Subpart H - Averaging, Banking, and Trading for Certification

§1033.701 General provisions.

(a) You may average, bank, and trade (ABT) emission credits for purposes of certification as described in this subpart to show compliance with the standards of this part. Participation in this program is voluntary.

(b) Section 1033.740 restricts the use of emission credits to certain averaging sets.

§1033.705 Calculating emission credits.

The provisions of this section apply separately for calculating emission credits for NO_X or PM.

(a) Calculate positive emission credits for an engine family that has an FEL below the otherwise applicable emission standard. Calculate negative emission credits for an engine family that has an FEL above the otherwise applicable emission standard. Do not round until the end of year report.

(b) For each participating engine family, calculate positive or negative emission credits relative to the otherwise applicable emission standard. For the end of year report, round the sum of emission credits to the nearest one hundredth of a megagram (0.01 Mg). Round your end of year emission credit balance to the nearest megagram (Mg). Use consistent units throughout the calculation. When useful life is expressed in terms of megawatt-hrs, calculate credits for each engine family from the following equation:

Emission credits = (Std−FEL) × (1.341) × (UL) × (Production) × (F_p) × (10⁻³ kW-Mg/MW-g).

Where:

Std = the applicable NO_X or PM emission standard in g/bhp-hr (except that Std = previous FEL in g/bhp-hr for locomotives that were certified under this part to an FEL other than the standard during the previous useful life).

FEL = the family emission limit for the engine family in g/bhp-hr.

UL = the sales-weighted average useful life in megawatt-hours (or the subset of the engine family for which credits are being calculated), as specified in the application for certification.

Production = the number of locomotives participating in the averaging, banking, and trading program within the given engine family during the calendar year (or the number of locomotives in the subset of the engine family for which credits are being calculated). Quarterly production projections are used for initial certification. Actual applicable production/sales volumes are used for end-of-year compliance determination.

F_p = the proration factor as determined in paragraph (d) of this section.

(c) When useful life is expressed in terms of miles, calculate the useful life in terms of megawatt-hours (UL) by dividing the useful life in miles by 100,000, and multiplying by the sales-weighted average rated power of the engine family. For example, if your useful life is 800,000 miles for a family with an average rated power of 3,500 hp, then your equivalent MW-hr useful life would be 28,000 MW-hrs. Credits are calculated using this UL value in the equations of paragraph (b) of this section.

(d) The proration factor is an estimate of the fraction of a locomotive's service life that remains as a function of age. The proration factor is 1.00 for freshly manufactured locomotives.

(1) The locomotive's age is the length of time in years from the date of original manufacture to the date at which the remanufacture (for which credits are being calculated) is completed, rounded to the next higher year.

(2) The proration factors for line-haul locomotives ages 1 through 20 are specified in Table 1 to this section. For line-haul locomotives more than 20 years old, use the proration factor for 20 year old locomotives. The proration factors for switch locomotives ages 1 through 40 are specified in Table 2 to this section. For switch locomotives more than 40 years old, use the proration factor for 40 year old locomotives.

(3) For repower engines, the proration factor is based on the age of the locomotive chassis, not the age of the engine, except for remanufactured locomotives that qualify as refurbished. The minimum proration factor for remanufactured locomotives that meet the definition of refurbished but not freshly manufactured is 0.60. (Note: The proration factor is 1.00 for all locomotives that meet the definition of freshly manufactured.)

(e) In your application for certification, base your showing of compliance on projected production volumes for locomotives that will be placed into service in the United States. As described in §1033.730, compliance with the requirements of this subpart is determined at the end of the model year based on actual production volumes for locomotives that will be placed into service in the United States. Do not include any of the following locomotives to calculate emission credits:

(1) Locomotives permanently exempted under subpart G of this part or under 40 CFR part 1068.

(2) Exported locomotives. You may ask to include locomotives sold to Mexican or Canadian railroads if they will likely operate within the United States and you include all such locomotives (both credit using and credit generating locomotives).

(3) Locomotives not subject to the requirements of this part, such as those excluded under §1033.5.

(4) Any other locomotives, where we indicate elsewhere in this part 1033 that they are not to be included in the calculations of this subpart.

