California Code of Regulations › Title 13 - Motor Vehicles › Division 3 - Air Resources Board › Chapter 2 - Enforcement of Vehicle Emission Standards and Surveillance Testing › Article 2.4 - Procedures for Reporting Failures of Emission-Related Components › Section 2141 - General Provisions

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) The
				  provisions regarding applicability of the failure reporting procedures and the
				  definitions shall be the same as those set forth in title 13, California Code
				  of Regulations, sections
				  2111 and
				  2112, except that this section
				  2141 does not apply to off-road
				  compression-ignition engines, as defined in section
				  2421.
(b) The requirement to file emission warranty
				  information reports and field information reports for a given class or category
				  of vehicles, engines, or trailers shall be applicable for the warranty period
				  but not to exceed the useful-life period of the vehicles, engines, or trailers
				  beginning with the 1990 model-year vehicles or engines and beginning 2020
				  model-year trailers.
(c) The
				  requirement to file an emissions information report for a given class or
				  category of vehicles, engines, or trailers shall be applicable for the
				  useful-life period of the vehicles, engines, or trailers.
(d) In the case of motor vehicles or engines
				  for which certification of the exhaust and evaporative emission control systems
				  is granted to different manufacturers, the information reporting responsibility
				  in subsections (b) and (c) above shall be assigned to the certifying
				  manufacturer.
(e) For purposes of
				  enforcing or administering any requirement pursuant to this Division 3, Chapter
				  2, the Executive Officer or an ARB employee or agent upon presentation of
				  credentials, has the right of entry to any premises owned, operated, used,
				  leased, or rented by a person to repair or service any heavy-duty engine,
				  heavy-duty vehicle, or trailer for which California emissions standards have
				  been adopted and which is situated on the premises for purpose of
				  emission-related maintenance, repair or service. The right-to-entry includes,
				  but is not limited to, verification of manufacturer's warranty reporting and
				  claims through inspecting repair records, records that relate to vehicular,
				  engine, or trailer emissions, vehicles, engines, and trailers, and may require
				  the on-premises securing of samples of emissions from a vehicle, engine, or
				  trailer at any repair facility.
(f)
				  In the case of 2024 and subsequent model year California-certified heavy-duty
				  diesel and Otto-cycle engines, and heavy-duty vehicles,
(1) If a manufacturer files a "Field
				  Information Report" pursuant to title 13, California Code of Regulations,
				  section 2145, it must retain the
				  information that it obtained and relied upon when analyzing the failure and
				  determined the probable cause of the failure of the component(s) during the
				  time period corresponding to the time component of the useful life period of
				  the engine family or test group. For instance, if a turbocharger failed in an
				  engine family with a useful life of 15 years or 150,000 miles, whichever first
				  occurs, the manufacturer must retain the above specified information during the
				  15 years. The Executive Officer shall reserve the right to require
				  manufacturers to submit the information to the Executive Officer during the
				  time period corresponding to the time component of the useful life period of
				  the engine family or test group. If the information used to determine the valid
				  failure rate is not retained or is unable to be provided to the Executive
				  Officer upon request, the parts shall be considered failures.
(2) Upon the Executive Officer's request,
				  manufacturers must provide information indicating, for a given emission-related
				  component, how many warranty repairs for that component were performed at each
				  of the manufacturer's authorized repair facilities.
(3) Warranty reports must include an
				  attestation stating that the information provided in the report is accurate and
				  true and must be signed by an authorized manufacturer representative.
(4) A Manufacturer shall apply good
				  engineering judgement:
(A) The manufacturer
				  shall exercise good engineering judgment in making all decisions called for
				  under this subpart, including, but not limited to, selections, categorizations,
				  determinations, and applications of the requirements of the subpart.
(B) Upon written request by the Executive
				  Officer, the manufacturer shall provide within 15 working days (or such longer
				  period as may be allowed by the Executive Officer) a written description of the
				  engineering judgment in question.
(C) The Executive Officer may reject any such
				  decision by a manufacturer if it is not based on good engineering judgment or
				  is otherwise inconsistent with the requirements of this subpart.
(D) If the Executive Officer rejects a
				  decision by a manufacturer with respect to the exercise of good engineering
				  judgment, the following provisions shall apply:
1. If the Executive Officer determines that
				  incorrect information was deliberately used in the decision process, that
				  important information was deliberately overlooked, that the decision was not
				  made in good faith, or that the decision was not made with a rational basis,
				  the manufacturer may be subject to penalties pursuant to, but not limited to,
				  section
				  43016,
				  Health and Safety Code, for failing to comply with this section.
2. If the Executive Officer determines that
				  the manufacturer's decision does not meet the provisions of subsection
				  (f)(4)(D)(1), but that a different decision would reflect a better exercise of
				  good engineering judgment, then the Executive Officer will notify the
				  manufacturer of this concern and the basis thereof.
a. The manufacturer shall have at least 30
				  days to respond to this notice. The Executive Officer may extend this response
				  period upon request from the manufacturer if it is necessary to generate
				  additional data for the manufacturer's response.
b. The Executive Officer shall make the final
				  ruling after considering the information provided by the manufacturer during
				  the response period. If the Executive Officer determines that the
				  manufacturer's decision was not made using good engineering judgment, he/she
				  may reject that decision and apply the new ruling to future corresponding
				  decisions as soon as practicable.
(E) The Executive Officer shall notify the
				  manufacturer in writing regarding any decision reached under subsection
				  (f)(4)(D)(1) or (f)(4)(D)(2). The Executive Officer shall include in this
				  notification the basis for reaching the
				  determination.