United States       Revised
          Environmental Protection   April 1980
          Agency
          Enforcement
                     OPA76/0
&EPA    Mechanics...
          A New Law
          Affects You

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Are You        If so, a new law concerning tampering with
Engaged in the a car's emission controls applies to you.
Business of    As of August 8, 1977, all persons engaged
Repairing,      in these businesses are prohibited by
Servicing,      Federal law from knowingly removing or
Leasing,       rendering inoperative any emission
Selling, or      control device or element of design that is
Trading Motor  installed on a motor vehicle or motor
Vehicles, or    vehicle engine.
Motor Vehicle    This tampering prohibition is contained
Engines or     in the 1977 Amendments to the United
Operating a    States Clean Air Act. If an employer (or his
Motor Vehicle  employee) engaged in any of these
Fleet?          businesses violates this law, the employer
               will be subject to a civil penalty of up
               to $2,500 for each motor vehicle or
               motor vehicle engine tampered with.
                 This leaflet has been prepared by the
               United States Environmental Protection
               Agency to answer questions you are likely
               to ask concerning the law. Please read it
               carefully. Your compliance with the law
               will help ensure that cars in use will
               continue to  meet Federal emission
               standards. Noncompliance will result in
               dirtier air for America, a  loss in fuel
               economy, and possibly fines.
What Is the     The tampering prohibition was passed by
Purpose of the  Congress to make sure that cars in use
Anti-Tampering retain the emission control designs and
Law?
functions that were built into them by
their manufacturers. The law is necessary
for reasons of public health. Motor
vehicles contribute more than one-half
of the total amount of man-made air
pollution in this country. They emit
nearly three-quarters of the total amount
of the poisonous gas, carbon monoxide.
They also emit over one-third of the
hydrocarbons and one-third of the oxides
of nitrogen, two major causes of the
unhealthy smog that hangs over a great
many of our cities and suburbs.

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                   To protect the health of the American
                public, Congress established light-duty
                motor vehicle emission standards that
                have to be met by every  new car sold in
                this country. Each manufacturer is
                required to certify that his design
                will enable the car to meet these
                standards for the length of its useful life.
                  Tampering, however, changes the
                car's certified design and causes the car
                to exceed emissions standards. Several
                surveys have shown tampering to be
                widespread. Some service and  repair
                facilities have even advertised as one of
                their services the removal of emission
                controls to improve gas mileage. To stop
                practices like these and to make sure
                that cars in use continue to  comply with
                emission standards throughout their
                useful life, Congress  broadened the
                anti-tampering provision to cover all
                repair facilities and motor vehicle fleet
                operations.
What Is         The prohibition against tampering
New About the   contained in the Clean Air Act
Anti-tarnpering   Amendments of 1970 applied to any
Law?            person with respect to a new car before
                it is sold and delivered to the purchaser
                and only to manufacturers and car dealers
                with  respect to sold cars.  This law
                applies to some 25,000 to 30,000 new
                car dealers,  and violators are subject to
                civil penalties of up to $10,000 for
                each car tampered with.
                   Now, the  new amendment broadens
                the tampering prohibition to cover
                300,000 to 350,000 motor vehicle repair
                facilities and several  hundred thousand
                fleet operators. All repair facility owners,
                commercial  mechanics, and fleet
                operators are now prohibited from
                tampering. Violators  of this provision
                of the  law are subject to a civil penalty
                of up to $2,500 for each motor vehicle
                or motor vehicle engine tampered with.
What Exactly Is  Tampering is removing, disconnecting,
Tampering?     damaging, or in any way rendering
                ineffective any emission control device or
                element of design installed on a motor
                vehicle or motor vehicle engine.

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                Tampering may include:
                  • removing or rendering inoperative
                such devices as the catalytic converter, air
                pump, and EGR valve.
                  • disconnecting vacuum lines and
                electrical or mechanical portions of the
                pollution control  system such as electrical
                solenoids or vacuum-activated valves.
                  • adjusting an element of a car's
                emission control design out of line with
                manufacturer's specifications.
                  • knowingly  installing a replacement
                part that is not equivalent in design and
                function to the part that was originally
                on the car. Example: incorrect EGR valve.
                (This, however, does not mean that you
                have to use replacement parts sold by
                the  motor  vehicle  manufacturer or its
                franchised dealers.)
                  • adding on a part that was not
                orginally certified on the car. Example:
                installation of dual carburetors to  replace
                a  single carburetor.
                  • enlarging the fuel filler restriction
                inlet to allow the use of regular leaded
                gas  in cars that require unleaded gas.
How Can        Maladjustments will be avoided when
Unintentional    adjustments are made according to
Maladjustments  manufacturer's specifications.
Be Avoided?

