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Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Formerly Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance Publication: Federal Register Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: Otto G. Matheke III Date: 18 April 2024 Subjects: American Government  , Safety, Tires
Topic: Cooper Tires |
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 76 (Thursday, April 18, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27831-27833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08275]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0065; Notice 1]
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Formerly 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: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (Goodyear), who acquired Cooper
Tire & Rubber Company (Cooper Tire), has determined that certain Cooper
Discoverer SRX replacement passenger car tires do not fully comply with
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 139, New Pneumatic
Radial Tires for Light Vehicles. Cooper Tire filed a noncompliance
report dated August 19, 2021, and amended it on August 24, 2021.
Additionally, Goodyear petitioned NHTSA on August 20, 2021, for a
decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it
relates to motor vehicle safety. This notice announces receipt of
Goodyear's petition.
DATES: Send comments on or before May 20, 2024.
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
submitted by any of the following methods:
Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to the U.S.
Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-
[[Page 27832]]
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 docket. 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 in a
Federal Register notice published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayton Lindley, General Engineer,
NHTSA, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, (325) 655-0547,
jayton.lindley@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview: Goodyear has determined that certain Cooper Discoverer
SRX passenger car tires do not fully comply with the requirements of
paragraph S5.5.1(b) of FMVSS No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for
Light Vehicles (49 CFR 571.139). Cooper Tire filed a noncompliance
report dated August 19, 2021, and amended it on August 24, 2021,
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility
and Reports. Goodyear additionally petitioned NHTSA on August 20, 2021,
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 Goodyear'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: Approximately 730 Cooper Discoverer SRX, size
255/55R20 110H XL, replacement passenger car tires, manufactured
between March 28, 2021, and April 24, 2021, are potentially involved.
III. Noncompliance: Goodyear explains that the noncompliance is
that the Tire Information Number (TIN) on the subject tires exceeds the
number of characters allowed and therefore, does not fully comply with
part 574.5(g)(3), as required by S5.5.1 of FMVSS No. 139. Specifically,
the 4-symbol curing press ID (C13R) was transposed with the 4-symbol
numeric date code resulting in a TIN that appears to contain 15
characters, thus containing three more characters than permitted in 49
CFR 574.5 for TINs that utilize the two-symbol plant code.
IV. Rule Requirements: Section 49 CFR 574.5(a) and paragraph
S5.5.1(b) of FMVSS No. 139 include the requirements relevant to this
petition.
For 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, 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 sidewall.
V. Summary of Goodyear's Petition: The following views and
arguments presented in this section, ``V. Summary of Goodyear's
Petition,'' are the views and arguments provided by Goodyear. They have
not been evaluated by the Agency and do not reflect the views of the
Agency. Goodyear describes the subject noncompliance and contends that
the noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle
safety.
In support of its petition, Goodyear submits the following
reasoning:
According to Goodyear, the subject tires ``meet or exceed'' the
applicable FMVSS performance requirements and the noncompliance does
not affect ``the performance of the tires or the safe operation of the
vehicles on which they are installed.''
Additionally, in the event of a field action, the noncompliant TIN
marking could be included in the notification letter sent to the
consumer.
Goodyear cites the following previously granted inconsequentiality
petitions which it says pertain to noncompliances that are similar to
the subject noncompliance:
Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire, LLC, Grant of
Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance; 71 FR 4396
(January 26, 2006).
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company; Grant of Application for
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance; 63 FR 29060, (May 27, 1998).
Goodyear concludes that the subject noncompliance is
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety and that 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 tires that Goodyear no longer
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed.
However,
[[Page 27833]]
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 Goodyear 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. 2024-08275 Filed 4-17-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P