Non-Conformance Penalties For 2004 Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines

March 2003

The Environmental Protection Agency published a non-conformance penalty rule available to manufacturers of heavy-duty diesel engines used in large trucks and buses if the manufacturer is unable to meet the 2004 model year hydrocarbon plus nitrogen oxides emission standard.

These penalties available for 2004 and later model year heavy-duty highway diesel engines, includes engines used in urban buses. NCPs provide flexibility to engine manufacturers without driving them out of the market. Under a penalty structure previously established by regulation, manufacturers may choose to pay a monetary penalty on a per-engine basis rather than comply with the applicable standard. The penalties vary with the degree to which the engine family involved does not comply with the standard.

The federal Clean Air Act requires that the penalties increase with the degree of non-compliance with the emission standard, that they increase over time and that emissions may not go above an upper limit established by regulation. The rule contains the specific parameters used to determine the 2004 NCPs.

In 1998, the Department of Justice and EPA announced settlements with seven heavy-duty diesel engine manufacturers that resolved claims these manufacturers allegedly installed illegal emissions control defeat devices. The consent decrees specified penalties, based on non-compliance with the terms of the decrees that are to be based on 2004 model year NCPs. Because the consent decrees refer to NCPs for the 2004 model year, this rule has an impact on the penalties determined under the consent decrees.

The rule and supporting documents are available online.

Updated: April 28, 2003