[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16115-16116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7550]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2002-13356; Notice 2]


Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Grant of Application for Decision 
That Noncompliance Is Inconsequential to Motor Vehicle Safety

    Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (Cooper) has determined that 
approximately 956 Cooper Lifeliner Touring SLE tires in the 185/70R14 
size do not meet the labeling requirements mandated by Federal Motor 
Vehicle

[[Page 16116]]

Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 109, ``New Pneumatic Tires.'' Pursuant to 
49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), Cooper has petitioned for a 
determination that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety and has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR 
part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' Notice of receipt of 
the application was published, with a 30-day comment period, on October 
7, 2002, in the Federal Register (67 FR 62522). NHTSA received no 
comment on this application.
    FMVSS No. 109 (S4.3.2) requires that each tire be labeled with the 
name of the manufacturer, or the brand name and number assigned to the 
manufacturer in the manner specified in part 574 (S574.6, 
Identification mark).
    Cooper's Texarkana, Arkansas, tire manufacturing facility had one 
mold involved in production during the twelfth and thirteenth 
production weeks of 2002, in which the identification mark was 
incorrectly stated. The subject tires were molded ``DOT VT.'' The 
correct identification mark for the Texarkana, Arkansas, plant 
identification code should have been ``DOT UT.'' The incorrect 
identification mark was removed from the mold and the correct plant 
identification code inserted.
    Cooper supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance 
by stating that all of the subject tires meet all requirements of FMVSS 
No. 109, except the for the correct manufacturer's assigned 
identification mark. The purpose of NHTSA's tire identification mark is 
to identify a tire so that, if necessary, the appropriate action can be 
taken in the interest of public safety--such as, a safety recall 
notice.
    The agency believes that in the case of a tire labeling 
noncompliance, the true measure of its inconsequentiality to motor 
vehicle safety is whether the mislabeling would affect the 
manufacturer's ability to locate them, if the tires were to be recalled 
for a performance-related noncompliance or safety-related defect. 
Cooper can identify the involved tires with the incorrect 
manufacturer's assigned identification mark of ``VT.'' The tires have a 
unique DOT identification that would permit Cooper to notify the 
purchasers of these tires, if registered, should they be recalled for 
safety reasons. The involved tires produced from this mold during the 
aforementioned production period comply with all other requirements of 
49 CFR 571.109.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
applicant has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, its application 
is granted and the applicant is exempted from providing the 
notification of the noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and 
from remedying the noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120.

    Issued on: March 21, 2003.
Roger A. Saul,
Acting Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 03-7550 Filed 4-1-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P