Marine spark-ignition engine regulations technical guidance: chapter 9

9 Evidence of Conformity and Records

• 9.1 What is the evidence of conformity for engines or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(b) or vessels or outboards referred to in paragraph 11(1)(c) of the Regulations?
• 9.2 What is the evidence of conformity for engines, vessels or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(a) or engines or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(d) of the Regulations?
• 9.3 What records could satisfy the requirement of demonstrating that an engine, vessel or vehicle is sold concurrently in Canada and the United States?
• 9.4 What other records must a company maintain?
• 9.5 How long must a company retain evidence of conformity and other records?
• 9.6 When must the evidence of conformity and other records be submitted?
• 9.7 What is the procedure to provide evidence of conformity "in a form and manner satisfactory to the Minister" for the engines, vessels or vehicles referred to in subsection 35(2) of the Regulations?

Section 35 of the Regulations describes the evidence of conformity required for engines, vessels and vehicles. Section 36 of the Regulations identifies additional records and establishes requirements for the maintenance and retention of the evidence of conformity and the other records.

9.1 What is the evidence of conformity for engines or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(b) or vessels or outboards referred to in paragraph 11(1)(c) of the Regulations?

For engines or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(b) or vessels or outboards referred to in paragraph 11(1)(c) of the Regulations (i.e., covered by one or more EPA certificates of conformity and sold concurrently in Canada and the United States), the evidence of conformity is the following:

• a copy of the EPA certificates of conformity covering the engine, the vehicle, or the fuel lines and fuel tanks installed in the vessel or outboard;
• a document demonstrating that the engine, vessel or vehicle is sold concurrently in Canada and the United States (see section 9.3 of this document);
• a copy of the records submitted to the EPA in support of the application, and any amended application, for the issuance of those EPA certificates; and
• the EPA emission control information label affixed to the engine, vessel or vehicle.

9.2 What is the evidence of conformity for engines, vessels or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(a) or engines or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(d) of the Regulations?

For engines, vessels or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(a) or engines or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(d), subsection 35(2) specifies that the evidence of conformity must be obtained and produced by the company in a form and manner that is satisfactory to the Minister. Please refer to section 9.7 of this document for guidance on evidence of conformity for these products.

9.3 What records could satisfy the requirement of demonstrating that an engine, vessel or vehicle is sold concurrently in Canada and the United States?

Paragraph 35(1)(b) of the Regulations requires a document demonstrating that an engine, vessel or vehicle covered by an EPA certificate is sold concurrently in Canada and the United States. Examples of the required evidence include:

• a copy of an invoice for the sale of an engine, vessel or vehicle to a person in the United States; or
• other evidence sufficient to demonstrate concurrent sales of engines, vessels or vehicles in the United States and Canada.

9.4 What other records must a company maintain?

In addition to the evidence of conformity (referred to in section 35 of the Regulations) that a company is required to maintain, a company must also maintain the following:

• the end of model year report;
• for each engine and vehicle of each of a company's fleets:
  • the model and emission family;
  • the name and civil address of the plant where the engine or vehicle was manufactured;
  • the engine or vehicle identification number;
  • the FEL to which the engine or vehicle conforms;
  • the name and civil address, or mailing address, of the first retail purchaser of the engine or vehicle in Canada; and
  • for a company that uses the voluntary exclusion in subsection 24(4) of the Regulations, a document that demonstrates that the number of engines or vehicles sold in the United States during a given period that are covered by an EPA certificate exceeds the number of those engines or vehicles sold in Canada during that period that are covered by the same EPA certificate.
• the number of engines or vehicles imported if the company imports less than 100 engines or vehicles in a given model year and uses the provisions of subsection 33(4); and
• if records are retained on the company's behalf, the name and civic address and, if different, the mailing address of the person who retains the records.

9.5 How long must a company retain evidence of conformity and other records?

Under section 36 of the Regulations, a company must maintain and retain evidence of conformity referred to in subsections 35(1) and (2) for a period of eight years after the manufacture of an engine is complete or the main assembly of the vessel or vehicle is complete.

A copy of the end of model year report referred to in paragraph 36(1)(a) must be kept for eight years after the end of the model year. The records referred to in paragraph 36(1)(c) relating to every engine and vehicle of a company's fleets must also be kept for eight years after the end of the model year.

A company that imports less than 100 engines or vehicles in a given model year, and that uses the provisions of subsection 33(4), must keep a record of the number of engines or vehicles imported for a period of eight years after the model year.

