(a) If you qualify for the economic hardship provisions specified in 40 CFR 1068.245, we may approve a period of delayed compliance for up to one model year total.

(b) The provisions of this paragraph (b) are intended to address problems that could occur near the date on which more stringent emission standards become effective, such as the transition from the Tier 2 standards to the Tier 3 standards for line-haul locomotives on January 1, 2012.

(1) In appropriate extreme and unusual circumstances that are clearly outside the control of the manufacturer and could not have been avoided by the exercise of prudence, diligence, and due care, we may permit you, for a brief period, to introduce into commerce locomotives which do not comply with the applicable emission standards if all of the following conditions apply:

(i) You cannot reasonably manufacture the locomotives in such a manner that they would be able to comply with the applicable standards.

(ii) The manufacture of the locomotives was substantially completed prior to the applicability date of the standards from which you seek the relief. For example, you may not request relief for a locomotive that has been ordered, but for which you will not begin the assembly process prior to the applicability date of the standards. On the other hand, we would generally consider completion of the underframe weldment to be a substantial part of the manufacturing process.

(iii) Manufacture of the locomotives was previously scheduled to be completed at such a point in time that locomotives would have been included in the previous model year, such that they would have been subject to less stringent standards, and that such schedule was feasible under normal conditions.

(iv) You demonstrate that the locomotives comply with the less stringent standards that applied to the previous model year's production described in paragraph (b)(1)(iii) of this section, as prescribed by subpart C of this part (i.e., that the locomotives are identical to locomotives certified in the previous model year).

(v) You exercised prudent planning, were not able to avoid the violation, and have taken all reasonable steps to minimize the extent of the nonconformity.

(vi) We approve your request before you introduce the locomotives into commerce.

(2) You must notify us as soon as you become aware of the extreme or unusual circumstances.

(3)

(i) Include locomotives for which we grant relief under this section in the engine family for which they were originally intended to be included.

(ii) Where the locomotives are to be included in an engine family that was certified to an FEL above the applicable standard, you must reserve credits to cover the locomotives covered by this allowance and include the required information for these locomotives in the end-of-year report required by subpart H of this part.

(c) In granting relief under this section, we may also set other conditions as appropriate, such as requiring payment of fees to negate an economic gain that such relief would otherwise provide.