[Federal Register: May 27, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 101)]
[Notices]               
[Page 29059-29060]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27my98-97]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-97-3154]

 
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company; Grant of Application for Decision 
of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (Cooper) of Findlay, Ohio has 
determined that some of its tires fail to comply with the labeling 
requirements of 49 CFR Part 574 ``Tire Identification and 
Recordkeeping,'' and has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR 
Part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' Cooper 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.
    Although the applicant expresses noncompliance with Part 574, NHTSA 
considers this to be a noncompliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New pneumatic tires for vehicles other than 
passenger cars. Paragraph S6.5(b) of FMVSS No. 119 requires each tire 
to be marked with a ``tire identification number'' required by Part 574 
of this chapter. If a tire lacks this number, it fails to comply with 
FMVSS No. 119 and is subject to notification and remedy.
    Notice of receipt of the application was published, with a 30-day 
comment period, on December 17, 1997, in the Federal Register (62 FR 
66176). NHTSA received no comments on this application during the 30-
day comment period.
    In Sec. 574.5(d) Fourth Grouping, the manufacturer is required to 
identify the week and year of manufacture of tires using three symbols. 
The first two symbols identify the week of the year using ``01'' for 
the first full calendar week in each year. The third symbol identifies 
the year. The purpose of this information is to facilitate the 
notification of dealers, distributors, and purchasers regarding 
defective or non-conforming tires, pursuant to Sections 30118 and 30119 
of Title 49, United States Code, so that the appropriate remedial 
action can be taken in the interest of public safety.
    During the thirty-second week of 1997, Cooper produced and 
inadvertently shipped twenty-eight (28) tires without the date code. 
This occurred after the tires originally were labeled with the correct 
date code upside-down; Cooper removed the improperly oriented date code 
by buffing. The tires were then inadvertently shipped with only the 
identification of ``DOT UPOP''--where ``UP'' is the identification code 
for Cooper's Findlay plant and ``OP'' is the identification of the tire 
size. The subject tires are Cooper SRM Radial LT 215/85R16, Load Range 
D.
    Cooper supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance 
with the following:

    ``The incomplete DOT identification code on each tire does not 
present a safety-related defect.''
    ``The involved tires are capable of being registered with UPOP. 
They have a unique DOT identification which would permit Cooper to 
notify the purchasers of these tires, if properly registered, should 
they be recalled for other reasons.''
    ``The involved tires produced from this mold during the 
aforementioned production period comply with all other requirements 
of 49 CFR 571.119 and 574.5.''

    The agency has reviewed Cooper's application and believes this 
labeling noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. This 
mislabeling

[[Page 29060]]

involves an inadvertently omitted date code containing the week and 
year of manufacture designation.
    The agency believes that in the case of a tire mislabeling 
noncompliance, such as this, the true measure of its inconsequentiality 
to motor vehicle safety is, if the tires were to be recalled for a 
performance-related noncompliance, that was consequential to safety, 
whether the mislabeling would affect the manufacturers's ability to 
locate them. Cooper states that in the event of recall, the non-
complying tires have a unique DOT identification (i.e., the lack of a 
date code) that would allow Cooper to notify the purchasers, if the 
tires have been properly registered by the retailer or the purchaser. 
Therefore, if the need arises, identifying the subject tires for any 
future recalls should not present a problem.
    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 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, 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 
501.8)

    Issued on: May 20, 1998.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 98-14002 Filed 5-26-98; 8:45 am[
BILLING CODE 4910-59-M