Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance |
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Topics: Cooper Tire
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Jeffrey M. Giuseppe
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
3 August 2016
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51269-51270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-18307]
[[Page 51269]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0071; Notice 1]
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, 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: Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (Cooper), has determined that
certain MULTI-MILE Grand Tour LS passenger vehicle tires do not fully
comply with paragraph S5.5.1(b) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) No. 139, New Pneumatic Tires Radial Tires for Light
Vehicles. Cooper filed a report dated May 24, 2016, pursuant to 49 CFR
part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. Cooper
then petitioned NHTSA under 49 CFR part 556 for a decision that the
subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle
safety.
DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is September 2,
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 in the title of this notice and be
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 comments you have submitted by mail 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.
The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received
before the close of business on the closing date indicated above will
be filed in the docket 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
also be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority
indicated at the end of this notice.
All documents submitted to the 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. The docket ID number for this
petition is shown in the heading of this notice.
DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement is available for review a
Federal Register notice published on April 11, 2000, (65 FR 19477-78).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Overview: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d)
and 30120(h) and their implementing regulations at 49 CFR part 556,
Cooper 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 as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
This notice of receipt of Cooper'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. Tires Involved: Affected are approximately 37 Cooper Tire
MULTI-MILE Grand Tour LS Size 205/70R15 Tubeless Radial Tires
manufactured between March 24, 2016 and March 29, 2016.
III. Noncompliance: Cooper explains that the noncompliance is that
the outboard sidewalls of the subject tires are labeled with an
incorrect manufacturer's identification mark and therefore do not fully
meet all applicable requirements of paragraph S5.5.1(b) of FMVSS No.
139. Specifically, the tires are labeled with the manufacturer's
identification mark ``Y9,'' assigned to a manufacturing facility in
P.T. Gadjah Tunggual, Kabupaten Tangerang, Jawa Barat, Indonesia,
instead of ``U9,'' assigned to Cooper's manufacturing facility in
Tupelo, Mississippi, where the tires were actually produced.
IV. Rule Text: Paragraph S5.5.1 of FMVSS No. 139 requires in
pertinent part:
S5.5.1 Tire Identification Number.
. . .
(b) Tires manufactured on or after September 1, 2009. Each tire
must be labeled with the tire identification number required by 49
CFR part 574 on the intended outboard sidewall of the tire. Except
for retreaded tires, either the tire identification number or a
partial tire identification number, containing all characters in the
tire identification number, except for the date code and, at the
discretion of the manufacturer, any optional code, must be labeled
on the other sidewall of the tire. Except for retreaded tires, if a
tire does not have an intended outboard sidewall, the tire must be
labeled with the tire identification number required by 49 CFR part
574 on one sidewall and with either the tire identification number
or a partial tire identification number, containing all characters
in the tire identification number except for the date code and, at
the discretion of the manufacturer, any optional code, on the other
side wall.
V. Summary of Cooper's Petition: Cooper states its belief that the
subject noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety on
account of the fact that while the subject tires contain an incorrect
manufacturer's identification mark on the outboard sidewall, the full
and correct tire code (including the correct manufacturer's
identification mark) is available on the intended inboard sidewall.
Cooper also indicated that it has taken the following steps to
ensure proper registration of the subject tires:
(a) Cooper has informed all internal personnel responsible for
manual processing of tire registration cards about the incorrect
manufacturer identification issue so that cards containing the ``Y9''
designation will be accepted and properly processed when all other
information accurately identifies the subject tires. Additionally,
consistent with its usual practices, whenever a tire registration card
is submitted with inaccurate or incomplete information, Cooper sends a
mailing to the consumer seeking additional information by providing a
prepaid response card.
(b) Cooper has also modified its database to accept ``Y9'' when
other information (brand, serial weeks affected etc.) is accurate.
[[Page 51270]]
(c) Cooper has contacted Computerized Information and Management
Services, Inc. (CIMS), a third-party vendor that collects and provides
tire registration cards to Cooper, so that tire registration cards will
not be rejected solely due to improper plant code information.
Cooper also noted that while the subject tires are mislabeled on
the outboard side, they meet all other performance requirements of the
applicable standard. The company observed that plant code information
has no bearing on the performance or operation of a tire and does not
create a safety concern to either the operator of the vehicle on which
the tires are mounter of the safety of personnel in the tire repair,
retread and recycle industry. Cooper also stated that on April 22, 2016
the incorrect mold that caused the stamping error was removed from
production and replaced with a corrected plug, thereby eliminating the
problem in future production.
Please refer to Cooper's petition for its complete reasoning and
any associated illustrations. The petition and all supporting documents
are available by logging onto the Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) Web site at: http://www.regulations.gov/ and following the
online search instructions to locate the docket number listed in the
title of this notice.
In summation, Cooper believes that the described noncompliance of
the subject tires is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle
safety, and that its petition, to exempt Cooper from providing
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 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 tires that Cooper 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 tires under their control after Cooper
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. 2016-18307 Filed 8-2-16; 8:45 am]
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