California Code of Regulations
Title 13 - Motor Vehicles
Division 3 - Air Resources Board
Chapter 1 - Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Devices
Article 4 - Diesel Particulate Matter Control Measures
Section 2021 - Solid Waste Collection Vehicles and Heavy Cranes

Universal Citation: 13 CA Code of Regs 2021

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024

(a) Scope and Applicability. Sections 2021, 2021.1, and 2021.3 shall apply to solid waste collection vehicle owners, both private and government entities. These regulations mandate the reduction of diesel particulate matter emissions from 1960 to 2006 model year engines in on-road diesel-fueled heavy-duty residential or commercial solid waste collection vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating greater than 14,000 pounds. Sections 2021, 2021.2, and 2021.3 shall apply to any person, business, or federal government agency that owns or operates, leases, or rents, diesel-fueled single engine on-road heavy cranes as defined in section 2021(b)(16) with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of 54,000 pounds or more that operate in California. Sections 2021, 2021.1, 2021.2, and 2021.3 also apply to persons that sell heavy cranes or solid waste collection vehicles in California.

(b) Definitions. The following definitions apply to sections 2021, 2021.1, 2021.2, and 2021.3.

(1) "2010 Model Year Emissions Equivalent Engine" means emissions from:
(A) An engine certified to the 2004 through 2006 model year heavy-duty diesel engine emissions standard that is equipped with the highest level Verified Diesel Emission Control Strategy (VDECS) and reduces NOx emissions by at least 85 percent; or

(B) An engine that was built to the 2004 engine emission standard and was not used in any manufacturer's averaging, banking, or trading program that is equipped with the highest level VDECS and reduces NOx exhaust emissions by at least 85 percent; or

(C) An engine certified to the 2007 model year heavy-duty diesel engine emissions standard that meets Particulate Matter (PM) Best Available Control Technology (BACT) and reduces NOx exhaust emissions by more than 70 percent; or

(D) A heavy-duty engine certified to 0.2 g/bhp-hr or less NOx emissions level and 0.01 g/bhp-hr or less PM emissions level.

(2) "Compliance Year" means January 1 through December 31 of a calendar year.

(3) "Contract" means an agreement between an owner and a municipality to perform residential or commercial solid waste collection services, in which the contractor's compensation for providing services, or a formula for determining compensation, is specified.

(4) "Contractor" means an owner with a contract as defined in section 2021(b)(3).

(5) "Diesel Fuel" has the same meaning as defined in sections 2281 and 2282.

(6) "Diesel Particulate Matter (PM)" means the particles found in the exhaust of diesel fueled compression ignition engines. Diesel PM may agglomerate and adsorb other species to form structures of complex physical and chemical properties.

(7) "Emergency operation" means operation of an authorized emergency vehicle or emergency support vehicle to help alleviate an immediate threat to public health or safety. Examples of emergency operation include vehicles used at an emergency event to repair or prevent damage to roads, buildings, terrain, and infrastructure as a result of an earthquake, flood, storm, fire, terrorism, or other infrequent acts of nature. Emergency operation includes authorized emergency vehicle and emergency support vehicle travel to and from an emergency event when dispatched by a local, state, or federal agency. Routine operation to prevent public health risks does not constitute emergency operation.

(8) "Emergency support vehicle" means a vehicle, other than an authorized emergency vehicle as defined in California Vehicle Code section 165, that has been dispatched by a local, state, or federal agency that is used in connection with an emergency operation.

(9) "Executive Officer" means the Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) or his or her authorized representative.

(10) "Exemption for Vehicles Awaiting Sale" means vehicles in the possession of dealers, financing companies, or other entities such as auction houses, that do not intend to operate the vehicle in California or offer the vehicle for hire for operation in California, and that are operated only to demonstrate functionality to potential buyers or to move short distances while awaiting sale for purposes such as maintenance or storage. These vehicles are exempt from all requirements in sections 2021.1 and 2021.2.

(11) "Fleet" means one or more diesel vehicles that travel in California in a compliance year that are owned by a person, business, or agency as defined in California Vehicle Code section 460. A fleet may fall into one of the following subclassifications:
(A) "Federal Fleet" means a fleet of vehicles owned by a department, agency, or instrumentality of the federal government of the United States of America and its departments, divisions, public corporations, or public agencies including the United States Postal Service. With respect to the Department of Defense and its service branches, federal fleets may be managed regionally, locally, or a combination of regional and local management. There may be multiple federal fleets within a military service or an installation; or

(B) "Rental or Leased Fleet" means a fleet of vehicles owned by a person (rental or leasing entity) for the purpose of renting or leasing, as defined in California Uniform Commercial Code section 10103(a)(10), such vehicles to other persons (renters or lessees) for use or operation.

(12) "Fleet Owner" means the person or entity that owns the fleet as defined in section 2021(b)(11). For purposes of enforcement, if the operator of the vehicle cannot provide evidence of legal ownership as defined in California Vehicle Code section 460, then the owner shall be presumed to be either the person registered as the owner or lessee of a vehicle by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), or its equivalent in another state, province, or country; as evidenced on the vehicle registration document or the vehicle title, except as specified below:
(A) For vehicles that are owned by the federal government and not registered in any state or local jurisdiction, the owner shall be the department, agency, branch, or other entity of the United States, including the United States Postal Service, to which the vehicles in the fleet are assigned or which have responsibility for maintenance of the vehicles.

