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Daimler Trucks North America, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance Publication: Federal Register Signing Official: Otto G. Matheke III Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Date: 30 August 2022 Topic: Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner  
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 30, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53043-53045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18628]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0025; Notice 1]
Daimler Trucks North America, LLC, 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: Daimler Trucks North America, LLC, (DTNA), has determined that
certain model year (MY) 2019-2022 Thomas Built school buses do not
fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No.
217, Bus Emergency Exits and Window Retention and Release. DTNA filed
an original noncompliance report dated February 9, 2022, and amended
the report on April 13, 2022. DTNA petitioned NHTSA on March 1, 2022,
and later amended the petition on April 13, 2022, for a decision that
the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor
vehicle safety. This document announces receipt of DTNA's petition.
DATES: Send comments on or before September 29, 2022.
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 may be
submitted by any of the following methods:
Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to the 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 Delivery: Deliver comments by hand to the 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 for Federal Holidays.
Electronically: Submit comments electronically by logging
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website at https://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 https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided.
All comments and supporting materials 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 fullest 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 comments, background documentation, and supporting materials
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
https://www.regulations.gov by following the online instructions for
accessing the dockets. The docket ID number for this
[[Page 53044]]
petition is shown in the heading of this notice.
DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement is available for review in a
Federal Register notice published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Lind, Safety Compliance
Engineer, NHTSA, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, (202) 366-7235.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview: On November 20, 2020, NHTSA requested information from
DTNA regarding a test failure with S5.5.3(a) Emergency Exit
Identification and Labeling, in a 2019 Thomas Saf-T-Liner School bus.
NHTSA received DTNA's response on December 18, 2020, and on January 26,
2022, NHTSA requested that DTNA provide additional information or file
a noncompliance report, if it determines that there is a noncompliance.
As a result, DTNA determined that certain MY 2019-2022 Thomas Built
school buses do not fully comply with paragraph S5.5.3(a) of FMVSS No.
217, Bus Emergency Exits and Window Retention and Release (49 CFR
571.217).
DTNA filed an original noncompliance report dated February 9, 2022,
and amended the report on April 13, 2022, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573,
Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. DTNA petitioned
NHTSA on March 1, 2022, and amended the petition on April 13, 2022, 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, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and
30120(h) and 49 CFR part 556, Exemption for Inconsequential Defect or
Noncompliance.
This notice of receipt of DTNA's petition is published under 49
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or
another exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.
II. Vehicles Involved: Approximately 28,814 MY 2019-2022 Thomas
Built Saf-T-Liner HDX, EFX, C2, and Minotour school buses, manufactured
between September 28, 2018, and February 23, 2021, are potentially
involved:
III. Noncompliance: DTNA explains that the subject school buses are
equipped with ``Emergency Exit'' and ``Emergency Door'' labels that do
not meet the letter height requirements, as required by paragraph
S5.5.3(a) of FMVSS No. 217. Specifically, some of the letters are 4.9
cm, instead of the required minimum 5 cm letter height.
IV. Rule Requirements: Paragraph S5.5.3(a) of FMVSS No. 217
includes the requirements relevant to this petition. Each school bus
emergency exit provided in accordance with S5.2.3.1 of FMVSS No. 217 is
required to have the designation ``Emergency Door'' or ``Emergency
Exit,'' as appropriate, in letters at least 5 centimeters high, of a
color that contrasts with its background.
V. Background: DTNA says that prior to filing a noncompliance
information report for the subject noncompliance, in March of 2020
NHTSA notified DTNA of a potential noncompliance regarding the
emergency exit identification labeling in its buses. In April 2020 DTNA
responded to NHTSA and stated its belief that the label ``should be
considered compliant'' because, ``with standard rounding, the label-
letters met the requirements.'' In its response, DTNA also contended
that NHTSA had previously audited the labels in 2014 and found them to
be compliant. Then in November 2020, DTNA stated that it received an
information request from the Agency, to which DTNA responded by
explaining that ``(1) the labels meet the requirements of FMVSS [No.]