[73 FR 37197, June 30, 2008, as amended at 75 FR 22987, Apr. 30, 2010]

§1033.710 Averaging emission credits.

(a) Averaging is the exchange of emission credits among your engine families. You may average emission credits only as allowed by §1033.740.

(b) You may certify one or more engine families to an FEL above the applicable emission standard, subject to the FEL caps and other provisions in subpart B of this part, if you show in your application for certification that your projected balance of all emission-credit transactions in that model year is greater than or equal to zero.

(c) If you certify an engine family to an FEL that exceeds the otherwise applicable emission standard, you must obtain enough emission credits to offset the engine family's deficit by the due date for the final report required in §1033.730. The emission credits used to address the deficit may come from your other engine families that generate emission credits in the same model year, from emission credits you have banked from previous model years, or from emission credits generated in the same or previous model years that you obtained through trading or by transfer.

[73 FR 37197, June 30, 2008, as amended at 81 FR 74009, Oct. 25, 2016]

§1033.715 Banking emission credits.

(a) Banking is the retention of emission credits by the manufacturer/remanufacturer generating the emission credits (or owner/operator, in the case of transferred credits) for use in future model years for averaging, trading, or transferring. You may use banked emission credits only as allowed by §1033.740.

(b) You may designate any emission credits you plan to bank in the reports you submit under §1033.730 as reserved credits. During the model year and before the due date for the final report, you may designate your reserved emission credits for averaging, trading, or transferring.

(c) Reserved credits become actual emission credits when you submit your final report. However, we may revoke these emission credits if we are unable to verify them after reviewing your reports or auditing your records.

[75 FR 22987, Apr. 30, 2010]

§1033.720 Trading emission credits.

(a) Trading is the exchange of emission credits between certificate holders. You may use traded emission credits for averaging, banking, or further trading transactions. Traded emission credits may be used only as allowed by §1033.740.

(b) You may trade actual emission credits as described in this subpart. You may also trade reserved emission credits, but we may revoke these emission credits based on our review of your records or reports or those of the company with which you traded emission credits.

(c) If a negative emission credit balance results from a transaction, both the buyer and seller are liable, except in cases we deem to involve fraud. See §1033.255(e) for cases involving fraud. We may void the certificates of all engine families participating in a trade that results in a manufacturer/remanufacturer having a negative balance of emission credits. See §1033.745.

§1033.722 Transferring emission credits.

(a) Credit transfer is the conveying of control over credits, either:

(1) From a certifying manufacturer/remanufacturer to an owner/operator.

(2) From an owner/operator to a certifying manufacturer/remanufacturer.

(b) Transferred credits can be:

(1) Used by a certifying manufacturer/remanufacturer in averaging.

(2) Transferred again within the model year.

(3) Reserved for later banking. Transferred credits may not be traded unless they have been previously banked.

(c) Owners/operators participating in credit transfers must submit the reports specified in §1033.730.

§1033.725 Requirements for your application for certification.

(a) You must declare in your application for certification your intent to use the provisions of this subpart for each engine family that will be certified using the ABT program. You must also declare the FELs you select for the engine family for each pollutant for which you are using the ABT program. Your FELs must comply with the specifications of subpart B of this part, including the FEL caps. FELs must be expressed to the same number of decimal places as the applicable emission standards.

(b) Include the following in your application for certification:

(1) A statement that, to the best of your belief, you will not have a negative balance of emission credits for any averaging set when all emission credits are calculated at the end of the year.

(2) Detailed calculations of projected emission credits (positive or negative) based on projected production volumes. We may require you to include similar calculations from your other engine families to demonstrate that you will be able to avoid negative credit balances for the model year. If you project negative emission credits for a family, state the source of positive emission credits you expect to use to offset the negative emission credits.

[73 FR 37197, June 30, 2008, as amended at 75 FR 22987, Apr. 30, 2010; 81 FR 74009, Oct. 25, 2016]

§1033.730 ABT reports.

(a) If any of your engine families are certified using the ABT provisions of this subpart, you must send an end-of-year report within 90 days after the end of the model year and a final report within 270 days after the end of the model year. We may waive the requirement to send the end-of year report, as long as you send the final report on time.

