dEPA
            United otates        Revised
            Environmental Protection   April 1980
            Agency
            Enforcement
               OPA75.0
Do  You
Own  a Car?

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Do You Own  If so, you should be aware of a new
a Car?        law. As of August 8, 1977, all "' '"^
              automobile service or repair facilities
              are prohibited by Federal law from
              knowingly tampering with a car's
              emission controls.
               This new law is contained in the 1977
              Amendments to the United States Clean
              Air Act, and it is the primary reason
              why you should not ask your
              automobile repair facility to remove or
              disconnect some part of your car's
              emission control system in hopes of
              improving your car's gas mileage and
              driveability. If a repair facility breaks
              this law, it will be subject to a civil
              penalty of up to $2,500.
               In addition to the law, there are other
              good reasons why tampering should
              not be done:
               •  in most cases tampering will not
              improve a car's gas mileage and
              driveability and may make them worse.
               •  the one sure result of tampering is
              that it will increase your car's emissions
              and add to air pollution.
               •  tampering is an expensive waste,
              nullifying emission controls that on a
              new model car may have cost you
              between $200 and $300.
               Another important point. The U.S.
              Clean Air Act does not contain a
              prohibition against car owners
              tampering with their cars' emission
              controls. But nearly all States do have
              such a prohibition. You can be
              prosecuted and fined under State law
              for any tampering that you do to a car's
              pollution  controls.
               This leaflet has been prepared by the
              U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
              to answer the questions that you are
              likely to ask concerning the new law.
              Please read it carefully. Your
              cooperation will help ensure that your
              car's pollution controls will continue to
              work properly and protect the air we
              breathe from pollution.

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What Is the   The tampering prohibition was passed
Purpose of    by Congress to rnajce sure that cars in
the Anti-      use retain the emission control designs
Tampering    and functions that were built into them
Law?         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.
                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 emission  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 New  The prohibition against tampering
About the    contained in the Clean Air Act
New Anti-    Amendments of 1970 applied to any
Tampering    person with respect to a new car before
Law?         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.

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                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  Tampering is removing,  disconnecting,
Is 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.
              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
              the 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
              originally 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.

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Can't        Evidence suggests that tampering can
Tampering   do little to improve gas mileage and
Improve Gas driveability, and in some cases will
Mileage and  worsen them. One reason for this is
Driveability?  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 possible 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 a mechanic changes the
             emission  control design of one of these
             components, he is also likely to affect
             its  other functions, often adversely.
             Maladjustments of such parts,
             therefore, often result in loss of fuel
             efficiency 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 Keeping a  Yes. Maintaining your car according to
Car Well       the manufacturer's specifications will
Tuned Help     almost always enable your car to get
Gas Mileage   better gas mileage and lower
and Emission   emissions. Studies of emissions
Control at the  inspection/maintenance programs show
Same Time?   that cars failing the emission test get
               four to ten percent better gas mileage
               once their emission controls have been
               professionally serviced. In addition,
               keeping your car well tuned will almost
               always improve driveability and
               lengthen the life of your car's engine.
Can Tampering Yes. Under the Clean Air Act, car
Void a Car's    manufacturers are required to provide a
Warranty?      warranty covering emission control
               devices for a period of five years or
               fifty-thousand miles, whichever comes
               first.
                 However, when a  car's emission
               controls have been tampered with, or
               when leaded gas is  used in cars
               requiring unleaded,  a car manufacturer
               may not be obliged  to honor warranty
               rights. The car manufacturer or dealer
               can justifiably argue that the car has
               not been properly maintained according
               to the manufacturer's specifications.
What Can I Do The emission controls installed on
to Help?       motor 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. The removal or
               rendering inoperative of these devices
               defeats a vital portion  of the nation's
               program to clean up the air. You can
               help clean the air by not requesting to
               have your emission controls tampered
               with but instead, make sure the
               mechanic follows the specifications
               recommended by the manufacturer
               for best performance and emission
               control.

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  If you should leam of automobile
service or repair facilities that have a
policy of breaking the anti-tampering
law, or have further questions, contact
the Regional Office of the Environmental
Protection Agency for your State, or the
Field Operations and Support Division
(EN-397), Washington, D.C. 20460. EPA
Regional Offices are located in Boston,
New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta,
Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, San
Francisco, and Seattle.

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United States                                                            Postage and
Environmental Protection                                                 Fees paid
Agency                                                                 Environmental
Washington DC 20460                                                    Protection        	
                                                                        Agency       I   "•«•"*«•
	EPA 335	'_

Official Business                                                                        First-Class
Penalty for Private Use $300

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