deadline for Public Comment: April 13, 2007

The Air Resources Board (ARB or the Board) administ ers regulations that establish emission standards for new 1997 and later off-highw ay recreational vehicles such as off-road motorcycles and all terrain vehicles. At its July 20, 2006 public hearing, the Board approved amendments to sections 2411-2413 and 2415, title 13, California Code of Regulations (CCR), which include the following c hanges to the off-highway recreational vehicle regulations: 1) adding evapor ative emission standards; 2) expanding the off-highway recreational category to include off-road utility vehicles; 3) clarifying the vehicle labeling requirements; an d 4) modifying the dates of the riding seasons for noncomplying off-road motorcycles and a ll-terrain vehicles.

In response to comments received after the Staff Re port’s June 2, 2006 publication date, at the hearing staff presented suggested modi fications to the originally proposed amendments. In Resolution 06-23, the Board approve d the proposed amendments with staff’s suggested modifications, which were se t forth in Attachment C to the

Resolution. These modifications included a minor c hange to the proposed riding seasons, and the addition of off-road sport vehicle s and sand cars to the off-highway recreational vehicle category. Included with these additional vehicle types is the option for manufacturers to demonstrate compliance with Ca lifornia’s exhaust emission standards using either chassis-based testing or eng ine-based testing. The regulations under which these vehicles were previously classifi ed allowed engine-based testing only. The Resolution directed the Executive Office r to incorporate the modification into the proposed regulatory text, with such other confo rming modifications as may be appropriate, and to make the modified text availabl e for a supplemental comment period.

The staff has completed the modified regulatory tex t and is making it available for public comment; it is attached as Appendix I. The followi ng explains and identifies the modifications by section number, and is provided to give stakeholders the opportunity to review and respond with comments. The modification s being made available include

both those in Attachment C to the Resolution and ad ditional conforming or related modifications prepared by staff subsequent to the h earing. Most of the proposed2

modifications are either identical to text in Attac hment C or implement a specific bulleted and approved modification in Attachment C; additional proposed modifications carry the descriptor here “new conforming modificat ion.”

TITLE 13 REGULATION

§ 2111. Applicability.

The Procedures for In-Use Vehicle Voluntary and Inf luenced Recalls was amended to include the vehicle types that were added to the of f-highway recreational vehicle
category. New conforming modification.

§ 2112. Definitions.

The useful life period for the off-highway recreati onal vehicle category was amended to

include the vehicles that were added. New conforming modification.

§ 2411. Definitions.

The (a)(1) definition of “all-terrain vehicle (ATV) ” was amended to consolidate the

Class I and II definitions and retain the width des cription. These changes will prevent confusion that could occur by having an ATV definit ion that differs from the definition in the California Vehicle Code. Also, the proposed Cl ass III definition was deleted in favor of “off-road utility vehicles,” which harmonizes wi th the definition in the federal regulation for these vehicles.

The (a)(13) definition of "off-highway recreational vehicle engines” or “engines” was amended to include off-road sport vehicles, off-roa d utility vehicles, and sand cars.

The (a)(17), (a)(18), and (a)(19) definitions of “o ff-road sport vehicle,” “off-road utility vehicle,” and “sand car,” respectively, were added to include these types of vehicles in the off-highway recreational vehicle regulation. T he reason for adding these new definitions was in response to industry’s request t o streamline their certification efforts, as much as possible, with the federal requirements.

§ 2412. Emission Standards and Test Procedures – N ew Off-Highway Recreational Vehicles and Engines.

Under subsection (b), the original exhaust emission table was revised to include the new vehicles that have been added to the off-highwa y recreational vehicle category. Additionally, a second table was added to clarify t he exhaust emission standards for those manufacturers that use engine-based testing f or certification. The engine-based test procedures come from the small off-road engine (SORE) regulation. Although3

there are different SORE test cycles, only the 6-mo de Test Cycle A is appropriate for off-highway recreational vehicles and has been clar ified in the modified text. Lastly, the table containing the new evaporative emission stand ards was revised to clarify that the standards apply to all off-highway recreational veh icles.

Under subsection (c), language was added to clarify which test procedures are applicable to off-highway recreational vehicles, as well as clarifying which Subparts from the Code of Federal Regulations are incorporat ed by reference into California’s test procedures.

Under subsection (d), determining corporate averagi ng of emissions was clarified between chassis-based testing and engine-based test ing with the addition of an appropriate formula for the engine-based certificat ions. In the same fashion that the exhaust emission standards for engine-based testing were added to subsection (b), the corresponding formula for determining corporate ave raging was added to subsection (d). This formula was derived from the SORE regulation and is appropriate for engines that are tested under the 6-mode Test C ycle A. New conforming modification.

