Child Seating Systems Manufactured by Fisher-Price, Inc.; Cancellation of Public Meeting and Termination of Proceeding

Topics:  Fisher-Price

Barry Felrice
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Federal Register
August 17, 1994

[Federal Register: August 17, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 93-79; Notice 5]

 
Child Seating Systems Manufactured by Fisher-Price, Inc.; 
Cancellation of Public Meeting and Termination of Proceeding

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

ACTION: Cancellation of public meeting and termination of proceeding.

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SUMMARY: By notice published on August 1, 1994, NHTSA scheduled a 
public meeting for August 17, 1994 regarding an appeal by Fisher-Price, 
Inc., of NHTSA's denial of its petition for an exemption from the 
recall requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety 
Act. Fisher-Price recently advised the agency that it is now taking the 
position that it has not determined that its child safety seats failed 
to comply with the flammability requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standard No. 213. Under the agency's regulations, a manufacturer 
may not seek an exemption from the recall requirements in the absence 
of such a determination. Therefore, this proceeding is hereby 
terminated, and the public meeting is hereby cancelled.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Flanigan, Office of Rulemaking, 
NHTSA (202-366-4918).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 11, 1993, a contractor for NHTSA's 
Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance (OVSC) tested certain child safety 
seats manufactured by Fisher-Price to ascertain whether those seats 
complied with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 
(FMVSS) No. 213, ``Child Restraint Systems.'' The results of those 
tests indicated that the seats failed the flammability requirements of 
that standard, which are incorporated by reference from FMVSS No. 302, 
``Flammability of Interior Materials,'' in that the shoulder belt 
webbing of the seats burned at a rate above the limit established by 
the standard. Upon receipt of the test results, OVSC opened a 
noncompliance investigation, NCI 3270.
    Although Fisher-Price initially resisted OVSC's suggestion that the 
company should make a formal determination that the seats failed to 
comply, on September 16, 1993, Fisher-Price, submitted a letter, 
pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports,'' 
notifying the agency that it had ``become aware of information 
suggesting that the molded shoulder belt webbing on its Model AO9191, 
DO9101, 9103, 9149, 9173, 9179, and 9180 car seats may not comply with 
the requirements of FMVSS 302.''
    Concurrently, Fisher-Price filed a petition asking NHTSA for ``an 
exemption from the notification and remedy requirements * * * based on 
an inconsequential noncompliance with the requirements * * * as related 
to motor vehicle safety.'' This petition was filed pursuant to former 
section 157 of the Act (now 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h)) and 49 CFR 
Part 556, ``Exemption for Inconsequential Defect or Noncompliance.''
    Pursuant to 49 CFR 556.4(a), inconsequentiality petitions may only 
be filed by a manufacturer following a determination that a vehicle or 
item of equipment produced by the manufacturer contains a defect or 
fails to comply with an applicable FMVSS. In its September 16, 1993 
letter, Fisher-Price stated that ``[i]n order to comply with the 
requirements of 49 CFR 556.4(b)(6) [sic] that a report in accordance 
with 49 CFR Part 573 be submitted with its Petition for exemption,'' it 
was providing the information required by Part 573.
    Under the circumstances, including the fact that the results of the 
compliance tests conducted both by OVSC and by Fisher-Price clearly 
indicated that the seats in question did not satisfy the flammability 
requirements of the standard, NHTSA interpreted Fisher-Price's 
statement as a notification of the company's noncompliance 
determination. Therefore, the agency accepted the inconsequentiality 
petition for processing. It published a notice that the petition had 
been filed on November 9, 1993 (58 FR 59511), and denied the petition 
on March 22, 1994. Notice of the denial was published on May 5, 1994 
(59 FR 23253). On May 6, Fisher-Price appealed the denial and asked for 
a public meeting. Notice of the appeal was published on June 16, 1994 
(59 FR 30957), and the public meeting requested by the company was 
scheduled for August 17, 1994 (59 FR 39015).
    Upon reviewing the documents that Fisher-Price submitted with its 
appeal, NHTSA noted that Fisher-Price seemed to be taking the position 
that its child safety seats did not fail to comply with FMVSS No. 213. 
Therefore, the agency requested Fisher-Price to clarify whether it had 
in fact made a noncompliance determination. On August 10, 1994, Fisher-
Price advised NHTSA that it would not concede that its seats failed to 
comply with the standard and that its September 16, 1993 letter should 
not be construed as a determination of noncompliance.
    Because 49 CFR 556.4(a) precludes consideration of Fisher-Price's 
petition for an inconsequentiality exemption in the absence of such a 
determination, NHTSA is terminating this proceeding (Docket 93-79) and 
is cancelling the public meeting scheduled for August 17, 1994. The 
agency plans to take further action with respect to the noncompliance 
investigation in the near future.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 
49 CFR 1.50(a) and 49 CFR 501.8.

    Issued on: August 12, 1994.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 94-20231 Filed 8-12-94; 4:59 pm]
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