State of California
AIR RESOURCES BOARD

Notice of Public Availability of Modified Text

PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CALIFORNIA ZERO EMISSION VEHICLE REGULATIONS REGARDING TREATMENT OF MAJORITY OWNED SMALL OR INTERMEDIATE VOLUME MANUFACTURERS AND INFRASTRUCTURE STANDARDIZATION

Public Hearing Date: June 28, 2001
Public Availability Date: March 01, 2002
Deadline for Public Comment: March 18, 2002



At a public hearing held June 28, 2001, the Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) considered adoption of amendments to sections 1900(b) and 1962(b) of title 13, California Code of Regulations (CCR), and the adoption of section 1962.1. The amendments would make two sets of changes to the California Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations: (1) requiring aggregation of the vehicle sales volumes of two manufacturers in determining whether either manufacturer is a small or intermediate-volume manufacturer subject to less stringent ZEV requirements, whenever one has a majority ownership in the other, and (2) requiring a single charging system - on-board conductive - for most battery electric vehicles and extended range hybrid electric vehicles, starting with the 2006 model year. The amendments were described in detail in the Staff Report (Initial Statement of Reasons for Proposed Rulemaking) released on May 11, 2001.

The Board's action. At the conclusion of the June 28, 2001 hearing, the Board adopted Resolution 01-19, in which it approved the originally proposed amendments with various modifications. With one exception, the modifications had been suggested by staff in a June 22, 2001 document entitled "Staff's Suggested Modifications to the Original Proposal," which was distributed at the hearing and was Attachment B to the Resolution. The Resolution and its Attachment B are appended to this Notice as Attachment I. The Resolution directed the Executive Officer to incorporate the approved modifications into the proposed regulatory text, with such other conforming modifications as may be appropriate, and to make the modified text available for a supplemental comment period.

The modifications approved by the Board primarily pertained to the provisions on aggregation of vehicle sales volumes of manufacturers in majority-ownership situations. Under the modifications, a manufacturer that is now majority-owned by another manufacturer would become subject to expanded ZEV requirements based on aggregated sales volumes starting with the 2010 model year, and a manufacturer that subsequently becomes majority-owned by another manufacturer would be provided appropriate leadtime of between four and six years. The modifications also clarify how production volumes for the three previous consecutive model years are to be calculated in change of ownership situations - both those that trigger aggregation and eliminate the need to aggregate.

The staff's original proposal on standardization of charging systems required that the on-board conductive charging systems installed on 2006 and subsequent model vehicles meet the specifications of the 2001 version of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice J1772, "SAE Electric Vehicle Conductive Charge Coupler," which was then in draft form. As recommended by staff, the Board directed the Executive Officer to modify the regulation so that it identified the final 2001 version of SAE J1772 once it was issued by SAE. Since SAE has now issued the November 2001 version of SAE J1772, the modified text now identifies that version.

In preparing the modified regulatory text since the hearing, the staff has made a few conforming modifications designed to make the regulations clearer and more consistent. These include a minor reorganization of the provisions on treatment of vehicle manufacturers of various sizes. In the regulation on charging systems, the provisions are reorganized and simplified, and references to "extended range" hybrid electric vehicles are eliminated because that term is not being used in the pending ZEV 2001 amendments.

Modified text being made available. Attachment II to this notice contains the proposed title 13, CCR regulatory text showing the proposed modifications, along with explanations of each modification and its rationale.

A copy of SAE Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice J1772, "SAE Electric Vehicle Conductive Charge Coupler," REV NOV 2001, is available for inspection at the offices of the Air Resources Board, 1001 "I" Street, Sacramento, CA 95814; please contact Gayle Sweigert, Air Pollution Specialist, at (916) 322-6923. A copy may be ordered from SAE on its website at http://www.sae.org, by calling 1-877-606-7323, or by writing SAE, 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001.

Comments and subsequent action. In accordance with section 11346.8 of the Government Code, the Board directed the Executive Officer to make the modified amendments available to the public for a supplemental written comment period of at least 15 days. He is then directed either to adopt the amendments with such additional modifications as may be appropriate in light of the comments received, or to present the regulations to the Board for further consideration if warranted.

Written comments on the proposed modifications may be submitted by postal mail, overnight and courier delivery, electronic mail, or facsimile as follows:

Postal Mail: Overnight and courier deliveries:

Clerk of the Board Clerk of the Board
Air Resources Board Air Resources Board
P.O. Box 2815 1001 "I" Street
Sacramento, California 95812 Sacramento, California 95814

Electronic mail is to be sent to: charger@listserv.arb.ca.gov

Facsimile submissions are to be transmitted to: (916) 322-3928

In order to be considered by the Executive Officer, comments must be directed to the ARB in one of the forms described above and received by the ARB by 5:00 p.m. on the last day for supplemental comment listed at the beginning of this notice. Only comments relating to the modifications to the text of the regulations will be considered by the Executive Officer.

If you are a person with a disability and desire to obtain this document in an alternative format, please contact the Air Resources Board ADA coordinator at (916) 323-4916.

Persons with hearing or speech impairments can contact us by using our Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (916) 324-9531 or (800) 700-8326 for TDD calls from outside the Sacramento area.

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The energy challenge facing California is real. Every Californian needs to take immediate action to reduce energy consumption. For a list of simple ways you can reduce demand and cut your energy costs see our Web-site at www.arb.ca.gov.

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