(b) Your end-of-year and final reports must include the following information for each engine family participating in the ABT program:

(1) Engine family designation and averaging sets (whether switch, line-haul, or both).

(2) The emission standards that would otherwise apply to the engine family.

(3) The FEL for each pollutant. If you change the FEL after the start of production, identify the date that you started using the new FEL and/or give the engine identification number for the first engine covered by the new FEL. In this case, identify each applicable FEL and calculate the positive or negative emission credits as specified in §1033.225.

(4) The projected and actual U.S.-directed production volumes for the model year as described in §1033.705. If you changed an FEL during the model year, identify the actual U.S.-directed production volume associated with each FEL.

(5) Rated power for each locomotive configuration, and the average locomotive power weighted by U.S.-directed production volumes for the engine family.

(6) Useful life.

(7) Calculated positive or negative emission credits for the whole engine family. Identify any emission credits that you traded or transferred, as described in paragraph (d)(1) or (e) of this section.

(c) Your end-of-year and final reports must include the following additional information:

(1) Show that your net balance of emission credits from all your engine families in each averaging set in the applicable model year is not negative.

(2) State whether you will retain any emission credits for banking. If you choose to retire emission credits that would otherwise be eligible for banking, identify the engine families that generated the emission credits, including the number of emission credits from each family.

(3) State that the report's contents are accurate.

(d) If you trade emission credits, you must send us a report within 90 days after the transaction, as follows:

(1) As the seller, you must include the following information in your report:

(i) The corporate names of the buyer and any brokers.

(ii) A copy of any contracts related to the trade.

(iii) The averaging set corresponding to the engine families that generated emission credits for the trade, including the number of emission credits from each averaging set.

(2) As the buyer, you must include the following information in your report:

(i) The corporate names of the seller and any brokers.

(ii) A copy of any contracts related to the trade.

(iii) How you intend to use the emission credits, including the number of emission credits you intend to apply for each averaging set.

(e) If you transfer emission credits, you must send us a report within 90 days after the first transfer to an owner/operator, as follows:

(1) Include the following information:

(i) The corporate names of the owner/operator receiving the credits.

(ii) A copy of any contracts related to the trade.

(iii) The serial numbers and engine families for the locomotive that generated the transferred emission credits and the number of emission credits from each family.

(2) The requirements of this paragraph (e) apply separately for each owner/operator.

(3) We may require you to submit additional 90-day reports under this paragraph (e).

(f) Send your reports electronically to the Designated Compliance Officer using an approved information format. If you want to use a different format, send us a written request with justification for a waiver.

(g) Correct errors in your end-of-year report or final report as follows:

(1) You may correct any errors in your end-of-year report when you prepare the final report, as long as you send us the final report by the time it is due.

(2) If you or we determine within 270 days after the end of the model year that errors mistakenly decreased your balance of emission credits, you may correct the errors and recalculate the balance of emission credits. You may not make these corrections for errors that are determined more than 270 days after the end of the model year. If you report a negative balance of emission credits, we may disallow corrections under this paragraph (g)(2).

(3) If you or we determine anytime that errors mistakenly increased your balance of emission credits, you must correct the errors and recalculate the balance of emission credits.

(h) We may modify these requirements for owners/operators required to submit reports because of their involvement in credit transferring.

[73 FR 37197, June 30, 2008, as amended at 75 FR 22987, Apr. 30, 2010; 81 FR 74009, Oct. 25, 2016]

§1033.735 Required records.

(a) You must organize and maintain your records as described in this section.

(b) Keep the records required by this section for at least eight years after the due date for the end-of-year report. You may not use emission credits for any engines if you do not keep all the records required under this section. You must therefore keep these records to continue to bank valid credits.

(c) Keep a copy of the reports we require in §1033.730.

(d) Keep records of the engine identification number for each locomotive you produce that generates or uses emission credits under the ABT program. If you change the FEL after the start of production, identify the date you started using each FEL and the range of engine identification numbers associated with each FEL. You must also be able to identify the purchaser and destination for each engine you produce.

(e) We may require you to keep additional records or to send us relevant information not required by this section in accordance with the Clean Air Act.

