(a) Vehicles and engines built by multiple manufacturers can share responsibility for complying with fuel consumption standards in 49 CFR part 535, by following the EPA requirements in 40 CFR 1037.620 and by sending a joint agreement between the parties to EPA and NHTSA before submitting any certificates of conformity for the applicable vehicles or engines in accordance with 40 CFR part 1036, subpart C, and 40 CFR part 1037, subpart C.

(1) Each joint agreement must—

(i) Define how each manufacturer shares responsibility for the planned vehicles or engines.

(ii) Specify which manufacturer(s) will be responsible for the EPA certificates of conformity;

(iii) Describe the planned vehicles and engines in terms of the model types, production volumes, and model years (if known);

(iv) Describe which manufacturer(s) have engineering and design control and sale distribution ownership over the vehicles and/or engines; and

(v) Include signatures from all parties involved in the shared corporate relationship.

(2) After defining the shared relationship between the manufacturers, any contractual changes must be notified to EPA and NHTSA before the next model year's production of the applicable vehicles or engines begins.

(3) Multiple manufacturers must designate the same shared responsibility for complying with fuel consumption standards as selected for GHG standards unless otherwise allowed by EPA and NHTSA.

(b) NHTSA and EPA reserve the right to reject the joint agreement.

[81 FR 74237, Oct. 25, 2016]