[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 236 (Thursday, December 9, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 69071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31973]
[[Page 69071]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-99-6009; Notice 2]
W.F. Mickey Body Company, Inc., Grant of Application for Decision
of Inconsequential Noncompliance
W.F. Mickey Body Company, Inc. (Mickey Body), a manufacturer of
trailers (beverage bodies, van bodies, and vending bodies), is a
corporation organized under the laws of the State of North Carolina
with its principal place of business located in High Point, North
Carolina. Mickey Body has determined that its tire and rim label
information, on some units, is not in full compliance with 49 CFR
571.120, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 120, ``Tire
Selection and Rims for Vehicles Other Than Passenger Cars,'' and has
filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, ``Defect and
Noncompliance Reports.'' Mickey Body has also applied to be exempted
from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter
301--``Motor Vehicle Safety'' on the basis that the noncompliance is
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
Notice of receipt of the application was published, with a 30-day
comment period, on August 16, 1999, in the Federal Register (64 FR
44575). NHTSA received no comments on this application during the 30-
day comment period.
Paragraph S5.3 of FMVSS No. 120 states that each vehicle shall show
the information specified on the tire information level in both English
and metric units. The standard also shows an example of the prescribed
format.
After the requirement went into effect on March 14, 1996, from that
date to March 1999, Mickey Body manufactured approximately 2,464
beverage trailers, 4,222 beverage bodies, 5,822 van bodies, and 472
vending bodies that do not meet the requirements stated in the
standard. The certification label affixed to these Mickey Body's units
pursuant to Part 567 failed to comply with S5.3 of FMVSS No. 120
because of the omission of metric measurements, and Mickey Body did not
separately provide the metric measurements on another label, an
alternative allowed by FMVSS No. 120. The use of metric measurements is
required by FMVSS No. 120, pursuant to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards: Metric Conversion, 50 FR 13639, published on March 14, 1995,
and effective on March 14, 1996.
Mickey Body supports its application for inconsequential
noncompliance with the following relevant statements:
1. NHTSA has previously granted an exemption for inconsequential
noncompliance [to Dorsey Trailers, Inc.] under circumstances virtually
identical to [Mickey Body's] present case.
2. The omission of the metric data from Mickey Body's certification
label is highly unlikely to have any effect whatsoever on motor vehicle
safety.
3. Mickey Body currently includes a certification label that
expresses the GVWR and GAWR in both English and metric units.
4. Mickey Body is not aware of any accident that was allegedly
caused by the omission of metric measurements from a certification
label.
The purpose of labeling requirements in S5.3, Label Information, of
FMVSS No. 120 is to provide safe operation of vehicles by ensuring that
those vehicles are equipped with tires of appropriate size and load
rating, and rims of appropriate size and type designation. Section 5164
of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (Pub. L. 100-418) makes it
the United States policy that the metric system of measurement is the
preferred system of weights and measures for U.S. trade and commerce.
On March 14, 1995, NHTSA published in the Federal Register (60 FR
13693) the final rule that metric measurements be used in S5.3 of FMVSS
No. 120. The effective date for this final rule was March 14, 1996.
Paragraph S5.3.2 states that each vehicle shall show the
appropriate GVWR, GAWR, and the recommended cold inflation pressure in
metric and English units. This information must appear either on the
certification label or a tire information label, lettered in block
capitals and numerals not less than 2.4 millimeters high, and in the
prescribed format.
The agency agrees with Mickey Body that the label on these trailers
is likely to achieve the safety purpose of the required label. The
vehicle user will have the correct safety information without the
metric conversion in the prescribed location. First, all the correct
English unit information required by FMVSS No. 120 is provided on the
certification label. Second, the information contained on the label is
of the correct size. Third, the information contained on the label is
in the prescribed format.
In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the
applicant has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance it
describes is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, its
application is granted, and the applicant is exempted from providing
the notification of the noncompliance that is required by 49 U.S.C.
30118, and from remedying the noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C.
30120.
(49 U.S.C. 30118, delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and
501.8).
Issued on: December 6, 1999.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 99-31973 Filed 12-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
