THE EPA REGS & YOU - Pt 2
FINAL RULE DESCRIPTION
The Final Rule provides for the “harmonization” of Federal motorcycle emission standards with those of California. Exhaust emission standards for previously unregulated motorcycles with engines less than 50cc are required in 2006. In addition, the EPA will implement standards that will require the use of low permeability fuel tanks and fuel hoses on all motorcycles in 2008 (2010 for small manufacturers). The portion of the rule that is expected to have the biggest impact on the industry, however, is the mandated reduction of allowable amounts of hydrocarbon (HC) and nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions from new motorcycles.
In 2008, the EPA will implement standards that will require the use of low permeability fuel tanks and fuel hoses on all motorcycles (2010 for small manufacturers). Though the fuel tanks installed on most American street motorcycles are metal, which is considered impermeable, Harley’s V-Rod and the Buell Blast both sport plastic gas tanks.
With the EPA’s estimate that nearly 90 percent of highway motorcycles use metal fuel tanks, the low permeability requirement is not considered by the EPA to be a significant issue for American street motorcycles. Most fuel tanks installed on American street motorcycles are metal, which is considered impermeable. The exception, however, is Harley’s V-Rod and the Buell Blast, both of which sport plastic gas tanks. The EPA rule discusses low-permeation polymers that might be used to mold plastic tanks.
Fuel hoses and fittings need to meet the permeability requirements as well. The EPA suggests that either a thermoplastic layer could be used in the highly permeable rubber hoses generally installed on motorcycles, or that plastic tubing made of fluoropolymers could be used. Although the plastic tubing will achieve lower permeation, it is relatively inflexible and most manufacturers and builders consider it unsuitable for motorcycles. Under certain testing conditions, fuel hoses meeting the SAE J30 R11-A or R12 requirements, as well as those meeting the SAE J2260 Category 1 requirements, could be design-certified to meet the standard.
Do the V-Rod and Buell Blast comply with the permeability requirements that will be needed for the 2008 models? It is unclear whether current versions of these models are in compliance. Paul James, Harley-Davidson’s communications manager, states, “As a policy, Harley- Davidson will not comment on future policies, plans, or products. However, we have made the commitment that we will comply with the EPA standards.”
Patterned after California’s tiered approach, the Tier 1 Federal standards will take effect with motorcycles produced in 2006, and Tier 2 Federal standards will be implemented in 2010. Small motorcycle manufacturers, defined by the EPA as those producing less than 3,000 units per year in the US and having less than 500 employees, will not have to comply with Tier 1 Federal standards until 2008, and are exempt from the Tier 2 standards. There are 42 manufacturers that certified motorcycles in 2003, and of those, 30 manufacturers are considered “small” by the Small Business Administration definition. The certification data shows that all of these manufacturers are currently meeting the Tier 1 exhaust emission standard.
Before the EPA rule was finalized, Harley-Davidson approached the EPA with the perception that the 3,000 per year sales limit could provide benefits to some non- US manufacturers who have large annual global sales, but less than 3,000 annual US sales. To resolve this, Harley suggested that the 3,000-unit annual sales limit should be based on global sales rather than national sales. However, this could have a negative impact on US manufacturers who achieve less than 3,000 sales of units in the US, but greater than 3,000 annual sales globally. H-D clearly falls under neither category as both its US and global sales far exceed 3,000 units per year.
HARDSHIPS, EXEMPTIONS & INCENTIVES
There are two types of hardship provisions. A small volume motorcycle manufacturer can petition for up to three years additional lead time if it has demonstrated that it has taken all possible steps to comply, but the standards would have a significant impact on the company’s solvency.
And, for all manufacturers, if cir cumstances outside the company’s control cause a failure to comply, then the resulting failure to sell the noncompliant product would have to cause a major effect on the company’s solvency.
There is a one-time exception from the rule for individual owners who build custom bikes or kit bikes. A consumer can build one motorcycle for his own use that will be exempt from emission standards. This exception applies if the consumer purchased the kit and built it or had someone build it for him. The exception does not apply if a shop buys or builds a custom bike or kit bike, and then offers it for sale. Also, there are limitations, such as the motorcycle can’t be modified and it can’t be sold for five years.
