Proposed Rule2025-14105
Air Plan Approval; Rhode Island; Amendments to Motor Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 28, 2025
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Office of Air Resources on December 20, 2023, that includes an amended regulation for the Enhanced Motor Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program in Rhode Island. Overall, the submittal removes obsolete references, adds definitions, and clarifies the Rhode Island I/M program requirements, which consist primarily of conducting Onboard Diagnostics (OBD) testing. The intended effect of this action is to propose approval of the State's amended I/M program regulation into the Rhode Island SIP. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA has evaluated the SIP revision and has preliminarily determined the changes will not impact emissions under the Rhode Island I/M program. EPA is proposing to conclude that approval of the SIP revision will not interfere with attainment or maintenance of any National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) or with any other applicable requirement of the CAA. Therefore, EPA is proposing to determine that Rhode Island's December 20, 2023, SIP revision is consistent with the applicable provisions of the CAA.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 142 (Monday, July 28, 2025)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 142 (Monday, July 28, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35491-35493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14105]
[[Page 35491]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2025-0249; FRL-12888-01-R1]
Air Plan Approval; Rhode Island; Amendments to Motor Vehicle
Inspection and Maintenance Program
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Office of Air
Resources on December 20, 2023, that includes an amended regulation for
the Enhanced Motor Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program in
Rhode Island. Overall, the submittal removes obsolete references, adds
definitions, and clarifies the Rhode Island I/M program requirements,
which consist primarily of conducting Onboard Diagnostics (OBD)
testing. The intended effect of this action is to propose approval of
the State's amended I/M program regulation into the Rhode Island SIP.
This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA has
evaluated the SIP revision and has preliminarily determined the changes
will not impact emissions under the Rhode Island I/M program. EPA is
proposing to conclude that approval of the SIP revision will not
interfere with attainment or maintenance of any National Ambient Air
Quality Standard (NAAQS) or with any other applicable requirement of
the CAA. Therefore, EPA is proposing to determine that Rhode Island's
December 20, 2023, SIP revision is consistent with the applicable
provisions of the CAA.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 27, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OAR-2025-0249 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, or via email to [insert
appropriate regional email address]. For comments submitted at
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. For either manner of submission, the EPA may publish
any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically
any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information
(CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA
will generally not consider comments or comment contents located
outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other
file sharing system). For additional submission methods, please contact
the person identified in the ``For Further Information Contact''
section. For the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI
or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective
comments, please visit <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>. Publicly available docket materials are available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA
Region 1 Regional Office, Air and Radiation Division, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all possible,
you contact the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section to schedule your inspection.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ayla Martinelli, Air Quality Branch,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, (Mail code 5-MI), Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel. (617)
918-1057, email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9bf6fae9eff2f5fef7f7f2b5fae2f7fadbfeebfab5fcf4ed"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dcb1bdaea8b5b2b9b0b0b5f2bda5b0bd9cb9acbdf2bbb3aa">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,'' or
``our'' refers to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background and Purpose
II. What are the Clean Air Act requirements for I/M programs?
III. Summary of Rhode Island's Regulatory Changes
IV. Proposed Action
V. Incorporation by Reference
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
On December 20, 2023, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management Office of Air Resources submitted to EPA a revision to its
SIP that amends the State's I/M program regulations. EPA is proposing
to approve Rhode Island's revised I/M program because it is consistent
with the CAA I/M requirements and EPA's I/M regulations at 40 CFR part
51, subpart S, and will strengthen the SIP. Specifically, the revision
consists of amendments to Rhode Island's Air Pollution Control
Regulations (APCR) Part 34, ``Rhode Island Motor Vehicle Inspection and
Maintenance Program,'' to remove provisions related to tailpipe
emissions testing using a dynamometer and to make other adjustments, as
well as other administrative and technical documentation required in a
SIP submittal to address the requirements for the implementation of the
motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program in Rhode Island. The
State's I/M program, as currently approved into the SIP, exempts
vehicles from testing that are more than 25 model years old. As a
result, Rhode Island ceased tailpipe testing of pre-OBD-equipped
vehicles \1\ in 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ On-Board Diagnostic systems (OBD) became a requirement for
light-duty gasoline vehicles starting in the 1996 model year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. What are the Clean Air Act requirements for I/M programs?
The CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7401, et seq., requires certain states to
implement I/M programs to detect light duty motor vehicles that emit
excessive amounts of certain air pollutants. These programs are
intended to help states meet federal NAAQS for ozone and carbon
monoxide to promote public health and welfare by requiring vehicles
with excess emissions to have their emissions control systems repaired
to remain in use. Sections 182 and 187 of the CAA requires I/M programs
in those areas of the nation that are most impacted by ozone and carbon
monoxide pollution. 42 U.S.C. 7511a, 7511c, 7512a. Section 184 of the
CAA also created an ``Ozone Transport Region'' (OTR) that
geographically includes the states from Virginia to Maine (including
all of Rhode Island) and the District of Columbia Consolidated
Metropolitan Statistical Area. In addition, EPA promulgated I/M
regulations at 40 CFR part 51, subpart S. The CAA and EPA's regulations
under 40 CFR 51.350 outline the applicable motor vehicle I/M
requirements according to an area's NAAQS nonattainment status and
classification and/or geographic location within the OTR.
