EPA Request for Comments to Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Certification and Compliance Requirements for Nonroad Spark-Ignition Engines EPA is soliciting public comments regarding improvements to the current certification process and documents. OPEI is preparing comments seeking discussion to eliminate the need for annual certifications, as well as other granular process and form improvements. Comments are due July 7. US Department of Energy / Department of Transportation / Environmental Protection Agency / Department of Housing and Urban Development – The U.S. Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization Activity USG agencies jointly published The U.S. Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization report in January 2023. The report summarizes USGs initiative to be carbon neutral by 2050.Included in the report is a preliminary report about the GHG emissions from the off-highway sector (including small spark-ignited engine powered equipment). The blueprint focuses not only on in-use emissions, but lifecycle emissions, and considers battery, hydrogen and sustainable fuels as potential pathways forward for the various transportation sectors. Last June DOE hosted a workshop to discuss decarbonization opportunities for the off-road sector. OPEI emphasized the broad scope of small engine-powered equipment and importance of different power sources for different applications. In December 2024 EPA & DOE published the report A Market and Technology Assessment for Off-Road Vehicle & Equipment Energy Emissions Inventory . The report highlights the diverse range of product types and use cases for off-road equipment, including “lawn & garden”, and stress that different reduction strategies will be needed to achieve emissions reductions. For the “lawn & garden” sector, the report recognized the residential sector is well positioned for electrification, but that “commercial-use” will require different solutions, including engine- powered equipment fueled by sustainable liquid fuels due to cost, performance and run time demands. The report also stresses the need to better model emissions inventories – starting with collaboration with industry to standardize model inputs. EPA Small Spark-Ignition Engine Modeling The OPEI Engine and Fuels Committee has established a Task Group to review historic industry and agency model assumptions and consider methods to develop more accurate equipment annual use and age average estimates. The task group is meeting monthly to discuss modeling data and strategies that may be used to standardize agency modeling efforts as well as company sustainability reporting estimates (“Scope 3-11 emissions”).
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