Another exemption is that a bike builder (i.e., an independent shop) may construct and sell up to 24 motorcycles per year for “show and display” that are exempt from emission standards. Use on public roads is limited to travel to and from the show based on the EPA’s belief that these “show and display” bikes are purchased by collectors and rarely ridden on the street. If the motorcycle is sold or leased, the EPA must be notified before the sale. The manufacturer must keep sales records of exempted bikes sold or leased; the motorcycles must be labeled as exempted, and the buyer/lessee must agree to comply with the terms of exemption.
A concern of many is whether the new rule will affect what can be modified on a bike you currently own. The “tampering” prohibition, added to the Clean Air Act over 20 years ago, remains unchanged. Parts manufacturers can still create parts, dealers can sell and install parts, and owners can customize their motorcycles in any way, as long as they do not disable emission controls or cause the motorcycle to exceed the emission standards. However, that’s exactly what happens when an owner installs performance-enhancing modifications to his engine, such as changing the exhaust pipes.
So how does the government regulate modifications to individual motorcycles? As per AMA’s Szauter, motorcycle emission testing currently takes place only in two counties in Arizona, Pima and Maricopa. Furthermore, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) must determine whether the motorcycle testing emission program has been cost effective. If ADEQ’s report cannot prove the effectiveness of the program by the end of 2004, Arizona is required by law to petition the EPA to exempt motorcycles from vehicle emission testing. And while this doesn’t seem to be an issue right now, the big question is, What will happen in the future? Will the EPA require all states to start a motorcycle emissions test program, as it has with cars?
California provides an incentive program to encourage the introduction of Tier 2 motorcycles before the 2008 model year. The program allows the accumulation of credits that manufacturers can use to meet the 2008 standards. The same type of incentive program will be available under Federal regulations for all classes of motorcycles. After 2010, the “early credits” program will be converted to an averaging program, meaning that a manufacturer can produce and sell vehicles that exceed standards as long as they are offset by production of vehicles emitting levels below the standards. In the future, manufacturers may be able to buy and sell credits (trade) between and among themselves.
According to the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), 2002 annual sales of street motorcycles were 614,000. Class I-A (smaller than 50-169cc) motorcycles accounted for 1 percent of these sales. Class II (170-279cc) made up 6 percent, and Class III (greater than 279cc) accounted for 92 percent of the motorcycles sold in 2002. Clearly, the Class III rules will have the biggest impact on the industry. Six motorcycle manufacturers, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, and BMW, make up over 90 percent of total sales of street motorcycles in the US.
To meet the 2010 Tier 2 standard, all motorcycle manufacturers, including Harley-Davidson, will most likely need to use more advanced engine modifications, such as water-cooling and/or secondary air injection. The EPA maintains that a major cause of harmful emissions is the inexact air/fuel ratio from a carburetor, which allows some amount of unburned fuel to make its way into the exhaust system. Fuel injection provides for a more precise air/fuel ratio, thereby reducing the amount of unburned fuel reaching the exhaust. The EPA has not mandated the use of fuel injection, and suggests that engine modifications combined with improved carburetor technology could be a solution for compliance. However, some industry insiders feel that by 2010, carburetors on motorcycles will go the way of the Edsel. Will Harley-Davidson eventually eliminate carbureted motorcycles from its offerings? Will it have to go to all water-cooled engines, such as the one currently in the V-Rod? Again, H-D will not comment on future plans. However, you may have noticed that fuel injection was introduced as an option to the Dyna line for the first time in 2004 and, of course, there’s the new V-Rod line.
The entire Victory motorcycle line uses fuel injection for its motorcycles in all 50 states. Catalytic converters (cats) are already in use on all Victory motorcycles produced for sale in California. Additionally, Victorys in California are also equipped with evaporative emissions control systems, which is a charcoal canister- type filtration system to control emissions from the gas tank. Gary Laskin, product manager for Victory Motorcycles, comments that it will be easier to accommodate the 2010 standards with this type of technology already incorporated into the design of the motorcycle.
According to the EPA, approximately 20 percent of 2002 and 2003 motorcycles use cats to achieve current emission standards, and it is the EPA’s expectation that approximately 50 percent of the motorcycles produced for highway use in 2010 will need to use cats to meet the new standard. The EPA informed us that “some manufacturers are telling us they feel they can meet our standards without putting a cat on because they will have such sophisticated fuel injection systems that they’ll be able to control the emissions coming out of the engine without a cat.”