Because of the new language for engine-based testin g contained in the previous subsections of section 2412, the language in paragr aph (e) was deleted. Paragraph (e) now contains the reporting requirements for manufac turers, which were previously contained in paragraph (d). New conforming modification.

Paragraph (4) was added to subsection (g) to extend the requirements that all other offhighway recreational vehicles have conformed to, up on their respective implementation dates for compliance to the exhaust emission standa rds. New conforming modification.

§ 2413. Emission Control Labels – New Off-Highway Recreational Vehicles

In subsections (a), (b), and (c), the words “off-ro ad motorcycle and ATV” were replaced, where appropriate, with the words “off-highway recr eational vehicle” to underscore that the requirements apply to all vehicles in this cate gory.

§ 2415. California Off-Highway Vehicle Areas and R iding Seasons for Off-Highway

Recreational Vehicles with Use Restrictions

In subsection (a), language was added to clarify th at, although there are new vehicle types in the off-highway recreational vehicle categ ory, some riding areas cannot accommodate certain types of vehicles or the terrai n is not appropriate. Language was also added to clarify the new arrangement of riding areas in Table 1. Previously, the riding areas were grouped according to the land age ncy with jurisdiction. Now, the riding areas are listed according to location, from north to south, which is more intuitive4

for the off-highway recreation community. New conforming modification.

Also in Table 1, the riding season for Heber Dunes was changed to “year round,” based

on comments received from the California State Park s.

As previewed in Attachment C to Resolution 06-23, s taff has prepared comparable

modifications to the “California Exhaust Emissions Standards and Test Procedures for 1997 and Later Off-Highway Recreational Vehicles an d Engines,”which is incorporated by reference in section 2412(c).

TEST PROCEDURES

86.401-90: Amended to include the new types of vehi cles in the off-highway recreational vehicle category.

86.402-78: Amended to be consistent with the defini tions in section 2411. Additionally, because these test procedures were ta ken from the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s test procedures f or motorcycles, the definition of “motorcycle” was amended to include all the vehicle types comprising California’s offhighway recreational vehicle category.

The following sections were amended to include the new types of vehicles in the offhighway recreational vehicle category:

86.407-78 86.408-78 86.409-78 86.410-90 86.411-78 8 6.412-78

86.413-78 86.414-78 86.416-80 86.425-78 86.437-78.

The following sections were added to the test proce dure document, solely for completeness and compatibility with Part 86 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

86.401-2006 86.401-97 86.402-98 86.410-80 86.41 0-2006

86.419-2006 86.445-2006 86.446-2006 86.447-2006 86.448-2006

86.449-2006 86.505-2004 86.513-87 86.513-94 86. 513-2006

86.529-98.

1051.110: Amended to clarify that, when using the federal average, banking, and trading (AB&T) program in California, the generated or used evaporative emission credits must be from vehicles produced for sale in California.

1051.145: Amended to retain subparagraphs (g) and (h) from the federal language,

which outlines how credits and deficits are to be h andled, with regards to evaporative

emissions.

Staff has made other nonsubstantial modifications t hroughout the regulation and test5

procedures to correct grammatical and typographical errors, correct references and citations, and improve the overall clarity of these documents.

Attached is a copy of Board Resolution 06-23 (Appen dix III) approving amended sections 2411-2413 and 2415, title 13, CCR, and the “California Exhaust Emissions

Standards and Test Procedures for 1997 and Later Of f-Highway Recreational Vehicles and Engines,” as modified by Attachment C to that R esolution. The regulatory documents for this rulemaking are available online at the following ARB Internet site:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/ohrv2006/ohrv2006.htm

In accordance with section 11346.8 of the Governmen t Code, the Board directed the Executive Officer to adopt sections 2411-2413 and 2 415, title 13, CCR, and the incorporated test procedure document, after making the proposed modified text available to the public for comment for a period of at least 15 days. The Board further provided that the Executive Officer shall consider such written comments as may be submitted during this period, shall make such modif ications as may be appropriate in light of the comments received, and shall present t he regulations to the Board for

further consideration if warranted.

Written comments on the proposed modifications may be submitted by postal mail, electronic mail, or facsimile as follows:

Postal mail: Clerk of the Board, Air Resources Boa rd

1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814

Electronic submittal : http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bclist.php

Facsimile submittal: (916) 322-3928

In order to be considered by the Executive Officer, comments must be directed to the

ARB in one of the three forms described above and r eceived by the ARB by 5:00 p.m. on the deadline date for public comment listed at t he beginning of this notice. Only comments relating to the above-described modificati ons to the text of the regulations and incorporated Test Procedures document will be c onsidered by the Executive

Officer.

Appendices (3)

I – Staff’s Modifications to the Proposed Regulatio n Order

II – Test Procedures

III – Resolution 06-236