Existing California law (AB 1009 of 2004) requires vehicles that operate in California, regardless of entry point, to run with engines that meet emissions standards at least as stringent as U.S. federal standards for the model year that the engine was manufactured. All heavy-duty vehicles need to have proof that the engine meets appropriate emissions standards by having the manufacturer ECL properly affixed on the engine. The ECL must be legible, maintained at the location originally installed by the engine manufacturer, and correspond to the engine serial number stamped on the engine. ARB's Enforcement Division has an advisory regarding ECL requirements.

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The Engine Family Name is a 10 to 12 character alpha-numeric code assigned by the engine manufacturer that allows specific engine certification information to be determined. You will find the engine family name on the emission control label nameplate.  If your ECL is missing or illegible you should contact your local dealer or engine manufacturer to obtain the engine family information and to order a replacement label. Be sure to have your engine serial number available. 

Example engine families: TCP629EZDARM or 2DDXH12.7FGF

The engine family name is typically required for reporting with ARB and unique to an engine of a specific model year, build, and manufacturer. The engine family name is not the engine manufacturer, engine model or serial number.  The oldest engines may have an engine family name only a few characters long.

If you have an engine’s displacement, manufacturer and model year, the Retrofit Device Verification Database may be useful to help determine the Family Name.

The engine builder is typically different than the vehicle manufacturer. The example photos below do not have the manufacturer on them, but yours will.

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The engine model year is also on the ECL.

Contact your local engine dealer or the manufacturer to get a replacement label should yours be missing or illegible—you will need to provide your engine serial number to obtain the model year AND to have the label replaced.  Typically, the engine model is one year older than the chassis model year. For example, a 2007 vehicle typically has a 2006 model year engine installed.

If you own a rebuilt or remanufactured engine, please note that while rebuilt engines keep their original identity and engine serial number,  remanufactured engines may lose their original serial number and will instead have an engine label identifying it as a remanufactured engine. Please contact your local installer, dealer, and/or manufacturer for more information.

A standard rebuilt engine is considered the same emissions level as the original configuration.  For example, if a 1996 model year engine was rebuilt in 2011, it would still be considered a 1996 model year engine. 

Also, please note that you cannot replace your engine with an engine older than the original manufactured date. For example, if your original vehicle was manufactured with a 2006 engine, you cannot replace the 2006 engine with a 2005 engine.

 

A common mistake when reporting equipment information to ARB is to use the same model year for both the truck body and the engine when they are different. Engines are manufactured separately from the vehicle chassis and are certified to meet the standards for the year of manufacture. Due to this, engines are often certified to an earlier MY than the truck body. ARB regulations typically designate requirements based on engine MY so it is important to determine an engine's specific MY by checking the ECL.

An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) particulate matter (PM) filter is installed primarily on 2007 MY and newer engines. To determine if you have an OEM PM filter you can check the ECL for the and acronyms DPF or PTOX, although this may not be definitive. Additional confirmation of an OEM PM filter on your engine can be made by checking the exhaust system or looking for PM filter specific lights in the dash. A final way to determine the existence of an OEM PM filter is to look up the engine certification for your engine to determine if the engine was certified to the 0.01 g/bhp hr standard for PM.