[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 87 (Thursday, May 4, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25975-25976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11167]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-99-6632; Notice 2]


Ford Motor Company, Grant of Application for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Ford Motor Company (Ford) has determined that certain 2000 model 
year Ford Focus vehicles it produced are not in full compliance with 49 
CFR 571.135, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 135, 
``Light Vehicle Brake Systems,'' and has filed an appropriate report 
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573,

[[Page 25976]]

``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' Ford 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 an application was published, with a 30-day 
comment period, on December 20, 1999, in the Federal Register (64 FR 
71181). NHTSA received no comments on this application during the 
comment period.
    Paragraph S5.4.3(b) of FMVSS No. 135 states that the brake fluid 
warning statement lettering shall be ``located so as to be visible by 
direct view, either on or within 100 mm (3.94 inches) of the brake 
fluid reservoir filler plug or cap.'' Ford manufactured approximately 
11,000 model year 2000 Focus vehicles that may not comply with the 
requirement that the brake fluid label be located within 100 mm of the 
reservoir filler plug or cap. All Ford Focus vehicles that are 
potentially in noncompliance with this requirement were manufactured 
between October 7, 1999 and October 20, 1999. According to Ford, the 
location of the labels containing the required lettering was not 
controlled and, while clearly visible by direct view, some labels were 
located such that the lettering is 120 to 130 mm distance from the 
reservoir filler cap. Ford believes this condition to be 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    Ford stated in its application that the noncompliance was 
precipitated by a production change. Prior to the production change, 
the labels were affixed by Ford during vehicle assembly. The production 
change resulted in the brake fluid warning labels being affixed by the 
supplier of the vehicle component on which the labels are mounted. The 
supplier was not aware of the importance of the positioning of the 
brake fluid warning label on the vehicle component. According to Ford, 
the manufacturing process has been extensively reviewed, the cause of 
the noncompliance has been isolated, and changes in the manufacturing 
process have been instituted to prevent any future occurrence of this 
noncompliance.
    Ford's petition included a brake fluid warning label of the type 
affixed to the 2000 model year Focus. Ford also provided photographs of 
an engine compartment in which the label is properly located 
(approximately 75 mm from the brake fluid reservoir cap) and an engine 
compartment with an improperly located label. Ford supported its claim 
that the noncompliance is inconsequential by stating that the subject 
labels meet all other federal requirements, and the location of these 
labels does not present reasonably anticipated risks to motor vehicle 
safety.
    The agency believes that the true measure of inconsequentiality to 
motor vehicle safety is the effect of the noncompliance on the 
availability of the brake fluid warning labels for review by the 
vehicle operators and service technicians. Ford has supplied the agency 
with photographs which indicate that, although the brake fluid warning 
labels are not located within the specified distance from the brake 
fluid reservoir filler cap, the labels are plainly visible by direct 
view and in close proximity to the reservoir filler cap. In this 
instance, the agency does not believe the noncompliance is a threat to 
motor vehicle safety.
    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 would be required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and 
from remedying the noncompliance, as would be 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: April 28, 2000.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 00-11167 Filed 5-3-00; 8:45 am]
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