9.6 When must the evidence of conformity and other records be submitted?

For engines, vessels or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(a) of the Regulations or engines or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(d) of the Regulations, subsection 35(3) requires that the company submit the evidence of conformity referred to in subsection 35(2) to the Minister prior to importing the engine, vessel or vehicle, or prior to affixing the national emissions mark in the case of engines, vessels and vehicles that have their manufacturing or assembly completed in Canada. Alternatively, under subsection 153(2) of CEPA 1999, a company may submit the evidence of conformity before the engine, vessel or vehicle leaves possession or control of the company and in the case of a vehicle before it is presented for registration under the laws of a province or Aboriginal government. A company choosing to submit the evidence of conformity in this manner must submit to the Minister a declaration, under section 39 of the Regulations, prior to importation (see section 12.4 of this document).

For engines or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(b) or vessels or outboards referred to in paragraph 11(1)(c) of the Regulations, subsection 36(3) requires the company to provide the evidence of conformity referred to in subsection 35(1) upon written request by the Minister. The evidence of conformity must be provided in either official language within 40 days after the request is made to the company. If the evidence of conformity must be translated from a language other than French or English, the company has 60 days to provide the evidence.

9.7 What is the procedure to provide evidence of conformity "in a form and manner satisfactory to the Minister" for the engines, vessels or vehicles referred to in subsection 35(2) of the Regulations?

9.7.1 General procedure for providing evidence of conformity for engines, vessels and vehicles referred to in subsection 35(2) of the Regulations

Subsection 35(2) of the Regulations states that evidence of conformity must be obtained and produced in a form and manner satisfactory to the Minister for engines, vessels or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(a) or engines or vehicles referred to in paragraph 11(1)(d). Figure 9 illustrates the general procedure to provide evidence of conformity "in a form and manner satisfactory to the Minister."

The evidence of conformity submission must contain an original letter signed by an authorized officer of the company and contain an unconditional statement of compliance with the Marine Spark-Ignition Engine, Vessel and Off-Road Recreational Vehicle Emission Regulations. Submissions or questions related to this provision should be sent to Emission-Verification@ec.gc.ca.

Companies must obtain and produce evidence of conformity that is comparable to that specified in paragraphs 35(1)(c) and (d) (i.e., evidence of conformity comparable to information specified in the following sections of the CFR: 1045.205 for marine engines, 1060.205 for vessels and outboards of the 2015 and later model years with installed fuel lines or fuel tanks, and 1051.205 for recreational vehicles). A company must therefore obtain and produce the following evidence:

• results of the emissions testing of the engine, vessel or vehicle obtained using the applicable procedures set out in the CFR;
• data required to repeat this testing (i.e., information specified in CFR 1045.205, 1060.205 and 1051.205);
• credentials of the laboratory where the testing was performed, in particular its experience in obtaining test results used in support of certification by the EPA; and
• a sample of an emission control information label.

Test results and data required to repeat the testing may be presented in the same format used when applying to the EPA for a certificate of conformity.

Under the Regulations, an emission control information label must be affixed in the location specified in paragraph 35(1)(d) of the Regulations. The label must include:

• a statement of compliance, such as "This engine conforms to all applicable standards under the Canadian Marine Spark-Ignition Engine, Vessel and Off-Road Recreational Vehicle Emission Regulations for [XXXX] model year" or the national emissions mark if the company has been authorized to affix it; and
• the name of the company, the model year, the date of manufacture, and sufficient information to identify the engine, vessel or vehicle as belonging to an emission family for which the evidence of conformity has been assessed to be satisfactory. The date of manufacture may be omitted if it is stamped or engraved elsewhere on the engine, vessel or vehicle.

On the label, a company may use the code system shown in Table 8 instead of providing in full the information listed under the second point indicated above. This code is based on the engine family identification developed by the EPA.

9.7.2 Alternate requirements for evidence of conformity for engines, vessels or vehicles covered by valid EPA certificates

Several compliance options are available under the Regulations. Under some circumstances, companies can demonstrate compliance with the standards by using the options referred to in paragraphs 11(1)(a) or (d) of the Regulations, even though the products are covered by valid EPA certificates.

Although all engines, vessels or vehicles described in Table 9 must follow the procedure specified in section 9.7.1 of this document, the evidence of conformity described in that section may be replaced by the evidence of conformity summarized in Table 9. For engines, vessels or vehicles described in the first row of Table 9, no additional labels have to be applied if these products are already labelled in accordance with the specifications of the EPA.

⁵ The identification code for evaporative emission families is available in an EPA compliance guidance letter issued in 2007 entitled "2007-03: EPA Standardized Naming Conventions for Model Year 2009 and Later Engine Family and Test Group Names, Evaporative/Refueling Family Names, and Permeation Family Names," available at Vehicle Programs and Compliance Guidance Letters.