[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 130 (Thursday, July 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39251-39252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-16702]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9173-5]
Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles: Announcement of
Public Workshop for Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines Employing Selective
Catalyst Reduction Technology
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Public Workshop and Opportunity for Comment.
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SUMMARY: A public workshop is being held to discuss the operation of
heavy-duty engines equipped with selective catalyst reduction (SCR).
EPA will be reviewing its policies regarding the operation of SCR-
equipped heavy-duty diesel engines without diesel exhaust fluid (DEF),
with improper DEF, or when tampering (or some other defect in the SCR
system) is detected.
DATES: The workshop will be held on July 20, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. (PST) at the California Air Resources Board, Annex 4 Auditorium,
9528 Telstar Avenue, El Monte, California 91731, and will be conducted
with the California Air Resources Board. Parties wishing to present
information at the workshop are encouraged to notify Ms. Khesha Reed at
the address noted below.
Any party may also submit written comments either before or after
the workshop. All comments are due by August 20, 2010.
ADDRESSES: EPA will make available for public inspection materials
submitted by any party at the public workshop and any other written
comments submitted to the Agency. Materials relevant to this proceeding
are contained in the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center,
maintained in Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0444. The docket is located at
the Air Docket, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20460, and may be viewed between 8 a.m., and 5:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday. The telephone is (202) 566-1742. A reasonable fee may
be charged by EPA for copying docket material.
Additionally, an electronic version of the public docket is
available through the Federal government's electronic public docket and
comment system. You may access EPA dockets at http://www.regulations.gov. After opening the http://www.regulations.gov Web
site, enter EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0444 in ``Search Documents'' to view
documents in the record. Although a part of the official docket, the
public docket does not include Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Khesha Reed, Compliance and Innovative
Strategies Division (6405J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave, NW., Washington, DC 20460. E-mail address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background: Several heavy duty diesel engine manufacturers have
recently begun utilizing a NOX emission control technology
called selective catalyst reduction (SCR) to meet EPA standards and
other requirements. SCR is an established technology that has been
shown to meet stringent emissions requirements while enabling fuel
efficiency benefits.
Currently certified heavy-duty engines utilizing SCR use a nitrogen
containing reducing agent (aqueous urea) injected into the exhaust gas
upstream of the catalyst. Other types of reducing agents may also be
used by SCR technology. The reducing agent needs to be replenished
periodically. Without the reducing agent, the efficiency of the SCR
catalyst drops to zero and NOX emissions can potentially
increase substantially. The efficiency of the SCR system can also be
affected by the use of improper reducing agent or tampering with the
SCR system.
The need to replenish the reducing agent (hereafter called diesel
exhaust fluid, or DEF, although the reducing agent need not be fluid)
and the possibility that SCR technology could be rendered ineffective
by operation on an empty DEF tank are addressed by EPA's existing
regulations regarding allowable and necessary maintenance and
adjustable parameters. These regulations also apply in the case where
inadequate DEF could be used or where the SCR system may be subject to
tampering. Certified engine configurations include provisions and
inducements designed to address these regulatory concerns.
EPA has previously provided guidance to heavy-duty diesel engine
manufacturers in March 2007 and December 2009 to facilitate
manufacturer planning in advance of certification.\1\ In addition, in
November 2009 EPA published in the Federal Register the approval of
specific maintenance intervals for DEF refills for certain
manufacturers.\2\
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\1\ See ``Certification Procedure for Light-Duty and Heavy-Duty
Diesel Vehicles and Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines Using Selective
Catalyst Reduction (SCR) Technologies'' dated March 27, 2007 and the
``Revised Guidance for Certification of Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines
Using Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) Technologies'' dated
December 30, 2009.
\2\ See 74 FR 57671 (November 9, 2009).
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II. Public Workshop: EPA is commencing a public process designed to
provide a thorough review of EPA's policies regarding the operation of
SCR-equipped heavy-duty diesel engines without DEF, with improper DEF,
or when tampering (or some other defect in the SCR system) is detected
for future 2011 and later model year engines, in order to ensure, among
other things, that SCR-equipped engines are designed to properly
control emissions as required under applicable law and regulations.
Although EPA has previously provided guidance to manufactures regarding
the initial introduction and certification of SCR-equipped heavy-duty
diesel engines, consistent with past practice we believe it is
appropriate for EPA to review and reexamine its policies as
technologies are introduced into the market place. As part of this
process, EPA intends to review any information that has become
available to determine whether its policies regarding SCR-equipped
engines should be revised. The scope of the review includes review of
the ``Revised Guidance for Certification of Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines
Using Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) Technologies'' dated December
30, 2009. As part of EPA's
[[Page 39252]]
review we will take into consideration the use of other reductants, in
addition to current aqueous urea DEF, and will reexamine requisite
infrastructure needs, any issues regarding the emission of unregulated
pollutants, and any potential safety concerns. EPA is conducting the
workshop with the California Air Resources Board in order that all
relevant information be timely shared and considered by all affected
parties; however, any final policies reached by EPA will be
independently made and based upon applicable federal law and
regulations. Any representations made by the California Air Resources
Board regarding this matter are not binding upon EPA.
Procedures for Public Participation: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0444, by one of the
following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: (202) 566-1741.
Mail: Air and Radiation Docket, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2010-0444, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 6102T, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please include a total
of two copies.
Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, Public Reading Room, EPA
West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20460. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal
hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for
deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OAR-2010-0444. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be
included in the public docket without change and may be made available
online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed
to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information
that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of
any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Persons with comments containing proprietary information must
distinguish such information from other comments to the greatest
possible extent and label it as ``Confidential Business Information''
(CBI). If a person making comments wants EPA to base its decision in
part on a submission labeled as CBI, then a non-confidential version of
the document that summarizes the key data or information should be
submitted for the public docket. To ensure that proprietary information
is not inadvertently placed in the docket, submissions containing such
information should be sent directly to the contact person listed above
and not to the public docket. Information covered by a claim of
confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA only to the extent allowed and
by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR Part 2. If no claim of
confidentiality accompanies the submission when EPA receives it, EPA
will make it available to the public without further notice to the
person making comments.
Dated: July 1, 2010.
Margo Tsirigotis Oge,
Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
[FR Doc. 2010-16702 Filed 7-7-10; 8:45 am]
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