National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory

About EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) is part of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) which is responsible for carrying out laws to control air pollution from motor vehicles, engines, and their fuels. OTAQ's mission is to reconcile the transportation sector with the environment by advancing clean fuels and technology, and promoting more livable communities. OTAQ is divided between EPA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and NVFEL in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

NVFEL building sign

About NVFEL
General Information
Doing Work with NVFEL

The Laboratory's primary responsibilities include:

Developing national regulatory programs to reduce mobile source related air pollution from light-duty cars and trucks, heavy-duty trucks and buses, nonroad engines and vehicles, and their fuels.
Evaluating emission control technology.
Providing state and local air quality regulators and transportation planners with access to critical information on transportation programs and incentive-based programs.
Testing vehicles, engines and fuels.
Determining compliance with federal emissions and fuel economy standards.

Organizationally, the lab functions as part of the EPA's Washington, DC, headquarters.

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The Laboratory was established in 1971, shortly after the creation of EPA. It is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, near the headquarters of domestic automobile manufacturers to facilitate transfer of test vehicles back and forth.

There are about 400 employees at NVFEL. Staff expertise spans a variety of technical and public policy fields including auto mechanics, engineering, chemistry, economics, natural resources management, and law.

The NVFEL lab provides the Office of Transportation and Air Quality with emission testing services for motor vehicle, heavy-duty engine, and nonroad engine programs in support of rulemakings, enforcement actions, and procedures development. Testing activities include:

certifying that vehicles and engines meet federal emissions and fuel economy standards	testing engines for in-use compliance
analyzing fuels, fuel additives, and exhaust compounds

In addition, the lab assists in the development of automotive technology to reduce conventional pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, such as the Clean Automotive Technology initiative, low NOx diesel engine, and alternative fuel technologies.

For more information on NVFEL, please contact the Office of Transportation and Air Quality public information line by phone at (734) 214-4333 or by email, otaqpublicweb@epa gov.

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General Information

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the Adobe PDF files on this page. See EPA's PDF page for more information about getting and using the free Acrobat Reader.

National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (PDF) (3 pp, 67K, EPA420-F-04-058, December 2004) This fact sheet is a print version of this Web page.
Map to NVFEL (PDF) (1 pg, 16K, August 2004)
NVFEL Library Information
NVFEL Energy Savings Performance Contract
NVFEL tests and certifies fuel cell vehicle:
- Press Release (February 11, 2003)
- EPA Fuel Cell Vehicle Testing (PDF) (4 pp, 15K, EPA420-F-02-055, February 2003)
Office of Transportation and Air Quality (PDF) (4 pp, 99K, EPA420-F-05-054, November 2005) This fact sheet provides an overview of the office, its programs and organization.
OTAQ Organization Chart (PDF)
"Toward a Cleaner Future: Office of Transportation and Air Quality Progress Report 2005" (EPA420-R-05-011, November 2005)
- Executive Summary (PDF) (5 pp, 363K)
- Full Report (PDF) (36 pp, 1.8MB)