A.
BACKGROUND 1. Outdoor Power Equipment Institute OPEI is an international trade association representing more than 100
manufacturers of gas- and electric-powered small offroad engines and equipment, as well as their suppliers. OPEI member products include residential and commercial categories of equipment such as lawnmowers, garden tractors, grass trimmers, chain saws, snow throwers, portable generators, utility vehicles, and other similarly powered lawn and garden vehicle applications. The waiver EPA authorized with the Notice of Decision will adversely impact OPEI’s members who manufacture the majority of California-directed small spark- ignited engines and engine-powered equipment. OPEI has a long history of working collaboratively with CARB and EPA to develop a reasonable regulatory framework but, unfortunately, in the case of the Amendments the waiver authorizes, CARB and industry stakeholders could not reach agreement. As promulgated, the small off-road engine (“SORE”) regulations amended by CARB in 2021 (“2021 SORE Amendments”) effectively ban most gasoline-powered outdoor power equipment. OPEI submitted extensive comments to both CARB and EPA as part of this decision-making process and coordinated its comments with those of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (“EMA”). 2 2. The Notice of Decision and CARB Enforcement The EPA comment period for CARB’s authorization request closed on July 28, 2023. 3 On January 6, 2025, EPA issued the Notice of Decision. Ex. A at 3. On January 20, 2025, a new administration took office, and the President issued an executive order directing agencies to immediately review “state emission waivers.” Unleashing American Energy, Executive Order 14154, 90 Fed. Reg. 8353, 8353-54. The waiver has not yet taken effect. Instead, CARB has indicated that, because the 2025 model year is already underway, it will implement SORE
2 See Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0151, California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; Small Off-Road Engines; Request for Authorization . 3 EPA’s California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; Small Off- Road Engines Regulations Decision Document at 1 (“Decision Document”).
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