Graco Children's Products, Inc., Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Graco Children's Products, Inc., Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Topics: Graco

Graco Children's Products, Inc., Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
17 February 2016

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8123-8125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03202]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0127; Notice 1]

Graco Children's Products, Inc., Receipt of Petition for Decision
of Inconsequential Noncompliance

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Receipt of petition.

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SUMMARY: Graco Children's Products, Inc. (Graco), has determined that
certain Graco Milestone child restraints

[[Page 8124]]

manufactured between July 9, 2015 and October 6, 2015, do not fully
comply with paragraph S5.5.2(g)(1)(ii) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, Child Restraint Systems. Graco filed a report
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility
and Reports. Graco then petitioned NHTSA under 49 CFR part 556
requesting a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential
to motor vehicle safety.

DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is March 18, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written data,
views, and arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the
docket and notice number cited at the beginning of this notice and
submitted by any of the following methods:
Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to: U.S. Department
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Deliver: Deliver comments by hand to: U.S. Department
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. The
Docket Section is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except
Federal Holidays.
Electronically: Submit comments electronically by: logging
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Web site at http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Comments may also be faxed to (202) 493-2251.
Comments must be written in the English language, and be no greater
than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of
necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in
hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish
to receive confirmation that your comments were received, please
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the comments. Note that
all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
Documents submitted to a docket may be viewed by anyone at the
address and times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov by following the online
instructions for accessing the dockets. DOT's complete Privacy Act
Statement is available for review in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000, (65 FR 19477-78).
The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received
before the close of business on the closing date indicated above will
be filed and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be
considered to the extent possible. When the petition is granted or
denied, notice of the decision will be published in the Federal
Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) (see
implementing rule at 49 CFR part 556), Graco submitted a petition for
an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C.
Chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential to
motor vehicle safety.
This notice of receipt of Graco's petition is published under 49
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.
II. Child Restraints Involved: Affected are approximately 8,240
Graco Milestone child restraints manufactured between July 9, 2015 and
October 2, 2015.
III. Noncompliance: Graco explains that the noncompliance is due to
a labeling issue. The labels on the subject child restraints do not
contain the phrase ``Secure this child restraint with the vehicle's
child restraint anchorage system,if available, or with a vehicle belt''
as required by paragraph S5.5.2(g)(1)(ii) of FMVSS No. 213.
IV. Rule Text: Paragraph S5.5.2(g)(1)(ii) of FMVSS No. 213 requires
in pertinent part:

S5.5.2 The information specified in paragraphs (a) through (m)
of this section shall be stated in the English language and lettered
in letters and numbers that are not smaller than 10 point type.
Unless otherwise specified, the information shall be labeled on a
white background with black text. Unless written in all capitals,
the information shall be stated in sentence capitalization. . . .
(g) The statements specified in paragraphs (1) and (2):
(1) A heading as specified in S5.5.2(k)(3)(i), with the
statement ``WARNING! DEATH or SERIOUS INJURY can occur,''
capitalized as written and followed by bulleted statements in the
following order: . . .
(ii) Secure this child restraint with the vehicle's child
restraint anchorage system if available or with a vehicle belt. [For
car beds, harnesses, and belt positioning boosters, the first part
of the statement regarding attachment by the child restraint
attachment by the child restraint anchorage system is optional]. . .
.

V. Summary of Graco's Analyses: Graco stated its belief that the
subject noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for
the following reasons:
(1) Graco stated that the noncompliant label provides visual
pictograms showing the rear-facing child restraint being secured using
the child restraint anchorage system and using a vehicle belt (both
with a lap only seat belt and lap/shoulder seat belt). This pictogram
is located on the same label just below where the omitted phrase is
required to be, and provides the same substance as the language
required by FMVSS No. 213.
(2) Graco also stated that in addition to the pictograms that
describe how to secure the child restraint in the vehicle using the
child restraint anchorage system and the vehicle belt, the printed
instruction manual provided with the subject child restraints includes
written step-by-step installation procedures. The manual also describes
why and how to secure the child restraint in rear-facing and forward-
facing modes using the child restraint anchorage system as well as the
vehicle seat belt systems. The instruction manual additionally includes
multiple prominently placed safety warning regarding the need to secure
the child restraint with the child restraint anchorage system or the
vehicle seat belt.
(3) Graco stated its belief that the consumers generally
understanding that child restraints must be installed/secured a
vehicle's seat to be effective. Graco also stated its belief that with
respect to labels and instructions, consumers are often drawn first to
illustrations and pictograms.
(4) Graco also stated its belief that the absence of the omitted
phrase from the label does not affect the crashworthiness of the child
restraint system.
Graco has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected the
noncompliance so that future production of the subject child restraints
will comply with all applicable labeling requirements of FMVSS No. 213.
In summation, Graco believes that the described noncompliance of
the subject child restraints is inconsequential to motor vehicle
safety, and that its petition, to exempt Graco from providing recall
notification of the noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and
remedying the noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120 should be
granted.
NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a
determination of

[[Page 8125]]

inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers only from the
duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, to notify
owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance and to
remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, any decision on this
petition only applies to the subject child restraints that Graco no
longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance
existed. However, any decision on this petition does not relieve
equipment distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale,
offer for sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into
interstate commerce of the noncompliant child restraints under their
control after Graco notified them that the subject noncompliance
existed.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at
49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8.

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2016-03202 Filed 2-16-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P