Title 40
SECTION 90.707
90.707 Test procedures.
§ 90.707 Test procedures.(a)(1) For small SI engines subject to the provisions of this subpart, the prescribed test procedures are specified in subpart E of this part.
(2) The Administrator may, on the basis of a written application by a manufacturer, prescribe test procedures other than those specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section for any small SI engine the Administrator determines is not susceptible to satisfactory testing using procedures specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section.
(b)(1) The manufacturer may not adjust, repair, prepare, or modify any test engine and may not perform any emission test on any test engine unless this adjustment, repair, preparation, modification and/or test is documented in the manufacturer's engine assembly and inspection procedures and is actually performed by the manufacturer on every production line engine or unless this adjustment, repair, preparation, modification and/or test is required or permitted under this subpart or is approved in advance by the Administrator.
(2) The Administrator may adjust or cause to be adjusted any engine parameter which the Administrator has determined to be subject to adjustment for certification, Production Line Testing and Selective Enforcement Audit testing, to any setting within the physically adjustable range of that parameter, as determined by the Administrator, prior to the performance of any test. However, if the idle speed parameter is one which the Administrator has determined to be subject to adjustment, the Administrator may not adjust it or require that it be adjusted to any setting which causes a lower engine idle speed than would have been possible within the physically adjustable range of the idle speed parameter if the manufacturer had accumulated 12 hours of service on the engine under paragraph (c) of this section, all other parameters being identically adjusted for the purpose of the comparison. The manufacturer may be requested to supply information necessary to establish an alternate minimum idle speed. The Administrator, in making or specifying these adjustments, may consider the effect of the deviation from the manufacturer's recommended setting on emission performance characteristics as well as the likelihood that similar settings will occur on in-use engines. In determining likelihood, the Administrator may consider factors such as, but not limited to, the effect of the adjustment on engine performance characteristics and information from similar in-use engines.
(c) Service accumulation. (1) Unless otherwise approved by the Administrator, prior to performing exhaust emission production line testing, the manufacturer may accumulate up to 12 hours of service on each test engine. For catalyst-equipped engines, the manufacturer must accumulate a number of hours equal to the number of hours accumulated to represent stabilized emissions on the engine used to obtain certification.
(2) Service accumulation must be performed in a manner using good engineering judgment to obtain emission results representative of production line engines.
(d) Unless otherwise approved by the Administrator, the manufacturer may not perform any maintenance on test engines after selection for testing.
(e) If an engine is shipped to a remote facility for production line testing, and an adjustment or repair is necessary because of shipment, the engine manufacturer must perform the necessary adjustment or repair only after the initial test of the engine, except in cases where the Administrator has determined that the test would be impossible or unsafe to perform or would permanently damage the engine. Engine manufacturers must report to the Administrator, in the quarterly report required by § 90.709(e), all adjustments or repairs performed on test engines prior to each test.
(f) If an engine cannot complete the service accumulation or an emission test because of a malfunction, the manufacturer may request that the Administrator authorize either the repair of that engine or its deletion from the test sequence.
(g) Testing. A manufacturer must test engines with the test procedure specified in subpart E of this part to demonstrate compliance with the applicable FEL (or standard where there is no FEL). If alternate or special test procedures pursuant to regulations at § 90.120 are used in certification, then those alternate procedures must be used in production line testing.
(h) Retesting. (1) If an engine manufacturer reasonably determines that an emission test of an engine is invalid because of a procedural error, test equipment problem, or engine performance problem that causes the engine to be unable to safely perform a valid test, the engine may be retested. A test is not invalid simply because the emission results are high relative to other engines of the family. Emission results from all tests must be reported to EPA. The engine manufacturer must also include a detailed explanation of the reasons for invalidating any test in the quarterly report required in § 90.709(e). If a test is invalidated because of an engine performance problem, the manufacturer must document in detail the nature of the problem and the repairs performed in order to use the after-repair test results for the original test results.
(2) Routine retests may be conducted if the manufacturer conducts the same number of tests on all engines in the family. The results of these tests must be averaged according to procedures of § 90.709.