Opinion ID: 426344
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: statutory prerequisites to promulgation

Text: 9 Section 207(b) provides that when the Administrator makes certain findings: 10 (1) he shall establish [short tests] by regulation, and 11 (2) at such time as he determines that inspection facilities or equipment are available for purposes of carrying out [short tests] established under paragraph (1), he shall prescribe regulations which shall require manufacturers to warrant the emission control device or system of each new motor vehicle or new motor vehicle engine to which a regulation under section applies and which is manufactured in a model year beginning after the Administrator first prescribes warranty regulations under this paragraph (2). The warranty under such regulations shall run to the ultimate purchaser and each subsequent purchaser and shall provide that if -- 12 (A) the vehicle or engine is maintained and operated in accordance with instructions under subsection (c)(3) of this section, 13 (B) it fails to conform at any time during its useful life   , and 14 (C) such nonconformity results in the ultimate purchaser (or any subsequent purchaser) of such vehicle having to bear any penalty or other sanction   , 15 then such manufacturer shall remedy such nonconformity under such warranty with the cost thereof to be borne by the manufacturer. No such warranty shall be invalid on the basis of any part used in the maintenance or repair of a vehicle or engine if such part was certified as provided under subsection (a)(2) of this section. 16 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7541(b) (emphasis added). Subsection (c)(3), referred to in Section 207(b)(2)(A), in turn provides that: 17 The manufacturer shall furnish with each new motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine written instructions for the proper maintenance and use of the vehicle or engine by the ultimate purchaser and such instructions shall correspond to regulations which the Administrator shall promulgate.    18 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7541(c)(3) (emphasis added). Section 207(a)(2), referred to at the end of Section 207(b)(2), provides that: 19 In the case of a motor vehicle part or motor vehicle engine part, the manufacturer or rebuilder of such part may certify that use of such part will not result in a failure of the vehicle or engine to comply with emissions standards promulgated under section . Such certification shall be made only under such regulations as may be promulgated by the Administrator to carry out the purposes of subsection (b) of this section. The Administrator shall promulgate such regulations no later than [August 7, 1979]. 20 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7541(a)(2) (emphasis added). Petitioners argue that, read together, these provisions require EPA to satisfy four statutory prerequisites before it may impose performance warranty liability on vehicle manufacturers. EPA must: (1) establish vehicle short tests; (2) determine that facilities and equipment exist to administer those tests; and (3) promulgate owner maintenance and use instruction regulations; and (4) promulgate replacement parts certification regulations. Petitioners concede that EPA has met the first two requirements, but claim that EPA's failure to promulgate timely 21 parts certification regulations and any maintenance and use instruction regulations renders the performance warranty program unenforceable. 22 This argument, however, misreads the plain language of the statute. 21 On its face, Section 207(b) imposes two specific prerequisites to performance warranty regulation promulgation: the establishment of short tests and the determination that facilities and equipment exist to administer those tests. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7541(b)(2). Once these specific prerequisites are satisfied, the statute commands that the Administrator shall prescribe regulations which shall require manufacturers to warrant [their cars]   . Id. The statutory directive is straightforward: once the Administrator makes the required findings, he must issue applicable regulations. This is precisely what the Administrator did when he promulgated regulations applicable to all model year 1981 and subsequent model year vehicles. 23 22 Section 207(b) does, as petitioners assert, make reference to parts certification regulations. It states that no performance warranty shall be invalid on the basis of a part certified under Section 207(a)(2), and Section 207(a)(2) requires the Administrator to promulgate certification regulations to carry out the purposes of the performance warranty program. But neither Section 207(a) nor Section 207(b) directly makes promulgation of the certification regulations a prerequisite to promulgation of the performance warranty regulations. By contrast, Congress did set out other specific prerequisites in Section 207(b); Congress easily could have included the certification regulations in this list had it intended them to be necessary prerequisites as well. Indeed, viewing the certification program as an absolute prerequisite to the performance warranty program does not make practical sense: The absence of certification regulations does not change the rights or obligations of any party--vehicle manufacturers, parts manufacturers, or vehicle ownersWIth respect to the performance warranty. 24 No vehicle manufacturer can incur performance warranty liability due to the use of certified parts until certification regulations are promulgated and parts manufacturers actually begin certifying their parts; likewise, parts manufacturers are still free to sell, and vehicle owners free to buy, uncertified parts until such regulations exist. 25 Petitioners would have us read the statute so as to require a meaningless prerequisite that would serve no rational purpose. This we cannot do. 23 Petitioners also argue that Section 207(b) requires EPA to promulgate new maintenance and use instruction regulations prior to promulgating performance warranty regulations. 26 Maintenance and use instruction regulations have been codified at 40 C.F.R. Sec. 86.079-39 (1982), but these existing regulations were promulgated in accordance with the original reasonable and necessary language of Section 207(c)(3). 27 The 1977 amendments altered the statute to provide that maintenance and use instructions shall correspond to regulations which the Administrator shall promulgate, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7541(c)(3), and petitioners assert that the performance warranty regulations did not correspondingly change the standard for maintenance and use instructions. In fact, all the Administrator did in the performance warranty regulations was reaffirm that the reasonable and necessary standard still applied, see 40 C.F.R. Sec. 85.2102 (1982); 45 Fed.Reg. 34831 (May 22, 1980), and reserve the right to promulgate additional regulations. 28 Id. But the Administrator was not required to do more. A viable set of maintenance and use instruction regulations is necessary to implement the statute, but nothing in the statute or its legislative history indicates that Congress thought the existing regulations were inadequate. All the 1977 amendment did was give the Administrator more authority to regulate maintenance and use instructions; it did not condition the viability of the performance warranty on a change in those regulations. The reasonable and necessary standard adequately instructs manufacturers as to the preparation of maintenance and use instructions. All parties potentially affected by the maintenance and use instruction regulations have been and are now aware of their rights and obligations under this standard, and any claims of uncertainty are therefore totally unwarranted. 29