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AROW Global Corp., Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance Publication: Federal Register Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: Otto G. Matheke III Date: 26 July 2024 Subjects: American Government  , Buses, Safety
Topic: AROW Global |
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 144 (Friday, July 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60679-60680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16482]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0101; Notice 1]
AROW Global Corp., 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: AROW Global Corp. (AROW) has determined that certain glass
panes for use as original equipment and replacement service parts of
side window assemblies on transit buses do not fully comply with
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 205, Glazing
Materials. AROW filed a noncompliance report dated September 19, 2022,
and later amended the report on September 20, 2022. AROW subsequently
petitioned NHTSA (the ``Agency'') on October 12, 2022, for a decision
that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to
motor vehicle safety. This document announces receipt of AROW's
petition.
DATES: Send comments on or before August 26, 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 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 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: Jack Chern, General Engineer, NHTSA,
[[Page 60680]]
Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, (202) 366-0661.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview: AROW determined that certain glass panes for use as
orginal equipment and replacement service parts of side window
assemblies on transit buses, do not fully comply with paragraph S6.2 of
FMVSS No. 205, Glazing Materials (49 CFR 571.205).
AROW filed a noncompliance report dated September 19, 2022, and
later amended the report on September 20, 2022, pursuant to 49 CFR part
573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. AROW
petitioned NHTSA on October 12, 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 AROW'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. Equipment Involved: Approximately 1,600 certain glass panes for
use as orginal equipment and replacement service parts of side window
assemblies on transit buses, manufactured between March 31, 2022, and
September 9, 2022, were reported by the manufacturer.
III. Noncompliance: AROW explains that the subject glass panes are
marked with the incorrect manufacturer's code, and therefore, do not
comply with paragraph S6.2 of FMVSS No. 205. Specifically, the subject
glass panes are marked ``DOT 1187'' when they should be marked ``DOT
1178.''
IV. Rule Requirements: Paragraph S6.2 of FMVSS No. 205 includes the
requirements relevant to this petition. 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 which must include the company
name, address, and a statement from the manufacturer certifying its
status as a prime glazing manufacturer as defined in paragraph S4 of
FMVSS No. 205.
V. Summary of AROW's Petition: The following views and arguments
presented in this section, ``V. Summary of AROW's Petition,'' are the
views and arguments provided by AROW. They have not been evaluated by
the Agency and do not reflect the views of the Agency. AROW describes
the subject noncompliance and contends that the noncompliance is
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
AROW explains that the subject glass panes contain the
manufacturer's code mark ``DOT 1187,'' which incorrectly identifies
Glass Industry PLC as the manufacturer. AROW says that while the
manufacturer code on the subject glass panes is incorrect, the
certification mark contains the correct AS item number and the glass
panes meet the FMVSS No. 205 technical requirements as applicable to
tempered glass for use in motor vehicles.\1\
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\1\ AROW's petition includes supporting test reports issued by a
third part testing services provider.
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AROW states that the subject glass panes are intended for use in
the North American transit bus market, where there are only a few
glazing suppliers, and the production volume of vehicles are relatively
low. The manufacturer indicated by the incorrect manufacturer code on
the subject glass panes, Glass Industry PLC, is not known to supply the
affected side window assemblies during the specified time period the
noncompliance may exist. Furthermore, AROW believes that it is unlikely
that the manufacturer code marked on the subject glass panes would be
used to obtain new or replacement parts. Instead, AROW believes that
the bus manufacturer would be contacted to obtain replacement parts,
and the part numbers and part sources would be identified from the
original build contract. Moreover, AROW states that all parts contain
its corporate logo, which indicates AROW as the supplier of the part.
AROW contends that NHTSA has granted prior petitions for similar
noncompliances. Specifically, AROW refers to a petition submitted by
Custom Glass Solution Upper Sandusky Corporation \2\ that involved
glass panes that were ``labeled with the incorrect manufacturer's code
mark, incorrect Manufacturer's trademark, and incorrect manufacturer's
model number, and were incorrectly marked as Tempered.'' AROW cited the
following from NHTSA's decision: NHTSA believes that the subject
labeling errors are inconsequential to motor vehicle safety because the
marking of glazing as ``Tempered'' or ``Laminated'' is not required by
FMVSS No. 205, the probability of anyone in the United States obtaining
the subject incorrectly marked glazing as replacement glazing is very
unlikely since the affected glazing is specifically designed for use in
mining vehicles manufactured by Atlas Copco in Australia. In addition,
there is no concern that the wrong model number on the subject glazing
would result in an incorrect replacement part being used because
replacement parts are ordered by referring to the glazing part number
or by identifying the vehicle for which the replacement glazing is
intended.
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\2\ See Custom Glass Solutions Upper Sandusky Corporation, Grant
of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 80 FR
3737 (January 23, 2015).
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AROW 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 equipment that AROW 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 equipment under their control after AROW
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. 2024-16482 Filed 7-25-24; 8:45 am]
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