217 following the agency's rules of rounding and precision and (2) were
the exact same labels had previously been reviewed by the OVSC and
found to be compliant during OVSC compliance testing.'' On January 31,
2022, DTNA received another letter from the Agency requesting that DTNA
submit additional information or file a supporting noncompliance
report. DTNA says that it decided to file the noncompliance report ``in
order to avoid a protracted dispute with the agency.''
VI. Summary of DTNA's Petition: The following views and arguments
presented in this section, ``VI. Summary of DTNA's Petition,'' are the
views and arguments provided by DTNA. They have not been evaluated by
the Agency and do not reflect the views of the Agency. DTNA describes
the subject noncompliance and contends that the noncompliance is
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
DTNA says ``The relevant labels were designed with letters at least
5 cm and reasonably believed at all relevant times that they complied
with FMVSS [No.] 217 under applicable law, including NHTSA's public
statements regarding numerical rounding.''
DTNA contends that NHTSA has granted the following petitions in
which the letters did not meet the minimum letter height requirement:
Kia Motors America, Inc., Grant of Petition for Decision
of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 69 FR 41332 (July 8, 2004);
General Motors, LLC, Grant of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance, 81 FR 92963 (July 9, 2004); and
Hyundai Motor Co., Grant of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance, 69 FR 41568 (July 9, 2004).
DTNA also states that NHTSA has previously granted two
inconsequentiality petitions that ``could lead to crowding of
passengers trying to flee an exit.'' In the first case,\1\ ``buses were
manufactured with only one emergency exit instead of two'' and in the
second case,\2\ ``emergency exits were mounted under the same post and
roof bow panel space.''
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\1\ See New Flyer of America, Inc., Grant of Petition for
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 63 FR 32694 (June 15,
1998).
\2\ See IC Corporation, Grant of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance, 70 FR 24464 (May 9, 2005).
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DTNA states its belief that although the letter height is 0.1 cm
less than the requirement, the letters ``are sufficiently large as to
aid passengers fleeing an emergency'' and that the labels meet all
other applicable FMVSSs. DTNA believes that because some of the letters
exceed the 5 cm minimum requirement, ``the reasonable aggregate
perception of a viewer is that the letters are 5 cm or more.'' DTNA
further stated their belief that the 0.1 cm difference does not obscure
the labels or the purpose of the label since the labels are in bold
letters that contrast against the background of the labels.
DTNA claims that it is not aware of any complaint, accident,
injury, or death resulting from the subject noncompliance.
DTNA contends that ``there is a substantial question whether or not
there is fair notice as to how a manufacturer is to comply with FMVSS
[No.] 217 (and potential scores of other FMVSSs) given the agency's
past statements on numerical rounding.'' DTNA believes that NHTSA's
statements with respect to the rounding method it uses \3\ and the
rounding method provided in the FMVSS No. 111 test procedure are
contradicted by a 1990 NHTSA interpretation \4\ which states that an
FMVSS will specify when rounding is appropriate. DTNA claims that
NHTSA's ``procedures for comparing numbers to a standard is
ambiguous,'' therefore, DTNA states that it lacked ``fair notice as to
which of the
[[Page 53045]]
above procedures, rounding or not, apply.''
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\3\ See Consumer Information; New Car Assessment Program, 79 FR
28594 (May 16, 2014).
\4\ See Paul Jackson Rice, Chief Counsel, NHTSA, to David G.
Dick Acts Testing Labs, Inc.
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DTNA concludes by stating its belief that the subject noncompliance
is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety and its
petition to be exempted from providing notification of the
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and a remedy for 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 vehicles that DTNA no longer
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed.
However, any decision on this petition does not relieve vehicle
distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for
sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate
commerce of the noncompliant vehicles under their control after DTNA
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)
Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2022-18628 Filed 8-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P