(B) For vehicles that are rented or leased from a business that is regularly engaged in the trade or business of leasing or renting motor vehicles without drivers:
1. The owner shall be presumed to be the rental or leasing entity for purposes of compliance with sections 2021, 2021.1, 2021.2, and 2021.3, if:
a. The rental or lease agreement for the vehicle is for a period of less than one year; or

b. The rental or lease agreement for the vehicle is for a period of one year or longer, unless the terms of the rental or lease agreement or other equally reliable evidence identifies the party responsible for compliance with state laws for the vehicle to be the renting operator or lessee of the vehicle.

2. For the purpose of enforcement, if the vehicle is inspected and cited for noncompliance with this regulation and neither the operator of the vehicle nor the rental or leasing entity can produce evidence of the party responsible for compliance with state laws, the owner shall be presumed to be both the rental or leasing entity and the renting operator or lessee of the vehicle.

(C) A financing company or a person that only provides financing to a third party in the form of "finance leases," as defined in California Uniform Commercial Code section 10103(a)(7), is not considered to "own" the vehicles that are financed. Similarly, a financing company or a person that only provides financing to a third party for engine replacements or for PM filter retrofits is not considered to be the owner of the engine or retrofit.

(13) "Garbage-packer vehicle" means a vehicle specially designed to collect and compact residential or commercial solid waste on the vehicle for purposes of transportation and disposal. These include but are not limited to vehicles commonly referred to as front loader, rear loader, and automated and semi-automated side loaders.

(14) "Garbage-roll off vehicle" means any heavy-duty vehicle that is designed to drop off and pick up open boxes or other containers that are commonly used to collect residential and commercial solid waste at a site.

(15) "Gross Vehicle Weight Rating" (GVWR) means the same as defined in California Vehicle Code section 350. GVWR represents the maximum weight of the vehicle and what it can carry when fully loaded.

(16) "Heavy Crane" means an on-road single engine crane that is certified as power-operated equipment that can hoist, lower, and horizontally move a suspended load, is required to be operated by a licensed crane operator, and has a gross vehicle weight rating of 54,000 pounds or more. A heavy crane is not designed to transport cargo.

(17) "Hubodometer" means a non-resettable device mounted on the axle of a vehicle that measures distance traveled that has a serial number and a lock-out feature that permanently prevents tampering.

(18) "Low use vehicle" means a collection vehicle or a heavy crane that is driven fewer than 1,000 miles annually in California. To be considered a low use vehicle, the fleet owner must have a properly functioning odometer or hubodometer. Vehicles used as an emergency support vehicle as defined in section 2021(b)(8) do not need to consider the mileage the vehicle accrues when used for emergency operations as defined in section 2021(b)(7) in determining whether the vehicle meets the definition of a low use vehicle.

(19) "Motor Carrier" means the same as defined in California Vehicle Code section 408.

(20) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity.

(21) "PM BACT" means the technology employed on the highest level Verified Diesel Emission Control Strategy (VDECS) for PM or an engine that is equipped with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) diesel particulate filter and certified to meet the 0.01 g/bhp-hr certification standard.

(22) "Residential or commercial solid waste" means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid, and semisolid wastes, including garbage, trash, refuse, rubbish, ashes, yard waste, recyclable materials, industrial wastes, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles and parts thereof, discarded home and industrial appliances, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semisolid wastes, and other discarded solid and semisolid wastes originating from single-family or multiple family dwellings, stores, offices, and other commercial sources, and construction and demolition projects in residential and commercial zones, not including hazardous, radioactive, or medical waste.

(23) "Responsible Official" means one of the following:
(A) For a corporation: A president, secretary, treasurer, or vice president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, their delegate, designee, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation;

(B) For a partnership or sole proprietorship: A general partner or the proprietor, respectively;

(C) For a municipality, state, federal, or other governmental agency: Either a principal executive officer or ranking elected official. For the purposes of this part, a principal executive officer of a federal agency includes the chief executive officer having responsibility for the overall operations of a principal geographic unit of the agency (e.g., a Regional Administrator of the U.S. EPA). For the purposes of the Department of Defense Military Services, a principal executive officer includes a commanding officer of an installation, base, or tenant organization.

(24) "Retired" means a vehicle that has been sold, junked, or has been transferred out of California.

(25) "Solid waste collection vehicle or collection vehicle" means an on-road heavy-duty vehicle with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of greater than 14,000 pounds and is a garbage-packer vehicle or is a garbage-roll off vehicle.

(26) "Verified Diesel Emission Control Strategy" (VDECS) means an emission control strategy, designed primarily for the reduction of diesel PM emissions, which has been verified pursuant to the Verification Procedures, sections 2700 through 2711. VDECS can be verified to achieve Level 1 Diesel PM reductions (25 percent), Level 2 Diesel PM reductions (50 percent), or Level 3 Diesel PM reductions (85 percent). VDECS may also be verified to achieve NOx reductions.

