[2] Engine Manufacturers Seek Extension In EPA Rulemaking.

CHICAGO--(AutomotiveWire)--Nov. 2, 1999--

The Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) today called for a 60-day extension in The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2004 Final Rulemaking process. EMA asserts that EPA's substantial changes at this late hour eviscerates the certainty, stability and lead-time inherent in a previously agreed upon joint Statement of Principles (SOP).

The SOP, signed in 1995 by EPA, The California Air Resources Board and the leading engine manufacturers, was a groundbreaking effort among key stakeholders to determine emission reductions through the millenium. "Now, EPA is undermining that agreement by making massive changes to the 2004 rule and demanding an insufficient response time," said Glenn Keller, EMA Executive Director.

One example of EPA's proposed changes includes multiple, new supplemental test procedures and emission standards that significantly increase the stringency of the 2004 standards. Yet neither EPA nor the regulated industry have adequate data to determine the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of these new requirements.

"Not only has EPA proposed numerous, new and complex changes, it also has proposed those changes at the very end of the intended window of opportunity for conducting the 1999 review," cited Keller. "The critical need for a timely review in 1999, acknowledged explicitly in the SOP, was to assure that manufacturers were provided no less than four full model years of lead-time, as is statutorily required."

"Engine manufacturers and others are investing multi-millions of dollars in developing emission reduction technologies that have the potential to reduce emissions from conventional fueled engines to levels so low as to have been unthinkable in years past," Keller said. "But, as EPA also knows, those technologies require the removal of sulfur from both diesel and gasoline. And, while EPA has proposed to reduce sulfur from gasoline, it has yet to propose any reductions of diesel fuel sulfur."

EPA's failure to conduct a timely 1999 review, coupled with the substantially modified regulatory proposal, seriously undermines the engine industry's ability to meet the emissions reduction level and timetable established in the original SOP. EMA's request for a 60-day extension in the rulemaking process would offer all stakeholders a better opportunity to interact in the rulemaking process.

EMA is a trade association representing worldwide manufacturers of internal combustion engines for all application except passenger cars and aircraft. The EMA continues to work with government and industry stakeholders to help the nation achieve its goals of cleaner fuels, more efficient engines and cleaner air. For more information contact Anne Rukavina at [phone] x3393 or visit our website at www.engine-manufacturers.org