Supreme Corporation, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Topics:  Classic American Trolley

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
3 March 2016

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 42 (Thursday, March 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11358-11359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04617]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0126; Notice 1]


Supreme Corporation, 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: Supreme Corporation (Supreme), has determined that certain 
model year (MY) 2015-2016 Supreme Classic American Trolley buses 
manufactured between October 1, 2014 and November 2, 2015, do not fully 
comply with paragraph S6 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 
(FMVSS) No. 205, Glazing Materials. Supreme filed a report pursuant to 
49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. 
Supreme 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 April 4, 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), Supreme 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 Supreme'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. Buses Involved

    Affected are approximately 21 MY 2015-2016 Supreme Classic American 
Trolley buses manufactured between October 1, 2014 and November 2, 
2015.

III. Noncompliance

    Supreme explains that the noncompliance is that the windshields on 
the subject Trolley's do not contain the ``AS1'' markings as required 
by paragraph S6 of FMVSS No. 205.

IV. Rule Text

    Paragraph S6 of FMVSS No. 205 requires in pertinent part:

    S6. Certification and marking.
    S6.1 A prime glazing material manufacturer, must certify, in 
accordance with 49 U.S.C. 30115, each piece of glazing material to 
which this standard applies that is designed--
    (a) As a component of any specific motor vehicle or camper; or
    (b) To be cut into components for use in motor vehicles or items 
of motor vehicle equipment.
    S6.2 A prime glazing manufacturer certifies its glazing by 
adding to the marks required by section 7 of ANSI/SAE Z26.1-1996, in 
letters and numerals of the same size, the symbol ``DOT'' and a 
manufacturer's code mark that NHTSA assigns to the manufacturer. 
NHTSA will assign a code mark to a manufacturer after the 
manufacturer submits a written request to the Office of Vehicle 
Safety Compliance, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 
400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590. The request must 
include the company name, address, and a statement from the 
manufacturer certifying its status as a prime glazing manufacturer 
as defined in S4.

    In addition, paragraph S5.1 of FMVSS No. 205 incorporates by 
reference ANSI Z26.1-1996 and other industry

[[Page 11359]]

standards. Specifically, Section 7 (Marking of Safety Glazing 
Materials) of ANSI Z26.1-1996 requires that:

    In addition to any other markings required by law, ordinance, or 
regulation, all safety glazing materials manufactured for use in 
accordance with this standard shall be legibly and permanently 
marked in letters and numerals . . . with the words American 
National Standard or the characters AS and . . . In addition to the 
preceding markings and immediately adjacent to the words American 
National Standard or the characters AS, each piece of glazing 
material shall further be marked . . . if complying with the 
requirements of Section 4, Application of Tests, Item 1 with the 
numeral 1; . . .

V. Summary of Supreme's Analyses

    Supreme stated its belief that the subject noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for the following reasons:
    (1) Supreme stated that the subject windshields meet all 
performance and other requirements of FMVSS No. 205 with the exception 
of the subject noncompliance.
    (2) Supreme stated its belief that repair services for the subject 
windshields will not be affected because replacement windshields are 
typically obtained through Supreme distributors who have the correct 
and compliant replacement glazing.
    (3) Supreme also stated that they have not received any consumer 
complaints, claims, or warranty claims related to this noncompliance.
    (4) Supreme additionally made mention of similar inconsequential 
noncompliance petitions that were granted by the agency relating 
noncompliances that Supreme believes are similar to the subject FMVSS 
No. 205 noncompliance.
    Supreme has informed NHTSA that for all affected vehicles that 
remain in Supreme's inventory and the inventory of Supreme's 
distributors, permanent markings in compliance with FMVSS No. 205 will 
be added to the vehicle windshields before delivery under a sale or 
lease.
    In summation, Supreme believes that the described noncompliance of 
the subject windshields is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and 
that its petition, to exempt Supreme from providing recall notification 
of noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and remedying the 
recall 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 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 buses that Supreme 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 buses under their control after Supreme 
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. 2016-04617 Filed 3-2-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P