Certification and Compliance Requirements for Nonroad Spark-ignition Engines (Renewal)
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
12/31/2025
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
04/30/2026
5,132
2,113
538,208
738,603
45,650,005
30,243,493
This information collection is requested under the authority of Title II of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.) Under this Title, EPA is charged with issuing certificates of conformity for those engines which comply with applicable emission standards. Such a certificate must be issued before engines may be legally introduced into commerce. To apply for a certificate of conformity, manufacturers are required to submit descriptions of their planned production line, including detailed descriptions of the emission control system, and test data. This information is organized by engine family groups expected to have similar emission characteristics. The emission values achieved during certification testing may also be used in the Averaging, Banking, and Trading (ABT) Program. The program allows manufacturers to bank credits for engine families that emit below the standard and use the credits for families that emit above the standard. They may also trade banked credits with other manufacturers. Participation in the ABT program is voluntary. Different categories of spark-ignition engines may also be required to comply with production-line testing (PLT) and in-use testing. There are also recordkeeping and labeling requirements. This information is collected electronically by the Gasoline Engine Compliance Branch (GECB), Implementation, Analysis and Compliance Division, Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ), Office of Air and Radiation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. GECC uses this information to ensure that manufacturers comply with applicable regulations and the Clean Air Act (CAA). It may also be used by the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) and the Department of Justice for enforcement purposes. Non-CBI may be disclosed on OTAQ's Web site or upon request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to trade associations, environmental groups, and the public. Any information submitted for which a claim of confidentiality is made is safeguarded according to EPA regulations at 40 CFR 2.201 et seq.
While there have been no changes to EPAs certification and compliance programs over the past three years, there has been shifts in manufacturing process, the number of entities engaged in certification and compliance activities and EPAs continuing assessment and estimate of those activities and how the Agency manages and reports its data. In addition, we have refined the way we compute O&M costs in a way that more accurately estimates manufacturer burden in meeting the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. As a result, the total number of manufacturers has decreased from 430 under ICR 1695.14 to 393 (on average) in this 1695.15 renewal. The result has been less labor burden per manufacturer, on average, because there are simply fewer manufacturers conducted the same NRSI certification and compliance activities. However, we saw a rise in O&M costs, which seems to be fueled by two phenomena. We have improved our estimates on contract testing and compliance activities related to contract overhead and recordkeeping expense. Also, we have correctly attributed these O&M obligations to the appropriate responses and not merely the respondent. As a result, the overall amount of the burden attributed to O&M has increased from the previous estimate, but still falls in line with the expected burden per response. The additional increase from 1695.14 to 1695.15 is attributed to an increase in the cost of contract testing across all manufacturer sectors. Finally, we have attributed fee payments to the O&M cost of each manufacturer, which also contributed to the increase in O&M cost from the previous ICR.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form PFN-3520-35 Replacement Engine Exemption Report
1695ss15 .docx
1695t15.xlsx
Certification and Compliance Requirements for Nonroad Spark-ignition Engines (Renewal)