42 U.S.C. § 7522 — Prohibited acts

(a) Enumerated prohibitions This subsection lists banned acts. (1) A manufacturer can't sell, offer to sell, deliver, or bring into the United States a new motor vehicle or engine made after emission rules took effect, unless it has a valid certificate of conformity — or, for clean-fuel vehicles, meets Part C's rules — except as allowed under subsection (b). (2) Nobody can: (A) refuse to let someone copy records, or fail to report information required under section 7542; (B) refuse to allow entry, testing, or inspection allowed under sections 7525(c) or 7542; (C) refuse to perform or allow required tests under section 7542; or (D) fail, if a manufacturer, to make information available as required under section 7521(m)(5). (3)(A) Nobody can remove or disable an emission control device installed on a vehicle before it's sold to its first owner. After the sale, nobody can knowingly remove or disable it either. (B) Nobody can make, sell, offer to sell, or install a part whose main effect is to bypass, defeat, or disable an emission control device, if they know or should know it will be used that way. (4) A manufacturer of a new vehicle or engine covered by section 7521 standards or Part C can't: (A) sell or lease it without meeting the warranty rules in section 7541(a) and (b), or Part C's matching rules for clean-fuel vehicles, and without the required label; (B) fail to meet the labeling or other requirements in section 7541(c) or (e); (C) tell a buyer that the vehicle's warranty coverage depends on using the manufacturer's own parts or service, except as section 7541(c)(3) allows; or (D) fail to honor the warranty terms required under section 7541(a) or (b). (5) Nobody can violate section 7553, section 7554, Part C, or any regulations under those sections. The subsection then adds several carve-outs. Adjusting an emission-control design element is not a violation of paragraph (3) if the adjustment follows section 7549. Paragraph (3) doesn't require using only manufacturer-made parts for repairs — "manufacturer parts" here means parts the vehicle or engine manufacturer made or sold. Repairing or replacing an emission-control device is not a violation of paragraph (3), as long as the device works properly again afterward, including a temporary removal needed to fix something else nearby. Converting a vehicle to run on a clean alternative fuel is also not a violation of paragraph (3), as long as the converted vehicle still meets section 7521 standards on that fuel, and — for a fuel the Administrator has defined by rule — the device is put back and works properly once the vehicle runs on regular fuel again. (b) Exemptions; refusal to admit vehicle or engine into United States; vehicles or engines intended for export (1) The Administrator can exempt a new vehicle or engine from subsection (a) for research, investigation, study, demonstration, training, or national security reasons, on whatever terms the Administrator sets. (2) If someone tries to import a vehicle or engine that violates subsection (a), it must be refused entry into the United States. But the Treasury Secretary and the Administrator can jointly set up a process to let the importer take temporary custody — for example, by posting a bond — while working to bring it into compliance. If entry is finally refused, Treasury must dispose of it under customs law unless it's exported within 90 days, or a longer time allowed by regulation. It can never be sold to a final consumer if it still doesn't meet EPA standards. (3) A new vehicle or engine meant only for export, and labeled as such on its container and on the vehicle or engine itself, still must follow subsection (a) — unless the destination country has different emission standards, in which case the vehicle or engine must meet that country's standards instead.