49 U.S.C. § 30113 — General exemptions

(a) Definition A "low-emission motor vehicle" is a new motor vehicle that, when made, meets the Clean Air Act's emissions standards and releases significantly less of an air pollutant than those standards require. (b) Authority To Exempt and Procedures (1) The Secretary may temporarily exempt motor vehicles from a safety standard, or passenger vehicles from a bumper standard, on terms the Secretary sets. Exemptions can be renewed, but only through a new application meeting this subsection's rules. (2) The Secretary starts this process when a manufacturer applies for an exemption or renewal. The Secretary must publish notice of the application and let the public comment. The application must be filed the way and contain the information this section and the Secretary require. (3) The Secretary can grant an exemption if it fits the public interest and the relevant chapter, and if at least one of these is true: (i) following the standard would cause a manufacturer serious economic hardship despite a good-faith effort to comply; (ii) the exemption would make it easier to develop or test a new safety feature that is at least as safe as the standard; (iii) the exemption would make it easier to develop or test a low-emission vehicle without unreasonably lowering its safety; or (iv) following the standard would stop the manufacturer from selling a vehicle whose overall safety is at least equal to compliant vehicles. (c) Contents of Applications The manufacturer's application must include: (1) for hardship claims, a full financial statement showing the hardship and a full description of the manufacturer's good-faith compliance efforts; (2) for new-safety-feature claims, research and testing records showing the feature is innovative and at least as safe as the standard; (3) for low-emission-vehicle claims, research and testing records showing the vehicle qualifies and isn't unreasonably less safe; and (4) for overall-safety claims, a detailed analysis showing the vehicle's overall safety matches compliant vehicles. (d) Eligibility A manufacturer qualifies for a hardship exemption only if the Secretary finds its total vehicle production in the most recent year was 10,000 or fewer. A manufacturer qualifies for the other three types of exemptions only if the Secretary limits the exemption to 2,500 or fewer vehicles sold in the U.S. in any 12-month period. (e) Maximum Period A hardship exemption or renewal can last up to 3 years. The other three types can last up to 2 years. (f) Disclosure By the 10th day after an application is filed, the Secretary may make public the information in it or related to it, unless that information is a trade secret or other confidential information not relevant to the application. (g) Notice of Decision The Secretary must publish in the Federal Register a notice of each exemption decision and the reasons for it. (h) Permanent Label Requirement The Secretary must require a permanent label on any exempted vehicle, naming or describing each safety or bumper standard it's exempt from. The Secretary may also require written notice of the exemption to be given to the dealer and the vehicle's first purchaser (other than for resale).