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   United states        Office of Transportation                         EPA420-F-04-059
   Environmental Protection    ,j A •  ^\  r*                               r^    i  ^^^ A
   Agency           and Air Quality                              December 2004
                 Regulatory
                 Announcement
                  Proposed Rule for Amendments to
                  Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance
                  Program Requirements
                 The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a
                 regulation to revise outdated timing-related references in the Inspection
                 and Maintenance (I/M) rule such as submission dates, start dates,
                 evaluation dates, and other milestones and/or deadlines to make them
                 relevant for areas that will be newly required to begin I/M programs as a
                 result of being designated and classified under the 8-hour ozone
                 standard.
                 Summary of the Proposed Rule
                 The Agency is proposing minor revisions to the Motor Vehicle Inspec-
                 tion/Maintenance (I/M) regulation to update submission and implemen-
                 tation deadlines and other timing-related requirements to reflect the
                 nonattainment designations under the new 8-hour National Ambient Air
                 Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone. This proposal will also change
                 the model year requirement in the modeling calculation which will
                 establish the emission reduction target for I/M benefits.

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Key Elements of the Proposed Rule
This proposal would:

  •  Establish the implementation deadline for new I/M programs re-
     quired under the 8-hour standard as 4 years after the effective date
     of classification under the 8-hour standard. This proposal would also
     clarify that the deadline for beginning OBD testing will be "coinci-
     dent with program start up" for areas newly required to implement
     I/M as a result of being classified under the 8-hour ozone standard.

  •  Change the current, fixed deadline for beginning program evaluation
     testing to the more relative deadline of "no later than 1 year after
     program start up."

  •  Establish the submission deadline for new I/M state implementation
     plans (SIPs) required under the 8-hour standard. The submission
     deadline dates would be set for 1-year after the effective date of
     final action on the current proposal.
Background
Under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990, certain ozone nonattain-
ment areas are required to adopt vehicle I/M programs as one of the
mandatory control measures used to reach attainment. On April 30, 2004
(69 FR 23951), EPA published a notice of final rulemaking addressing
several key requirements related to the implementation of the 8-hour
ozone standard originally promulgated on July 18, 1997 (62 FR 38856).
Among other things, the 8-hour ozone standard implementation rule
established deadlines for meeting the 8-hour ozone standard based upon a
given area's degree of non-attainment. The rule also addresses when SIPs
and attainment demonstration plans must be submitted.

As a result of the changes finalized by the 8-hour implementation rule,
EPA is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to revise outdated timing-
related references in the I/M rule such as submission dates, start dates,
evaluation dates, and other milestones and/or deadlines to make them
relevant for areas that will be newly required to begin I/M programs as a
result of being designated and classified under the 8-hour ozone standard.

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Public Participation Opportunities
We welcome your comments on this proposed rule.  For instructions on
submitting written comments, please see the Federal Register notice. It
is available from the EPA Air Docket by calling (202) 566-1742; please
refer to Docket No. OAR-2004-0095. In addition, you can access the
proposed rule and related documents at the Office of Transportation and
Air Quality Web site at:

    www.epa.gov/otaq/epg/regs.htm.
For More Information
For further information on this proposed rulemaking, please contact:

    Dave Sosnowski
    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
    Office of Transportation & Air Quality
    2000 Traverwood Drive
    Ann Arbor, MI 48105
    phone: (734)214-4823
    email: sosnowski.dave@epa.gov

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