Office of Transportation EPA420-F-04-030
^^ClF* and Air quality April 2004
Unit 'ri St«!ps K
Eiiv'ioiiiix'iitjl Protection
Regulatory
Announcement
Final Rulemaking to
Update Compliance Fees
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a final rule
to update the Motor Vehicle and Engine Compliance Program (MVECP)
fees regulations under which fees are collected for certification and
compliance activities related to air pollution control in motor vehicles
and engines. This rulemaking updates fees to reflect increased costs of
administering the compliance programs within the MVECP and will
create a new fee structure for nonroad engine compliance programs.
Background
EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) has
administered the MVECP fees program since its adoption in 1992.
Under this program, user fees are collected for activities pertaining to:
Certification
Fuel Economy
* Selective Enforcement Auditing (SEA)
* In-use Compliance
The Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 and the Independent Offices of
Appropriations Act (IOAA), provides the EPA legal authority to collect
fees for specific services it provides to manufacturers.
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The current fees program applies to manufacturers of light-duty vehicles
and trucks, heavy-duty highway vehicles and engines, and highway
motorcycles. EPA's final rulemaking updates fees for these industries. In
addition, EPA has incorporated a new fees program for nonroad engine
compliance programs that applies to manufacturers of farm and con-
struction equipment, lawn and garden equipment, locomotive engines,
recreational vehicles (including snowmobiles, off-road motorcycles and
all-terrain vehicles), commercial and recreational marine compression-
ignition engines and other nonroad engines.
The fees established in the rulemaking are based on a cost analysis
recently conducted by the EPA. This analysis describes the costs in-
curred by the EPA in conducting certification and compliance activities
under the MVECP. In addition, the cost analysis provides an overview
of the methodology used to determine and allocate costs and provides a
description of the new fees.
Key Elements of the Final Rule
EPA is adopting revised fees for existing and new highway motor
vehicle and engine compliance programs and new fees for nonroad
engine compliance programs.
Fees recover costs to run compliance activities that support current
and new regulatory programs.
The impact of the revised fees on industries is reasonable and
equitable. Fees are based on the amount of EPA certification and
compliance activity devoted to each industry type. Manufacturers
pay fees for the services received.
The fees program is estimated to generate $18 million annually
which will recover the government's costs and make EPA's mobile
source compliance programs self-sustaining to the fullest extent
possible.
The maximum fee per engine family is limited to 1 percent of the
retail value of the vehicle or engine. This mitigates the cost of fees
for companies with low volume vehicle and engine sales.
* Although EPA does not assess fees on a "per vehicle or engine"
basis, the average cost per vehicle or engine across all industries is
less than $2.00. The actual cost per unit will depend of the size of
the engine family/test group.
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Health Environmental Impacts
This rule implements a fees program and is expected to have no environ-
mental impact on environmental health or safety risks that would affect
the public.
For Additional Information:
Materials relevant to this rulemaking, such as the cost analysis, are
available on the EPA web site at www.epa.gov/otaq/fees.htm and through
EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets at
www.epa.gov/edocket/. The E-docket identification number is OAR-
2002-0023. (Note that the former docket number for this rulemaking was
A-2001-09.)
The docket is located at the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Public Read-
ing Room, Room B102, EPA West Building, 1301 Constitution Avenue,
NW, Washington, D.C. 20460. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading
Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The
telephone number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742, and by facsimile
at (202) 566-1741. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket
material.
Additional information on the fees program and fees regulations are
located on the EPA Web site at:
www.epa.gov/otaq/fees.htm
or contact:
Fees Team-Certification and Compliance Division
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
2000 Traverwood Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
(734)214-4449
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