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Can't
Tampering
Improve
Gas Mileage
and
Driveability?
Evidence suggests that tampering can
do little to improve gas mileage and
driveability, and in some cases will worsen
them. One reason for this is that the
catalytic converter—the primary means
of pollution control on most cars made
after 1974—has no negative effect on gas
mileage and driveability. In fact, the
catalyst has helped make it possible for
cars with emission controls to achieve the
same or even better gas mileage than cars
had in  1967 before emission  controls
were installed on cars. Thus,  damaging
or disconnecting a catalyst can only result
in increased emissions and the waste
of an expensive piece of equipment.
  Studies also show that tampering with
pre-catalyst equipped cars will not
improve gas mileage. In  1974, the
Environmental Protection Agency
delivered a number of 1973 and  1974
cars to a representative sample of
non-dealer service garages advertising
that they could improve fuel  economy and
asked them to do what they could to
increase the gas mileage of these cars.
The most frequent result was that both
emissions and fuel economy were made
worse. About two-thirds of the cars  lost
fuel economy and increased in emissions.
  There are several reasons for these
results. One is that emission controls are
not  simply stuck on a car in such a way
that they can be harmlessly removed or
maladjusted. Emission control is part
of the total design and function of many
components of a car's engine, including
the carburetor, distributor, intake
manifold, and EGR valve. When you
change the emission control design of
one of these components, you are also
likely to affect their other functions,
often adversely. Maladjustments of such
parts, therefore, often result  in fuel
inefficiency and poorer performance, as
well as increased emissions. In addition,
carburetor setting, ignition timing,
compression ratio, and EGR all affect
an engine's durability. Tampering can
shorten an engine's life and cause
performance problems at the  same  time.

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Can Tampering Yes. A car manufacturer may not be
Void Warranty   obliged to honor warranty rights covering
Rights?         emission control devices and elements
               of design when those devices and designs
               have been tampered with or when leaded
               gas is used in cars requiring unleaded.
                  It should also be noted that when car
               owners whose cars have been tampered
               with find that their dealers will not honor
               their warranties, they sometimes complain
               to Federal authorities. This is one way
               in which automobile repair shops that
               tamper come to be exposed and then
               prosecuted.
Can Replace-   Yes. A repair facility is not required to
ment Parts     use parts sold by the car's manufacturer
Other Than     or dealers. Under the Clean Air Act,
Those Pro-     a repair facility is free to use rebuilt
duced by the    parts or equipment made by independent
Manufacturer   aftermarket parts manufacturers.
Be Used in        In using such parts, however, a repair
Repair and     facility must meet an important
Maintenance?   requirement. The mechanic must have a
               reasonable basis for knowing that the
               replacement part will not adversely affect
               emissions. The replacement part must, to
               his best knowledge, be equivalent in design
               and function to the part that was originally
               on the car when it was certified. Another
               way this can be established is by a written
               statement from the parts manufacturer
               that the replacement part conforms in
               design and function with the part that was
               originally on the car.

Is the Public    Yes. Many car owners erroneously believe
Being Informed that gas mileage and driveability can
About the New  be improved by having their car's
Anti-Tampering emission controls removed or
Law?           disconnected. Some car owners try
               to make these changes themselves,  but
               others ask their professional automobile
               mechanic to perform this questionable,
               and  now illegal, service.

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                 To prevent this practice, the
              Environmental Protection Agency has
              undertaken a program to inform the public
              of the law and the civil penalty a repair
              facility may incur by violating it. The
              consumer is also being told that tampering
              is not likely to improve the car's fuel
              economy and performance, and may
              instead worsen them. Further, it is being
              pointed out that tampering is an
              expensive waste, nullifying pollution
              controls that on new cars may cost the
              car owner betwen $200 and $300.
                 Occasionally when a mechanic refuses
              to tamper with a consumer's car, the
              consumer will ask for advice on how he
              might disconnect his car's emission
              controls. In most States, tampering by a
              car owner is prohibited by State law, and
              you would be contributing to your
              customer's liability under State law if he
              tampers with his car.

What Can I     The emission controls installed on motor
Do To Help?    vehicles and motor vehicle engines are
              there to reduce the pollution from these
              sources to help meet national ambient air
              quality standards which were established
              to protect public health. By removing or
              rendering inoperative these devices, a
              vital portion of the nation's program to
              clean up the air has been defeated. You
              can help clean the air by refusing to
              tamper with emission controls when asked
              by customers and by obtaining the
              appropriate knowledge to properly service
              and maintain emission control systems.
              Set cars up  using the specifications
              suggested by the manufacturers, which
              are intended for best performance and
              emission control. Should you have any
              further questions concerning the anti-
              tampering law, contact the  Regional
              Office of the Environmental  Protection
              Agency for your State, or the Field Opera-
              tions and Support Division (EN-397),
              Washinton, D.C. 20460 (phone 202-
              472-9363). EPA Regional Offices are
              located in Boston, New York City, Phila-
              delphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas
              City, Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle.

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                                                  Fees paid
                                                  Environmental
                                                  Protection
                                                  Agency
                                                  EPA 335
                                                                First Class
United States
Environmental  Protection
Agency
Washington DC 20460
        A  107
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300

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