(c) General Requirements.

(1) Leased Vehicle Responsibility. The responsibility of compliance will be with the lessor unless the contract for the lease of a vehicle that is entered into with an effective date of July 1, 2019 or later clearly specifies the responsibility will be that of the lessee for the duration of the lease.

(2) Information regarding solid waste collection vehicles and heavy cranes must be reported to the Executive Officer as specified in section 2021.3(a) and records must be kept as specified in section 2021.3(b).

(3) If the number of engines required to be brought into compliance with a percentage for any compliance option is calculated and the result is not equal to a whole number, the fleet owner shall round up to a whole number when the fractional part of the required number of engines is equal to or greater than 0.5, and round down if less than 0.5.

(4) In cases where public funds contributed to the purchase of the vehicle, repower of the engine, or retrofit of the engine, the vehicle will not be counted when determining compliance with PM BACT during the period that the funding program does not allow the vehicle to be counted towards compliance, nor shall the engine be included in the total fleet for purposes of determining the percent of the fleet that is complying with fleet requirements pursuant to section 2021.2(a).

(5) VDECS Failure or Damage. In the event of a failure or damage of a diesel emission control strategy, the fleet owner must comply with PM BACT within 90 days of the failure or damage.

(6) Once a vehicle is required to be in compliance with this regulation, it must remain in compliance at all times that it is operating in California. Once a vehicle has a PM retrofit installed, it may not be removed unless approved by the Executive Officer pursuant to Verification Procedure, Warranty and In-Use Compliance Requirements for In-Use Strategies to Control Emissions from Diesel Engines (Verification Procedure), sections 2700 through 2711.

(7) Record Retention. If the fleet contains one or more vehicles with a model year engine older than 2010, the fleet owner or responsible person shall maintain the records required by section 2021.3 for each vehicle for the duration in which they own the vehicle and for 3 years after the vehicle is retired, and for the overall fleet, for as long as the owner has a fleet. If fleet ownership is transferred, the seller shall transfer the fleet records to the buyer. Dealers must maintain records required by section 2021(c)(9) for three years after the sale.

(8) Right of Entry. For the purpose of inspecting vehicles subject to this regulation and their records to determine compliance with this regulation, an agent or employee of CARB, upon presentation of proper credentials, has the right to enter any facility (with any necessary safety clearances) where vehicles are located or vehicle records are kept.

(9) Disclosure of Regulation Applicability. Any person residing in California selling a vehicle with an engine subject to this regulation must provide the following disclosure in writing to the buyer on the bill of sale, sales contract addendum, or invoice, "An on-road heavy-duty diesel or alternative-diesel vehicle operated in California may be subject to California Air Resources Board regulations to reduce diesel emissions. For more information, please visit the California Air Resources Board website at https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/SWCV/SWCV.htm."

(10) Requirement to Verify Compliance of a Fleet
(A) Any in-state or out-of-state motor carrier, California broker, or any California resident who operates or directs the operation of any vehicle subject to this regulation shall verify that each hired fleet is in compliance with the regulation and must comply with the record keeping requirements of section 2021.3(b) to show proof that compliance was verified.

(B) Compliance shall be accomplished by keeping a copy of the Certificate of Reported Compliance at the business location.

(11) CARB Certificate of Reported Compliance. After the required fleet information is reported as required by section 2021.3(a), CARB will make available a Certificate of Reported Compliance for fleets that demonstrate compliance. CARB staff will also post online the name and motor carrier number for fleets that have reported compliance.

(12) Non-Compliance. Any person who fails to comply with the requirements of subsection (c) of this regulation, who fails to submit any information, report, or statement required by this regulation, or who knowingly submits any false statement or representation in any application, report, statement, or other document filed, maintained, or used for the purposes of compliance with this regulation may be subject to civil or criminal penalties under sections 39674, 39675, 42400, 42400.1, 42400.2, 42402.2, and 43016, of the Health and Safety Code. In assessing penalties, the Executive Officer will consider factors, including but not limited to the willfulness of the violation, the length of time of noncompliance, whether the fleet made an attempt to comply, and the magnitude of noncompliance.

(13) Severability. If any subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this regulation is, for any reason, held invalid, unconstitutional, or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed as a separate, distinct, and independent provision, and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the regulation.

1. New section filed 7-20-2004; operative 7-20-2004 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2004, No. 30).
2. Amendment of subsection (b) (new definition of "Retirement" or "Retire") filed 1-31-2006; operative 1-31-2006 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2006, No. 5).
3. Amendment of section heading, section and NOTE filed 6-25-2019; operative 7-1-2019 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2019, No. 26).

Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 39666, 39667 and 43013, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 39002, 39003, 39650, 39655, 39656, 39657, 39658, 39659, 39660, 39661, 39662, 39665, 39666, 39667, 39668, 39674, 39675, 42400, 42400.1, 42400.2, 42402.2, 43000, 43013, 43016, 43018, 43101, 43102, 43104, 43105 and 43700, Health and Safety Code.

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