Lowering the Cost of Living by Promoting the Freedom to Fix

MEMORANDUM FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct:

Section 1. Purpose. During the previous administration, crushing environmental regulatory burdens caused the average cost of vehicles to soar. My Administration has therefore taken historic action to reduce or remove these burdensome regulations and decrease the rising costs that consumers face. With the largest deregulatory action in United States history, my Administration rescinded regulations concerning greenhouse gas emissions for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles, and affirmed the right to fix agricultural and non-road equipment.

Consumers and aftermarket-parts manufacturers and resellers, however, face continuing regulatory uncertainty concerning whether aftermarket parts may be used in repairs due to the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) prohibition on tampering with emissions controls. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has the only certification process for aftermarket parts currently recognized as sufficient under the CAA, but that process is faulty. Obtaining a CARB Executive Order certifying that a part does not increase vehicle emissions takes increasingly long — now well over a year — even when an applicant has all of the paperwork and testing in order. It is increasingly costly, and it effectively hands the determination of Federal compliance over to the State of California. Further, because it is the only currently available and accepted certification process, the certification of parts is bottlenecked at CARB, driving up costs and limiting the supply of compliant parts. To further ensure vehicle affordability, it is the policy of my Administration that consumers should be able to fix their vehicles with affordable parts without being deemed to have circumvented emissions controls.

The text continues by detailing problems with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) certification process for these parts, noting it is slow (taking over a year), costly, and effectively grants California state authority over federal compliance determinations. Because CARB is the only recognized certification body, this creates a bottleneck, increasing costs and limiting the supply of necessary parts. The Administration explicitly states its policy goal is to allow consumers to use affordable parts for repairs without violating emission control regulations.

Sec. 2. Expanding Emission Repair Options. The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shall provide guidance within 30 days of the date of this memorandum on the freedom to fix by clarifying what actions individuals may take on their own vehicles to conduct emission repairs or have emission repairs conducted, consistent with the CAA. Such guidance shall be limited to the matters specified in this memorandum.

Sec. 3. Providing Assurances. To increase clarity for aftermarket-equipment manufacturers, prevent cheap foreign knock-offs, and reduce reliance on CARB's faulty and backlogged certification process, the Administrator of the EPA shall encourage the submission of, expeditiously consider, and act on any requests from organizations capable of testing aftermarket parts for conformance with the CAA. Where appropriate, the Administrator of the EPA shall provide assurances, while protecting manufacturers' intellectual property and confidential business information, that the proposed certification processes for aftermarket-emissions parts meet the requirements of the CAA and relevant EPA regulations.

Sec. 4. Individual Freedom to Fix. The Administrator of the EPA shall consider deprioritizing civil tampering enforcement actions against anyone who, in good faith, attempts to fix his or her own vehicle to its original configuration.

Sec. 5.  General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

                             DONALD J. TRUMP

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