United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Air and Radiation
EPA420-F-98-003
April 1998
Office of Mobile Sources
<&EPA Regulatory
Announcement
Clean Fuel Fleet Program:
Delay of Implementation Date
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a Direct
Final Rule/Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which will delay for one-year
the September 1, 1997, implementation of the Clean Fuel Fleet
Program (CFFP) in covered areas. This rulemaking also proposes that
covered states with adopted CFFPs revise their State Implementation
Plans (SIPs) to provide for the model year (MY) 1999 start date for the
CFFP purchase requirements.
Background
The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments require certain states to adopt a
CFFP for nonattainment areas with 1980 populations greater than
250,000 that are classified as Serious or worse for ozone, or with a
design value of at least 16.0 ppm for carbon monoxide (CO). The
nonattainment areas which have not opted out and remain covered by the
requirement to adopt a CFFP are Atlanta, Washington, DC metropolitan
area, Chicago-Gary-Lake Counties, Milwaukee-Racine, Baton Rouge,
and Denver-Boulder. Covered states are required to revise and submit to
EPA their SIPs to include the CFFP.
Section 246 of the Clean Air Act provides that states' SIP submissions
must require fleet operators with ten or more centrally-fueled vehicles to
include a specified percentage of clean-fuel vehicles (CFVs) in their new
vehicle purchases each year (see table below).
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Percentage of CFVs in
New Vehicle Purchases Each Year
Model Year
Percentage
1998
30
1999
50
2000+
70
This requirement is contingent upon certain categories of new vehicles
(light duty trucks below 6000 lbs gross vehicle weight rating and light
duty vehicles) certified to the Phase II CFV exhaust emissions standards
being offered for sale in California. In addition, states CFFP SIP submis-
sions must comply with other specifications in Section 246, including
the requirement that covered fleet operators must operate their CFVs in
covered nonattainment areas on a clean alternative fuel, which is defined
as a fuel on which the vehicle meets EPA's CFV standards.
In order to meet the MY98 purchase requirements, fleet operators must
have placed vehicle orders by the spring of 1997; the supply of federally
certified CFVs was limited, however. Based on the limited numbers of
light duty vehicles and trucks offered for sale in California in MY97,
EPA believes that a short delay of the required implementation date of
the CFFP for one model year is reasonable. This delay of the effective
date will help avoid the potential for serious disruption of the initial
implementation of this program due to an inadequate supply of vehicles.
This rulemaking will ensure that an adequate supply of appropriate
vehicles is available for fleet operators to purchase and use once the
program is underway, so that compliance with the mandatory purchase
requirements will be possible and economically feasible for covered fleet
operators.
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Overview of Rulemaking
EPA is delaying the start date for implementation of the CFFP purchase
requirements from September 1, 1997 (MY98) to September 1, 1998
(MY99), and intends to approve state SIP submissions with CFFPs that
start in MY99. EPA has received information from various stakeholders,
including states, covered fleet operators, and vehicle manufacturers on
this issue and has concluded that MY99 implementation will result in a
successful, effective fleet program that advances the penetration of CFVs
and clean alternative fuels into the national market. Without ample
vehicle availability, fleet operators cannot realistically be expected to
comply with the CFFP new purchase requirements. EPA cannot mandate
that vehicle manufacturers produce CFVs for fleets to purchase to meet
the CFFP requirements; Congress intended that the creation of a market
for CFVs provide incentive for vehicle manufacturers to produce and sell
such vehicles outside California, ultimately resulting in broader market
penetration.
The one year delay relieves the states of the legal requirement to imple-
ment the program for MY98. This rulemaking requires that states with
adopted CFFPs revise their SIPs to provide for the MY99 start date for
the CFFP purchase requirements. This delay does not affect any potential
obligation for CFFPs which may subsequently arise due to the pending
reclassifications or bump-ups which occur after September 1, 1998.
For More Information
For further information on the Clean Fuel Fleet Program, please contact
Sally Newstead at:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Mobile Sources
2565 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
(734) 668-4474
Newstead.Sally@epamail.epa.gov
Additional documents on this rulemaking are available electronically
from the EPA Internet server at:
http://www.epa.gov/OMSWWW/cff.htm
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