[73 FR 37197, June 30, 2008, as amended at 75 FR 22987, Apr. 30, 2010; 81 FR 74009, Oct. 25, 2016]

§1033.740 Credit restrictions.

Use of emission credits generated under this part is restricted depending on the standards against which they were generated.

(a) Pre-2008 credits. NO_X and PM credits generated before model year 2008 may be used under this part in the same manner as NO_X and PM credits generated under this part.

(b) General cycle restriction. Locomotives subject to both switch cycle standards and line-haul cycle standards (such as Tier 2 locomotives) may generate both switch and line-haul credits. Except as specified in paragraph (c) of this section, such credits may only be used to show compliance with standards for the same cycle for which they were generated. For example, a Tier 2 locomotive that is certified to a switch cycle NO_X FEL below the applicable switch cycle standard and a line-haul cycle NO_X FEL below the applicable line-haul cycle standard may generate switch cycle NO_X credits for use in complying with switch cycle NO_X standards and a line-haul cycle NO_X credits for use in complying with line-haul cycle NO_X standards.

(c) Single cycle locomotives. As specified in §1033.101, Tier 0 switch locomotives, Tier 3 and later switch locomotives, and Tier 4 and later line-haul locomotives are not subject to both switch cycle and line-haul cycle standards.

(1) When using credits generated by locomotives covered by paragraph (b) of this section for single cycle locomotives covered by this paragraph (c), you must use both switch and line-haul credits as described in this paragraph (c)(1).

(i) For locomotives subject only to switch cycle standards, calculate the negative switch credits for the credit using locomotive as specified in §1033.705. Such locomotives also generate an equal number of negative line-haul cycle credits (in Mg).

(ii) For locomotives subject only to line-haul cycle standards, calculate the negative line-haul credits for the credit using locomotive as specified in §1033.705. Such locomotives also generate an equal number of negative switch cycle credits (in Mg).

(2) Credits generated by Tier 0, Tier 3, or Tier 4 switch locomotives may be used to show compliance with any switch cycle or line-haul cycle standards.

(3) Credits generated by any line-haul locomotives may not be used by Tier 3 or later switch locomotives.

(d) Tier 4 credit use. The number of Tier 4 locomotives that can be certified using credits in any year may not exceed 50 percent of the total number of Tier 4 locomotives you produce in that year for U.S. sales.

(e) Other restrictions. Other sections of this part may specify additional restrictions for using emission credits under certain special provisions.

[86 FR 34376, Jun. 29, 2021]

§1033.745 Compliance with the provisions of this subpart.

The provisions of this section apply to certificate holders.

(a) For each engine family participating in the ABT program, the certificate of conformity is conditional upon full compliance with the provisions of this subpart during and after the model year. You are responsible to establish to our satisfaction that you fully comply with applicable requirements. We may void the certificate of conformity for an engine family if you fail to comply with any provisions of this subpart.

(b) You may certify your engine family to an FEL above an applicable emission standard based on a projection that you will have enough emission credits to offset the deficit for the engine family. However, we may void the certificate of conformity if you cannot show in your final report that you have enough actual emission credits to offset a deficit for any pollutant in an engine family.

(c) We may void the certificate of conformity for an engine family if you fail to keep records, send reports, or give us information we request.

(d) You may ask for a hearing if we void your certificate under this section (see §1033.920).

§1033.750 Changing a locomotive's FEL at remanufacture.

Locomotives are generally required to be certified to the previously applicable emission standard or FEL when remanufactured. This section describes provisions that allow a remanufactured locomotive to be certified to a different FEL (higher or lower).

(a) A remanufacturer may choose to certify a remanufacturing system to change the FEL of a locomotive from a previously applicable FEL or standard. Any locomotives remanufactured using that system are required to comply with the revised FEL for the remainder of their service lives, unless it is changed again under this section during a later remanufacture. Remanufacturers changing an FEL must notify the owner of the locomotive that it is required to comply with that FEL for the remainder of its service life.

(b) Calculate the credits needed or generated as specified in §1033.705, except as specified in this paragraph. If the locomotive was previously certified to an FEL for the pollutant, use the previously applicable FEL as the standard.