In order to comply with the requirements, engine manufacturers must follow strict testing procedures to demonstrate or certify that their engine or vehicle meets the engine emissions standards while operating in a specific service class (test cycle and weight restriction). An engine cannot be placed in a vehicle and operated outside its service class designation. Emission standards are set for a variety of service classes including new passenger cars (PC), light-duty trucks (LDT), medium-duty vehicles (MDV), heavy-duty engines (HDE) and vehicles (HDV) including urban buses (UB), on- and off-road motorcycles (ONMC and OFMC), all-terrain vehicles (ATV), and electric golf carts (eGC).

Non-road spark ignited engines are regulated in two different classes; large spark ignited (LSI) and small spark ignited (SSI). Our team has complied some key certification topics for both sections below. However, if you want a deeper analysis of LSI engine certification requirements our staff has developed a wonderful post on that topic which you can read here.

Large Spark Ignited Engines:

Key Topics:

• Federal sliding scale standards vs. California standards.
• Certifying engines to operate on non-commercial fuels (§1048.625)
• Developing deterioration factors vs. assigned factors (§1048.240)
• Field test standards (§1048.101(c))
• Production line testing (§1048.301)
• Diagnostic monitoring (§1048.110)
• Adjustable parameters (§1048.115(e))
• Evaporative compliance (§1048.105)
• AECD auditing
• In use testing (§1048.401)

Small Spark Ignited Engines:

Key Topics:

• Unique California Standards
• Evaporative testing and certification (§1060)