As a result of having areas designated nonattainment for the 1997
8-hour ozone NAAQS (see 40 CFR 81.340) and by virtue of its inclusion
in the OTR, Rhode Island has implemented a statewide Low Enhanced
vehicle emissions testing program since January of 2000. The Rhode
Island I/M program, first approved into the SIP on February 9, 2001,
included all the elements required of a Low Enhanced I/M program (66 FR
9661). At that time, the Rhode Island I/M program operated statewide at
licensed private garages that also performed the required safety tests
on vehicles. Rhode Island operated a test-and-repair network with
vehicle tailpipe emissions testing performed
[[Page 35492]]
with dynamometers and synced into a computer connected network.
Enforcement was by windshield stickers but was changed to registration
denial in January 2001. Since that time, the program has been modified
in several ways. Rhode Island submitted an I/M program SIP revision on
January 28, 2009, and supplemented it on February 17, 2017, which EPA
approved into the SIP on May 25, 2018 (83 FR 24223). This revision
marked the shift to On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) testing for model year
1996 and newer vehicles, but the state continued to require that 1995
and older vehicles (up to 25 years old) receive a tailpipe emissions
test using a dynamometer to meet the previously SIP-approved exhaust
emissions standards, or a two-speed idle test for vehicles with drive
configurations that prevented a dynamometer test. The OBD system
continuously monitors the emission control systems and will activate
the malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) on the dashboard, also commonly
referred to as the ``Check Engine'' light, if a fault, also known as a
Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC), is detected. During an OBD test in an I/
M program, the presence of one or more DTCs that command the MIL on
indicates a failed inspection. In general, vehicles that fail
inspection must be repaired and be retested. OBD I/M programs can yield
emission benefits even from vehicles that do not fail a test. For
instance, many motorists, when seeing the OBD ``Check Engine'' light is
on, will elect to repair their vehicle prior to their required
inspection.
III. Summary of Rhode Island's Regulatory Changes
The I/M program in Rhode Island's current approved SIP exempts
model year vehicles 25 years old or older from having to obtain
repairs, following a failed emissions inspection. Thus, since 2021, all
vehicles subject to tailpipe emissions testing using a dynamometer have
aged out of any requirement to obtain testing and repairs under the
Rhode Island I/M program. Rhode Island's amended APCR Part 34,
submitted as a SIP revision on December 20, 2023, updates the I/M
program in Rhode Island, including removing provisions related to
dynamometer testing, which has ceased, and other minor clarifications.
Since these administrative changes to the State's regulations being
proposed here for inclusion in the SIP do not affect the emissions
reduction potential of the currently SIP-approved Rhode Island I/M
program, the SIP submittal satisfies the anti-backsliding requirements
of CAA section 110(l) and will not interfere with any applicable
requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress, or
with any other applicable requirement of the CAA.
Rhode Island's amended APCR Part 34 updates numerous regulatory
provisions by amending language to clarify the I/M program requirements
in Rhode Island. A summary of the most substantial changes made to the
subsections and provisions as they currently exist in the Rhode Island
SIP follows. Rhode Island (1) adjusted the title of section 34.1, and
added a separate subsection for the already existing description of
`Purpose'; (2) added an ``Incorporated Materials'' addendum as section
34.4; (3) removed the following definitions from 34.5: ``adjusted
vehicle weight'', ``curb weight'', ``exhaust emissions standard'',
gross vehicle weight rating'', ``IM240'', ``loaded vehicle weight'',
``new motor vehicle'', ``operator'', ``RI2000'', ``remote sensing
device'', and ``transient emission test''; (4) added definitions for
``malfunction indicator light'', and ``emission control component
inspection'' to 34.5; (5) made multiple amendments to 34.7 by replacing
dynamometer language with emissions control component inspection
related material; (6) completely removed section 34.8 regarding exhaust
emissions standards; (7) changed the title and content of section 34.9
by adding subsections for evaporative emission standards and emissions
control component standards; (8) updated and renumbered section 34.11
by simplifying equipment audit requirements; and (9) amended and
renumbered section 34.12 to include video and still images in quality
control data. Other minor edits are found throughout the proposed
revision, including other renumbering and rewording.
IV. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve Rhode Island's December 20, 2023, SIP
revision containing Rhode Island's revised motor vehicle I/M program
regulation. The revisions to the State's I/M regulation are
administrative in nature and will not interfere with attainment or
maintenance of any NAAQS or with any other applicable requirement of
the CAA. Therefore, EPA is proposing to determine that Rhode Island's
December 20, 2023, SIP revision is consistent with the applicable
provisions of the CAA.
EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this
notice or on other relevant matters. These comments will be considered
before taking final action. Interested parties may participate in the
Federal rulemaking procedure by submitting written comments to this
proposed rule by following the instructions listed in the ADDRESSES
section of this Federal Register.
V. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by
reference Rhode Island's Air Pollution Control Regulations (APCR) Part
34--Rhode Island Motor Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M)
Program, as discussed in section III. The EPA has made, and will
continue to make, these documents generally available through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and at the EPA Region 1 Office (please contact the
person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this preamble for more information).
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Clean Air Act
and applicable Federal regulations. See 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR
52.02(a). Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve
state choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air
Act. Accordingly, this proposed action merely approves state law as
meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional
requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, this
proposed action:
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866 (58
FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
<bullet> Is not subject to Executive Order 14192 (90 FR 9065,
February 6, 2025) because SIP actions are exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866;
<bullet> Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
<bullet> Is certified as not having a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
<bullet> Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
[[Page 35493]]
<bullet> Does not have federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
<bullet> Is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885,
April 23, 1997) because it approves a state program;
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
<bullet> Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent
with the Clean Air Act.
In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian
reservation land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has
demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian
country, the rule does not have tribal implications and will not impose
substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: July 10, 2025.
Mark Sanborn,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2025-14105 Filed 7-25-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 28, 2025.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.