Air Plan Revisions; California; Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 52</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R09-OAR-2025-0061; FRL-12606-01-R9]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Air Plan Revisions; California; Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove or, in the alternative, to fully approve a submission by the State of California to revise its State Implementation Plan (SIP) relating to the control of emissions from non-gasoline combustion vehicles over 14,000 pounds. EPA is proposing to disapprove the State's “Heavy-Duty Inspection and Maintenance Regulation” to the extent it applies to vehicles registered out-of-state or out-of-country. The EPA has substantial concerns that the State has not provided adequate assurances under Clean Air Act (CAA) section 110(a)(2)(E)(i) that implementation of the SIP is not prohibited by Federal law. EPA seeks comment on this and other aspects of this proposed rule. If finalized as a partial approval and partial disapproval, this rule would allow certain aspects of the covered State regulations to go into effect and would not trigger CAA section 179 sanctions because the submittal is not a required submission under CAA section 110(a)(2). If finalized as an approval, this rule would allow all covered State regulations to go into effect. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments must be received on or before September 25, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2025-0061 at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> . In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(4), a summary of this rule may be found at <E T="03">Regulations.gov</E> . For comments submitted at <E T="03">Regulations.gov</E> , follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from <E T="03">Regulations.gov</E> . The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary submission ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, please contact the person identified in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section. For the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit <E T="03">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</E> . If you need assistance in a language other than English or if you are a person with a disability who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, please contact the person identified in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Doris Lo, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105; telephone number: (415) 972-3959; email address: <E T="03">lo.doris@epa.gov</E> . </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> Throughout this document, “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the EPA. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents </HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. The State's Submittal</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. What regulations did the State submit?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Are there other versions of these regulations?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. What is the purpose of the submitted regulations?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. The EPA's Evaluation and Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules and do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Public Comment and Proposed Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> Under the CAA, the EPA establishes national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and welfare. The EPA has established NAAQS for certain pervasive air pollutants including ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and particulate matter. Under CAA section 110(a)(1), States must submit plans that provide for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of the NAAQS within each State. Such plans are referred to as State Implementation Plans (SIPs), and revisions to those plans are referred to as “SIP revisions.” CAA section 110(a)(2) sets forth the content requirements for SIPs. Among the various requirements, SIPs must include enforceable emissions limitations and other control measures, means, or techniques as may be necessary or appropriate to meet the applicable requirements of the CAA. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> SIP revisions may be submitted to address specific CAA requirements (such as the elements and demonstrations required within an attainment plan), or, as with the State submittal addressed in this action, may be provided to demonstrate emissions reductions to support attainment. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> CAA section 110(a)(2)(A). </FTNT> Upon receiving a SIP that meets the completeness criteria in CAA section 110(k)(1)(A), the EPA must determine whether the submission meets all applicable CAA requirements. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> The EPA must either approve, conditionally approve, approve in part or disapprove in part, or disapprove a complete State submission within twelve months. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> In addition to the limitations described above, CAA section 110(a)(2)(E) provides that a SIP must include “necessary assurances” that the State “is not prohibited by any Federal or State law from carrying out such implementation plan or portion thereof” and that the State or applicable State entity has adequate authority, personnel, and funding to carry out adequate implementation of the SIP. <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> CAA section 110(k)(3). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">Id.;</E> CAA section 110(k)(4). </FTNT> Under California law, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is the State agency responsible for adopting and submitting SIP revisions to the EPA for review. These include both local rules adopted by county and regional air districts (typically regulating stationary source emissions) and statewide regulations adopted by CARB and other State agencies. If approved into the SIP, submitted regulations become federally enforceable pursuant to CAA section 110(a)(2)(A). <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. The State's Submittal</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. What regulations did the State submit?</HD> CARB submitted the “Heavy-Duty Inspection and Maintenance Regulation”  <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> (“HD I/M Regulation”) as a revision to the California SIP on December 14, 2022. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> Table 1 identifies the regulatory sections included in the HD I/M Regulation and addressed by this proposal with the dates that they were adopted by CARB and submitted to the EPA. <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  The State of California more commonly refers to the HD I/M Regulation as the “Clean Truck Check.” See, <E T="03">e.g.,</E> CARB, Clean Truck Check (HD I/M), <E T="03">https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/CTC</E> (last visited on January 27, 2025). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>  Letter (with enclosures) dated December 7, 2022, from Steven S. Cliff, Ph.D., Executive Officer, CARB, to Martha Guzman, Regional Administrator, EPA Region IX (submitted electronically December 14, 2022). The letter and enclosures, which include the HD I/M Regulation, among other materials, are included in the docket for this rulemaking. </FTNT> <GPOTABLE COLS="5" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="xs54,r50,r100,10,10"> <TTITLE>TABLE 1—Submitted Regulations</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Agency</CHED> <CHED H="1">Regulation title</CHED> <CHED H="1">Relevant sections of California Code of Regulations (CCR)</CHED> <CHED H="1">Adopted</CHED> <CHED H="1">Submitted</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">CARB</ENT> <ENT>Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program</ENT> <ENT>Amended section: 13 CCR § 2193; New sections: 13 CCR §§ 2195, 2195.1, 2196, 2196.1, 2196.2, 2196.3, 2196.4, 2196.5, 2196.6, 2196.7, 2196.8, 2197, 2197.1, 2197.2, 2197.3, 2198, 2198.1, 2198.2, 2199, and 2199.1</ENT> <ENT>12/09/2021</ENT> <ENT>12/14/2022</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> The HD I/M Regulation incorporates by reference the “California Standards for Heavy-Duty Remote On-Board Diagnostic Devices” (“OBD Standards”). CARB approved the HD I/M Regulation on December 9, 2021, through Resolution 21-29. Following minor non-substantive edits by CARB staff, <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> CARB formally adopted the final HD I/M Regulation and OBD Standards on August 22, 2022, through CARB Executive Order R-22-002. <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>  CARB, Addendum to the Final Statement of Reasons for Rulemaking, “Public Hearing to Consider Proposed Heavy-Duty Inspection and Maintenance Regulation,” October 4, 2022. </FTNT> CARB's SIP submittal package for the HD I/M Regulation includes CARB Resolution 21-29, <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> Executive Order R-22-002, public notice of CARB's hearing on the proposed SIP revision, CARB's Initial Statement of Reasons and appendices (“Staff Report”), <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> public comments and responses, the Final Statement of Reasons and addendum, and emission ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 36k characters. 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