§ 1068.115 What are manufacturers' emission-related warranty requirements?

Section 207(a) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7541(a)) requires certifying manufacturers to warrant to purchasers that their engines/equipment are designed, built, and equipped to conform at the time of sale to the applicable regulations for their full useful life, including a warranty that the engines/equipment are free from defects in materials and workmanship that would cause any engine/equipment to fail to conform to the applicable regulations during the specified warranty period. This section codifies the warranty requirements of section 207(a) without intending to limit these requirements. (a) As a certifying manufacturer, you may deny warranty claims only for failures that have been caused by the owner's or operator's improper maintenance or use, by accidents for which you have no responsibility, or by acts of God. For example, you would not need to honor warranty claims for failures that have been directly caused by the operator's abuse of the engine/equipment or the operator's use of the engine/equipment in a manner for which it was not designed and are not attributable to you in any way. (b) As a certifying manufacturer, you may not deny emission-related warranty claims based on any of the following: (1) Maintenance or other service you or your authorized facilities performed. (2) Engine/equipment repair work that an operator performed to correct an unsafe, emergency condition attributable to you as long as the operator tries to restore the engine/equipment to its proper configuration as soon as possible. (3) Any action or inaction by the operator unrelated to the warranty claim. (4) Maintenance that was performed more frequently than you specify. (5) Anything that is your fault or responsibility. (6) The use of any fuel that is commonly available where the equipment operates unless your written maintenance instructions state that this fuel would harm the equipment's emission control system and operators can readily find the proper fuel.