42 U.S.C. § 7522 — Prohibited acts

(a) Enumerated prohibitions. The following acts, and causing them, are prohibited: (1) A manufacturer may not sell, offer for sale, introduce, or deliver into commerce^* a new vehicle or engine made after applicable regulations take effect unless it has an in-force certificate of conformity, subject to subsection (b). Except where the Administrator’s regulations allow it, no person^* may import such a vehicle or engine without that certificate. (2) A person may not refuse access to or copying of required records, fail to make required reports or provide required information under section 7542, refuse authorized entry, testing, or inspection under section 7525(c) or 7542, or refuse required testing. A manufacturer may not fail to provide information required by section 7521(m)(5). (3)(A) No one may remove or disable a compliant emission-control device or design element before sale and delivery to the ultimate buyer, or knowingly do so afterward. (B) No one may make, sell, offer, or install a part whose main effect is to bypass, defeat, or disable such a device or element when the person knows or should know it is offered, installed, or used for that purpose. (4) A manufacturer of a vehicle or engine subject to section 7521 or part C may not sell or lease it without meeting the applicable warranty and labeling requirements; may not refuse to meet section 7541(c) or (e); may not tell a buyer that warranty coverage depends on using the manufacturer’s parts or on service by the manufacturer or its controlled person, except as section 7541(c)(3) allows; and may not refuse to honor the warranty. (5) No one may violate sections 7553, 7554, or part C, or their regulations. An action covered by paragraph (3) is not prohibited if it follows section 7549. Paragraph (3) does not require manufacturer parts for maintenance or repair; “manufacturer parts” means parts made or sold by the vehicle or engine manufacturer. An action is also not prohibited if it repairs or replaces the device, is temporary and necessary to repair another item and the device is replaced afterward, and the device then works properly. Conversion to a clean alternative fuel is also excepted if the vehicle meets section 7521 on that fuel and, for a clean alternative-fuel vehicle defined by the Administrator^*, the device is replaced and works properly on conventional fuel.

(b) Exemptions; imports; exports. (1) The Administrator may exempt a new vehicle or engine from subsection (a), with terms and conditions needed for research, investigations, studies, demonstrations, training, or national security. (2) A vehicle or engine imported in violation of subsection (a) must be refused entry. The Treasury Secretary^* and Administrator may jointly allow a final decision to be delayed and delivery to the owner^* or consignee on conditions, including a bond, that ensure compliance. If entry is finally refused, the Treasury Secretary must dispose of it under customs laws unless it is exported within 90 days after notice, or a longer period allowed by regulation. Disposal may not indirectly or directly result in sale to an ultimate consumer of a vehicle or engine that fails the Administrator’s standards. (3) A vehicle or engine made only for export and labeled on its container and itself is subject to subsection (a), except that if the receiving country has different emission standards, it must meet that country’s standards.