Minor Technical Change Has No Impact
On E15 Waiver for MY2001-06 Vehicles
EPA has concluded that a recently discovered minor technical error
related to one test vehicle has no material impact on its January
2011 decision to grant a partial waiver allowing up to 15% ethanol
in gasoline (E15) to be sold for use in model year (MY) 2001*2006
passenger vehicles. The error stemmed from a manufacturer's misla*
beling of the test vehicle model. Because the MY2001-06 waiver is
currently under review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia Circuit, EPA has informed the Court and other parties of
the technical error, even though it is minor. EPAs action is in keeping
with the Agency's commitment to transparency and to following
science and the law.
• As a result of the manufacturer's incorrect Vehicle Emission Control Informa'
tion (VECI) label, EPA compared the test results for a single MY2001-2006
test vehicle model, the MY2002 Nissan Frontier, to emission standards for
one category of light-duty trucks instead of another category of light-duty
trucks,
• The corrected comparison shows that the Frontier operated on El5 met
the applicable standards throughout its regulatory full useful life (FUL) of
100,000 miles. It exceeded only the standard for nonmethane organic hydro-
carbons (NMOG) by 0.003 grams per miles (0.090 versus 0.093) when tested
at 140,000 miles, 40,000 miles beyond when standards apply,
• The corrected comparison also shows that more EO test vehicles operated on
EO (gasoline with no ethanol) had more total emissions exceedances than did
E15 test vehicles. Specifically, three EO test vehicles experienced a total of six
w
CU
exceedances whereas two E15 vehicles had a total of two exceedances.
SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
EPA-420-F-12-015
February 2012
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• The emissions deterioration analysis of the full set of MY2001-2006 test vehicle data,
including for the Frontier, indicates that E15 is not likely the cause of the E15 vehicles'
exceedances,
• The corrected comparison is consistent with and supportive of the factual and analytical
bases for the January 2011 partial waiver for MY2001-2006 passenger vehicles,
• The primary bases for the January 2011 partial waiver decision are an engineering assess-
ment based on vehicle design changes and an emissions deterioration analysis based on
extensive Department of Energy (DOE) test data. The minor technical error does not
affect either of these analyses,
• There is no change to the October 2010 and January 2011 partial waivers that together
allow E15 to be sold for use in MY2001 and newer passenger vehicles. Both waivers
remain in effect,
• The minor technical error with respect to the MY2002 Frontier in no way affects the
October 2010 partial waiver for MY2007 and newer passenger vehicles.
For More Information
You can access EPA's complete evaluation of the DOE Catalyst Study test results for the Frontier
and related materials on EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) Web site at:
www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/additive/e 15
For additional information please contact EPA'a Fuels Program at:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality (6405J)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
Voice-mail: (202) 343-9755
E-mail: epafuelsprograms@epa.gov
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