CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
                      AIR RESOURCES BOARD
                                                
                      Air Resources Board
                Board Hearing Room, Lower Level
                        2020 "L" Street
                         Sacramento, CA
                                                
                          July 9, 1993
                           9:30 a.m.
                                                
                             AGENDA

                                                             Page

93-9-1    Public Meeting to Consider Ford Motor Company's     001
          Petition for Limited Relief from 1994/1995
          On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD II) Provisions.

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                         ITEM NO.: 93-9-1

Public hearing to Consider Ford Motor Company's Petition for
Limited Relief from 1994/1995 On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD II)
Provisions.

                          RECOMMENDATION

The staff recommends that the Air Resources Board approve the
proposed amendments to Section 1968.1, Title 13, California Code
of Regulations, which sets forth the malfunction and diagnostic
system requirements known as On-Board Diagnostics II (OBD II). 
The amendments would give the Executive Officer authority to
certify 1994 and 1995 model year vehicles subject to the OBD II
requirements in instances where one or more of the monitoring
requirements are not fully met.

                            DISCUSSION

A number of vehicle manufacturers, including Ford Motor Company
(Ford), have chosen to equip specific vehicle models with OBD II
systems for the 1994 model year.  In discussions with Ford, it
has been determined that Ford's 1994 OBD II system design will
not meet the minimum requirements necessary for certification of
the vehicles with respect to engine misfire detection and
detection of evaporative purge valve failure.  Ford filed a
petition with the Board requesting that a public hearing be held
to consider accepting OBD II system designs deficient with
respect to one or more of the requirements for the 1994 and 1995
model years.

                       SUMMARY AND IMPACTS

The proposed action would affect some manufacturers certifying
1994 and 1995 model year OBD II equipped vehicles.  The amendment
proposed by the ARB staff would permit the Executive Officer to
certify OBD II systems deficient in meeting one or more of the
minimum requirements on 1994 vehicles provided the monitoring
requirements were met to the extent possible, that the resulting
monitoring system is significantly more effective than previous
OBD requirements (OBD I), and that a good-faith effort to meet
the minimum requirements in full was made by the manufacturer. 
For most 1995 model year vehicles required to meet the OBD II
requirements, certification of deficient monitoring systems would
also be provided for, contingent on the manufacturer agreeing to
pay a fine per vehicle per monitoring system deficiency.

The proposed amendments are not expected to result in an overall
increase in vehicle emissions.  Any potential emission increases
due to OBD II system monitoring deficiencies should be more than
offset by the requirement that, to be certified, such vehicles
must be equipped with diagnostic systems significantly more
effective than OBD II exempt vehicles, which need only to meet
OBD I requirements.  OBD II exempt vehicles are expected to
constitute the majority of new car sales during the model years
affected by the proposed action.  Therefore, if certification of
vehicles equipped with OBD II systems deficient in meeting one or
more of the minimum requirements is not permitted, the void in
the marketplace would most likely be filled by vehicles with the
less effective OBD I systems, most probably resulting in
increased emissions.

The staff also does not expect that the potential action will
result in any adverse economic impacts.  Cost per vehicle should
not be affected by the proposed amendments, except with respect
to the proposed fines for non-complying 1995 model year vehicles. 
Nevertheless, the impact of any such fines should be clearly
outweighed by the cost savings the proposed action would create
for vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and
retailers, by allowing for the certification of 1995 model year
vehicles that otherwise could not be offered for sale in
California.