Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; New Pneumatic Tires for Motor Vehicles With a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of More Than 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) and Motorcycles

Topics:  Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

Joseph S. Carra
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
November 30, 2010

[Federal Register: November 30, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 229)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 73998]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30no10-29]                         


[[Page 73998]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0132]
RIN 21217-AK17

 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; New Pneumatic Tires for 
Motor Vehicles With a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of More Than 
4,536 Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) and Motorcycles

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: NHTSA has received a petition asking the agency to extend the 
comment period for its proposal to upgrade the Federal motor vehicle 
safety standard (FMVSS) that applies to new pneumatic tires for use on 
vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 10,000 
pounds and motorcycles. In the proposal, NHTSA established a deadline 
for the submission of written comments of November 29, 2010. In light 
of that petition and the need to ensure that all interested parties 
have a sufficient amount of time to fully develop their comments, the 
agency is extending the deadline for the submission of written comments 
by 30 days.

DATES: Written comments must be received by December 29, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by the NHTSA Docket ID 
Number above) by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78).
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Soodoo, NHTSA Office of 
Rulemaking (Telephone: 202-366-2720) (Fax: 202-493-2739) or Thomas 
Healy, NHTSA Office of Chief Counsel (Telephone: 202-366-7161) (Fax: 
202-366-3820). The mailing address for these officials is: National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building, Washington, 
DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NPRM) proposing to upgrade FMVSS No. 119 (49 CFR 571.119), which 
applies to new pneumatic tires for vehicles with a GVWR greater than 
10,000 pounds and motorcycles. The NPRM was published on September 29, 
2010 (75 FR 60037, Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0132). In the NPRM, among 
other matters, NHTSA proposed to amend FMVSS No. 119 to adopt a more 
stringent endurance test and a new high speed test for heavy vehicle 
tires with a load range of F, G, H, J, and L.
    The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), which represents 
manufacturers of finished rubber products, including tire 
manufacturers, has petitioned for an extension of the comment period on 
the NPRM. RMA said that it is requesting a 30-day extension so that its 
members can complete all of their additional testing to evaluate the 
more stringent endurance test proposed by the agency and to develop new 
data to demonstrate differences in outcomes with tire break-in versus 
no break-in for the new proposed high speed test. RMA indicated that it 
also intends to supplement its earlier test data submitted to the 
agency on April 14, 2009. RMA believes that the earlier data set 
submitted to the docket, combined with additional new data, will assist 
NHTSA in evaluating RMA's comments and arriving at a final rule. RMA 
maintains that its members require several weeks to complete even a 
small test program of the 47-hour endurance test. Therefore, RMA 
indicates that it is not possible for its members to complete all of 
their additional testing and have it ready for submittal by November 
29, 2010.
    In considering the extension request, NHTSA weighed the complexity 
and importance of this rulemaking and the basis for the request. We 
have decided there is good cause to grant the petition and extend the 
comment period 30 days. The extension is in the public interest since 
it will provide the public additional time to prepare and submit useful 
technical information that should benefit agency decision-making in 
this rulemaking action. Accordingly, NHTSA extends the period for the 
submission of written comments in this proceeding to December 29, 2010.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30166 and 30177; 
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

    Issued: November 24, 2010.
Joseph S. Carra,
Acting Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2010-30096 Filed 11-24-10; 4:15 pm]
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