Regulatory Update
California Air Resources Board
Off-Road Large Spark Ignition Equipment Regulations

In May 2007, the California Environmental Protection Agency released new rules, via the California Air Resources Board (CARB), governing emissions from off-road large spark ignition (LSI) equipment. These rules require operators of certain fleets of LSI equipment, including on-airport ground service equipment, to determine their Fleet Average Emission Level (FAEL) and set decreasing limits on FAEL beginning in 2009.

Due to the lack of availability of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) equipment and aftermarket retrofit kits capable of meeting the FAEL standards, many operators of fleets with engine displacement of greater than three liters are not in compliance with the LSI regulations. In addition, many fleet operators who purchased or leased late model equipment that met emission standards at the time are not in compliance with the 2009 FAEL standard. On April 16, 2009 the CARB released Advisory 08-03 to provide relief to these types of operators.

Advisory 08-03:

• Allows fleet operators to exempt their non-controlled, greater than three-liter displacement LSI equipment from fleet average calculation until April 15, 2010.
• This delay is designed to allow more time for greater than three-liter OEM equipment or aftermarket retrofit kits to become available.
• Allows fleet operators with fleets entirely composed of OEM-controlled (to the old standard) LSI equipment as follows:
• Equipment leased on or after January 1, 2004, may be excluded from fleet average calculations until April 15, 2010.
• Owned equipment for which retrofit kits are not available may be excluded from fleet average calculations until April 15, 2010.

Advisory 08-03 may be viewed on the California Air Resources Board Web site at:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/orspark/orspark.htm

For more detailed information, please visit NATA’s Web site:
NATA White Paper on CA. LSI Regulations

For more information, contact:
Mike France
NATA Manager Regulatory Affairs

View this document in PDF form.

For general press inquiries, contact Shannon Chambers at 703-298-1347 or schambers@nata.aero. 

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has been the voice of aviation business for more than 80 years. Representing nearly 3,700 aviation businesses, NATA’s member companies provide a broad range of services to general aviation, the airlines and the military and NATA serves as the public policy group representing the interests of aviation businesses before Congress and the federal agencies.