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Guidance On Emission Tampering At UTA Convention

By Saberlines Insurance Services | December 29, 2022 |

Saberlines Insurance ServicesA few years ago I dove into our industry’s rabbit hole to Wonderland with a five-part special report on the hazards of emission tampering for commercial truck dealers.

It was an eye-opening topic to research and report on, and after completing the article I was contacted by multiple industry groups to report my findings and what I had learned.

One of those groups was the Used Truck Association (UTA), and in 2014 I made my first trip to the UTA annual convention to provide a brief update to our industry on the legal risks and liability for commercial dealers when encountering emissions tampering.

I provided several questions and answered a lot of questions that week, but in a few cases I do remember questions being posed where I was forced to defer to the people in charge, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“You’d have to confirm that with the EPA,” I remember saying.

On Thursday, the UTA did just that, welcoming Evan Belser of the EPA’s Vehicle and Engine Enforcement Branch to speak at the organization’s 2017 annual convention in Las Vegas.

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During a brief presentation and maybe the most active Q&A I’ve ever experienced at a truck show, Belzer provided a lot of useful (and updated) information to the dealer market.

What You Need To Know About Emission Tampering

Some key takeaways were:

  • The fines are going up. Since writing my special report, the max fine for an OEM or dealer is now $45,268 per violative vehicle or engine. Individual and vehicle owner rates have also risen.

  • Dealers won’t face fines from the Federal government for selling an emission-tampered vehicle. This is a big one. If a dealer accepts a truck on trade and finds it tampered, there is no Federal rule against selling it. However, states can fine dealers. Belser mentions Texas as a state where dealers will face fines for selling tampered trucks.

  • You cannot uninstall emission systems to export a vehicle. Belzer says removing emission systems is illegal, no matter where the truck will go. Even if a customer in Mexico wants the truck without emission systems, it’s illegal to remove them.

  • You can alter an after-treatment and emission component when you have a ‘reasonable basis’ to believe your actions won’t increase emissions. Belser uses recalibrating an ECM as an example. If the emission system performance remains unchanged or does not reduce, changes are allowed under Federal law.

  • You won’t face fines for servicing a tampered vehicle if you aren’t servicing the engine or after-treatment system. Once you start servicing those areas, you must bring the unit into compliance.

  • The EPA isn’t out to get YOU. Belser says the goal is to identify manufacturers and suppliers of tampering and defeat device programs. The EPA can fine dealers, but its overall goal is to ensure all vehicles are compliant and to eliminate suppliers that build products that lead to non-compliance.

https://www.successfuldealer.com/epa-representatives-provide-guidance-on-emission-tampering-at-uta-convention/

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