State of California

AIR RESOURCES BOARD

Notice of Public Availability of Modified Text

PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER REQUIRING CERTAIN CALIFORNIA LIGHT- AND

MEDIUM-DUTY VEHICLES TO BE SUBJECT TO FEDERAL TIER 2 EXHAUST

STANDARDS, AND ADOPTING ADDITIONAL EXHAUST EMISSION STANDARDS

FOR HEAVY-DUTY GASOLINE VEHICLES AND ENGINES

Public Hearing Date: December 7, 2000

Public Availability Date: December 8, 2000

Deadline for Public Comment: December 26, 2000

At a public hearing held December 7, 2000, the Air Resources Board (the Board or

ARB) approved amendments to sections 1956.8 and 1961, title 13, California Code of

Regulations (CCR), and amendments to or adoption of three ARB documents

incorporated by reference in those sections. The amendments will require light- and

medium-duty vehicles sold in California to be at least as low-emitting as their federal

counterparts, and align California exhaust emission standards for heavy-duty Otto-cycle

(gasoline) engines with federal standards.

The Board’s action. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board adopted

Resolution 00-45, in which it approved the originally proposed amendments with several

modifications. All of the modifications had been suggested by staff in response to public

comments made to staff after issuance of the original proposal. The text of all of the

suggested modifications was contained in a 17-page document entitled “Staff’s

Suggested Modifications to the Original Proposal,” which was distributed at the hearing

and was Attachment E to the Resolution. The Resolution and its Attachment E are

attached to this Notice. The Resolution directed the Executive Officer to make the

modified text available for a supplemental comment period.

The approved modifications will allow manufacturers to market qualifying federallycertified vehicles prior to the 2004 model year, allow 2004 and earlier model-year

federal heavy light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles covered by the

program to certify to federal evaporative emissions and on-board diagnostics (OBD)

requirements, delete the requirement that a federally-certified vehicle model be

marketed in California when the otherwise comparable California model uses a different

aspiration method or fuel, provide manufacturers with credit for the additional emission

benefits achieved by federally certifying vehicles to optional 150,000 mile emission

standards, and make various nonsubstantive corrections.

Modified text being made available. The attached Attachment E to the Resolution

contains the text of all of the proposed modifications to sections 1956.8 and 1961, CCR,

and the modified portions of the following incorporated documents:
“California Exhaust Emission Standards and Test Procedures for 1987 and

Subsequent Model Heavy-Duty Otto-Cycle Engines,” incorporated by reference

in section 1956.8(d), title 13, CCR;

“California Exhaust Emission Standards and Test Procedures for 2004 and

Subsequent Model Heavy-Duty Otto-Cycle Engines,” a proposed new document

to be incorporated by reference in section 1956.8(d), title 13, CCR; and

“California Exhaust Emission Standards and Test Procedures for 2001 and

Subsequent Model Passenger Cars, Light-Duty Trucks and Medium-Duty

Vehicles,” incorporated by reference in section 1961(d), title 13, CCR.

The complete texts of these incorporated documents, with all of the modifications clearly

indicated, are available on the ARB’s Internet site for this rulemaking,

www.arb.ca.gov/regact/mdv-hdge/mdv-hdge.htm. Printed copies are available from

Ms. Donna Barragan, Mobile Source Control Division, telephone (626) 459-4405 or fax

(626) 575-6699.

Comments and subsequent action. In accordance with section 11346.8 of the

Government Code, the Board’s Resolution directed the Executive Officer to amend

sections 1956.8 and 1961, title 13, CCR, and amend or adopt the incorporated

documents, after making the text of the modifications 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 regarding the modified text that may be

submitted during this period, shall make modifications as may be appropriate in light of

the comments received, and shall present the regulations to the Board for further

consideration if warranted.

Written comments on the modifications approved by the Board must be submitted to the

Clerk of the Board, Air Resources Board, P.O. Box 2815, Sacramento, California 95812,

no later than December 26, 2000, for consideration by the Executive Officer prior to final

action. E-mail submissions must be addressed to mdv-hdge@listserv.arb.ca.gov and

received at the ARB no later than 5:00 p.m., December 26, 2000. Only comments

relating to the above-described modifications to the regulations shall be considered by

the Executive Officer.

Robert H. Cross, Chief

Mobile Source Division

Attachments