[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 104 (Friday, May 30, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29323-29325]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14160]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. 93-02; Notice 15]
RIN 2127-AF51


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Compressed Natural Gas 
Fuel Containers

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

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SUMMARY: This document proposes deleting the material and manufacturing 
process requirements in Standard No. 304, Compressed Natural Gas Fuel 
Container Integrity. The proposal is based on the most recent proposed 
voluntary industry standard. The agency believes that such an amendment 
would facilitate technological innovation, without any detriment to 
safety.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 14, 1997.


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ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to the docket and notice numbers above 
and be submitted to: Docket Section, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590. 
Docket hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

    For non-legal issues: Mr. Charles Hott, NPS-12, Office of 
Crashworthiness Standards, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590 
(Telephone 202-366-0247) (FAX 202-366-4329).
    For legal issues: Mr. Marvin L. Shaw, NCC-20, Rulemaking Division, 
Office of Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, D.C. 20590 
(Telephone 202-366-2992) (FAX 202-366-3820) (Internet 
[email protected])

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Final Rule Establishing FMVSS No. 304

    On September 26, 1994, NHTSA published a final rule addressing the 
safe performance of compressed natural gas (CNG) containers 
1 (59 FR 49010). The final rule established a new Federal 
motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) FMVSS No. 304, Compressed Natural 
Gas Fuel Container Integrity. The Standard specifies pressure cycling, 
burst, and bonfire tests for the purpose of ensuring the durability, 
initial strength, and venting of CNG containers. In addition, the 
Standard specifies material and manufacturing process and labeling 
requirements for CNG fuel containers. FMVSS No. 304 took effect on 
March 27, 1995.
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    \1\ When used as a motor fuel, natural gas is stored on-board a 
vehicle in cylindrical containers at a pressure of approximately 
20,684 kPa (3,000 psi). Among the terms used to describe CNG fuel 
containers are tanks, containers, cylinders, and high pressure 
vessels. The agency will refer to them as ``containers'' throughout 
this document.
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    FMVSS No. 304 is patterned after the American National Standards 
Institute's (ANSI's) voluntary industry standard known as ANSI/NGV2. 
ANSI/NGV2 was developed by the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition (NGVC). 
ANSI/NGV2 and FMVSS No. 304 specify detailed material and manufacturing 
process requirements for different types of CNG containers, including 
those made with aluminum alloys. For each type of container, ANSI/NGV2 
and FMVSS No. 304 specify a unique safety factor for determining the 
internal hydrostatic pressure that the container must withstand during 
the burst test. In addition, a container must meet the applicable 
material and manufacturing requirements as well as the burst test.
    FMVSS No. 304 specifies certain material and manufacturing 
characteristics for aluminum containers using alloy 6010 and alloy 
6061, based on the specifications set forth in ANSI/NGV2. The material 
characteristics specify the percentage of various elements, including 
magnesium, silicon, copper, and manganese. In establishing the 
specifications applicable to aluminum alloys, the Natural Gas Vehicle 
Coalition relied on the Aluminum Association Standards Data document 
(Sixth Edition 1979).

II. Petitions Requesting Modification to FMVSS No. 304

    On November 24, 1995, NHTSA issued a final rule amending the 
labeling and the bonfire test requirements in FMVSS No. 304. (60 FR 
57943) In that notice, the agency stated that it decided to defer 
consideration of two rulemaking petitions to add additional aluminum 
alloys to FMVSS No. 304, until the new version of the ANSI/NGV industry 
standard was issued. Northwest Aluminum Association requested that the 
standard be amended to add 6069 aluminum alloy, and Luxfer requested 
the addition of a 7000 series alloy. The agency noted that the new 
ANSI/NGV2 industry standard may not specify CNG fuel container material 
and may be more performance-oriented than the current version, thus 
allowing manufacturers more flexibility to improve container design 
with respect to cost and performance. The agency also noted that 
adopting some of the new provisions of the revised voluntary industry 
standard may eliminate the need to add the two new aluminum alloys to 
FMVSS No. 304.
    NHTSA is waiting for ANSI to issue its revision of the CNG 
container standard. In October 1996, the ANSI committee working on the 
revised standard completed its revisions and sent the revised document 
to its members for review. The proposed revision of ANSI/NGV2 would 
remove all material and manufacturing restrictions. Nevertheless, it 
would retain impurity limits for certain materials. Based on NHTSA's 
understanding of the draft, the tentative industry consensus is to 
eliminate the material and manufacturing requirements, but there is 
continued disagreement about certain environment testing procedures.

III. NHTSA Proposal

    Based on this new information, NHTSA has decided to propose 
amending Standard No. 304 to eliminate the detailed material and 
manufacturing process requirements in S5. The agency has tentatively 
determined that CNG fuel container manufacturers should be allowed to 
use materials other than those materials currently listed in the 
standard. Such an amendment would provide manufacturers with the 
flexibility to design lighter weight, higher capacity fuel containers 
using the latest innovations, without the need to petition the agency 
to change the standard each time a new material or manufacturing 
process is developed.
    NHTSA notes that today's proposal to remove the material and 
manufacturing requirements would be consistent with the proposed 
revision to ANSI/NGV, which has removed the design restrictions that 
were in the 1992 version of NGV2 on which FMVSS No. 304 was initially 
modeled. The proposed revision allows for materials and manufacturing 
processes that meet the performance requirements of the industry 
standard.
    NHTSA believes that removing the material and manufacturing process 
requirements would have no detriment to safety. The CNG containers 
would still be subject to FMVSS No. 304's performance requirements, 
including those that evaluate initial strength and resistance to 
degradation over time. In addition, such containers would be subject to 
recall if they failed for any reason, including the degradation of 
material.
    Based on these considerations, NHTSA has decided to propose 
deleting the following sections from the standard:
    * Section S5.2  Material designations. This section specifies the 
material requirements for the various types of CNG fuel containers.
    * Section S5.3  Manufacturing processes for composite containers. 
This section specifies the manufacturing process for each type of 
composite CNG fuel container.
    * Section S5.4  Wall thickness and Section S5.5 Composite 
Reinforcement for Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 containers. These sections 
contain the design criteria for specifying the wall thicknesses and 
stresses for each type of CNG fuel container. These sections also 
specify procedures for designing CNG fuel container walls along with 
the theoretical formula for calculating maximum wall stress.
    * Section S5.6  Thermal Treatment, and S5.7 Yield Strength. These 
sections

