Office of Transportation & Air Quality
                    Protection                                                 EPA-420-B-14-020
          Agency                                                                  June 2014
                                Applicant Guidance for
                     Technical/Engineering Hardship Relief Requests
                                Under 40 CFR 1039.625
    Background

•   TPEM provisions (40 CFR 1039.625) allow nonroad equipment manufacturers to exempt part or
    all of their production from Tier 4 standards for a period of up to 7 years
       o   Use of provisions limited to those entities that have primary responsibility for designing
           and manufacturing equipment and whose manufacturing procedures include installing
           some engines in the equipment
       o   One exemption or allowance per engine power category is allocated to each
           manufacturer
              •   If manufacturer is a subsidiary of a parent company, the allowance is allocated
                  to the parent and must be shared across the parent and all subsidiaries
•   Nonroad equipment manufacturers can apply for additional exemptions above and beyond the
    standard TPEM allowance due to technical or engineering hardship (40 CFR  1039.625(m))

    Technical/Engineering Hardship Relief (40 CFR 1039.625(m))

•   Allows EPA to approve additional exemptions if extreme and unusual circumstances that are
    clearly outside of the equipment manufacturer's control and that could not  have been avoided
    with reasonable discretion have resulted in technical or engineering problems that prevent
    them from meeting regulatory requirements
•   Request needs to be sent to the Designated Compliance Officer before a violation of TPEM
    requirements occurs:

           Director, Diesel Engine Compliance Center
           U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
           Office of Transportation and Air Quality

           U.S. Mail
           1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
           Mailcode 6405J
           Washington,  DC 20460

           Courier (UPS, FedEx, etc.)
           1310 L Street NW, 602A
           Washington,  DC 20005

•   Only available to equipment manufacturers  not also producing engines for their equipment
•   Must use up standard TPEM allowances under 40 CFR § 1039.625(b)(l) or (2) before using any
    additional allowances
•   Additional allowances must be used within the specified seven-year period of 40 CFR §
    1039.625(a)
•   For manufacturers using the percent-of-production allowance under 40 CFR §  1039.625(b)(l)

-------
           o  Additional allowances may not exceed 200 percent for each power category (this is on
              top of the 80 percent already allowed under TPEM for a combined maximum of 280
              percent)
    •   For manufacturers using the small volume allowance under 40 CFR § 1039.625(b)(2)
           o  Additional allowances may not exceed 2,000  units (this is on top of the small volume
              allowance already allowed under TPEM)
           o  Alternatively, may waive annual limits specified in 40 CFR § 1039.625(b)(2) instead of or
              in addition to increasing the total number of allowances

III.     Application

    •   Include all of the information requested per 40 CFR § 1039.625(m)(2)(i) through (ix)
    •   Include the following additional information for each equipment model that is a subject of the
       request:
           o  Two Gantt charts illustrating the following:
                  •    Original plan/schedule for managing redesign of equipment with standard TPEM
                      allowance under 40 CFR § 1039.625(b)(l) or (2)
                  •    Revised plan/schedule clearly identifying unusual events/circumstances outside
                      of manufacturer's control and the resulting delay on redesign of equipment1
           o  The 12-character EPA engine family name for:
                  •    The TPEM engine for which you are requesting additional allowances
                  •    The Tier 4-compliant engine for which you are attempting to redesign your
                      equipment
           o  Market place information, including the following:
                  •    Major competitors in market segment
                  •    Your share of market segment
           o  Production information, including the following:
                  •    Past 5 years production volumes
                  •    Projected production volumes for the years in which hardship is anticipated
           o  Estimate of when you will exhaust your current TPEM allowance
           o  Documentation on the following:
                  •    Date(s) you ordered Tier 4-compliant prototype engine
                  •    Date(s) and volumes of Tier 4-compliant production engines ordered
           o  Documentation from engine suppliers on the following:
                  •    Date(s) of delivery or planned delivery of Tier 4-compliant prototype engine
                  •    Date(s) of delivery or planned delivery of Tier 4-compliant production engines
1 Please include footnotes on each chart briefly describing the delay. Where applicable, please also include contact
information for engine supplier or person with direct knowledge of delay and who can corroborate circumstances.

-------