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contain detailed manufacturing process requirements for chrome-moly and 
carbon-boron steels, including specifying the temper temperatures for 
each steel.

Leadtime

    The statute under which the agency conducts its vehicle safety 
rulemaking requires that each order (i.e., final rule) shall take 
effect no sooner than 180 days from the date the order is issued unless 
good cause is shown that an earlier effective date is in the public 
interest. NHTSA has tentatively concluded that there would be good 
cause not to provide the 180 day lead time given that this amendment 
would delete certain requirements and thus would have no mandatory 
effect on manufacturers. Based on the above, the agency has tentatively 
concluded that there is good cause for an effective date 30 days after 
publication of the final rule. NHTSA requests comments about whether a 
30 day effective date is appropriate or whether more lead time is 
necessary.

Rulemaking Analyses and Notices

1. Executive Order 12866 (Federal Regulatory Planning and Review) and 
DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures

    This proposal was not reviewed under E.O. 12866. NHTSA has analyzed 
this proposal and determined that it is not ``significant'' within the 
meaning of the Department of Transportation's regulatory policies and 
procedures. A full regulatory evaluation is not required because the 
rule, if adopted, would not significantly effect costs or benefits. It 
would also provide greater flexibility to CNG container manufacturers.

2. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, NHTSA has 
evaluated the effects of this action on small entities. Based upon this 
evaluation, I certify that the proposed amendment would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
CNG container manufacturers typically would not qualify as small 
entities. Further, the proposed changes would have only a minimal 
impact on the costs or benefits associated with FMVSS No. 304, since 
the agency does not anticipate that manufacturers would significantly 
modify their current manufacturing practices. Accordingly, no 
regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared.

3. Executive Order 12612 (Federalism)

    This action has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and 
criteria contained in Executive Order 12612, and it has been determined 
that the proposed rule would not have sufficient Federalism 
implications to warrant preparation of a Federalism Assessment.

4. National Environmental Policy Act

    Finally, the agency has considered the environmental implications 
of this proposed rule in accordance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 and determined that the proposed rule would not 
significantly affect the human environment.

5. Civil Justice Reform

    This proposed rule would not have any retroactive effect. Under 
section 103(d) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (49 
U.S.C. 30111), whenever a Federal motor vehicle safety standard is in 
effect, a state may not adopt or maintain a safety standard applicable 
to the same aspect of performance which is not identical to the Federal 
standard. Section 105 of the Act (49 U.S.C. 30161) sets forth a 
procedure for judicial review of final rules establishing, amending or 
revoking Federal motor vehicle safety standards. That section does not 
require submission of a petition for reconsideration or other 
administrative proceedings before parties may file suit in court.

Public Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the proposal. 
It is requested but not required that 10 copies be submitted.
    All comments must not exceed 15 pages in length. (49 CFR 553.21). 
Necessary attachments may be appended to these submissions without 
regard to the 15-page limit. This limitation is intended to encourage 
commenters to detail their primary arguments in a concise fashion.
    If a commenter wishes to submit certain information under a claim 
of confidentiality, three copies of the complete submission, including 
purportedly confidential business information, should be submitted to 
the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the street address given above, and seven 
copies from which the purportedly confidential information has been 
deleted should be submitted to the Docket Section. A request for 
confidentiality should be accompanied by a cover letter setting forth 
the information specified in the agency's confidential business 
information regulation. 49 CFR part 512.
    All comments received before the close of business on the comment 
closing date indicated above for the proposal will be considered, and 
will be available for examination in the docket at the above address 
both before and after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed 
after the closing date will also be considered. Comments received too 
late for consideration in regard to the final rule will be considered 
as suggestions for further rulemaking action. The NHTSA will continue 
to file relevant information as it becomes available in the docket 
after the closing date, and it is recommended that interested persons 
continue to examine the docket for new material.
    Those persons desiring to be notified upon receipt of their 
comments in the rules docket should enclose a self-addressed, stamped 
postcard in the envelope with their comments. Upon receiving the 
comments, the docket supervisor will return the postcard by mail.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 571

    Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles, Rubber and rubber 
products, Tires.

    In consideration of the foregoing, the agency proposes to amend 
Standard No. 304, Compressed Natural Gas Fuel Container Integrity, in 
Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations at part 571 as follows:

PART 571--FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS

    1. The authority citation for part 571 would continue to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117, and 30166; 
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50


Sec. 571.304  Standard No. 304, Compressed Natural Gas Fuel Container 
Integrity [Amended]

    2. Section 571.304 would be amended by removing S5.2, S5.3, S5.4, 
S5.5, S5.6, and S5.7.

    Issued on: May 22, 1997.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 97-14160 Filed 5-29-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P