[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 181 (Thursday, September 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54784-54785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-23875]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2003-15990; Notice 1]


Mazda North American Operations; Receipt of Application for 
Determination of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Mazda North American Operations, on behalf of Mazda Motor 
Corporation of Hiroshima, Japan (Mazda), has applied to be exempted 
from the notification and remedy requirements of the 49 U.S.C. chapter 
301 ``Motor Vehicle Safety'' for a noncompliance with Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant Crash Protection,'' 
on the basis that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle 
safety. Mazda has filed a report of noncompliance pursuant to 49 CFR 
part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.''
    This notice of receipt of the application is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the application. 
See 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h).
    Mazda submitted the following information in accordance with the 
requirements of 49 CFR part 556, ``Exemption for Inconsequential Defect 
or Noncompliance.''

Summary of the Petition

    Approximately 350 MY 2002 and 2003 Mazda MPVs produced for sale 
``in the U.S. territories'' were manufactured with airbag warning 
labels intended for the Canadian market. Thus, the labels contain 
warnings in both English and French. As a result, the area of the 
English warning is only 16 square centimeters, as opposed to the 30 
square centimeters required by FMVSS No. 208. This condition does not 
comply with the requirements of S4.5.1 of FMVSS No. 208.
    Mazda learned of this problem when a service engineer, employed by 
Mazda Canada Inc., informed them that some 2003 model year MPVs had no 
French airbag warning on the vinyl sun visor. Mazda's subsequent 
investigation revealed that some of the labels

[[Page 54785]]

intended for vehicles that would be shipped to Canada were installed in 
vehicles produced for sale in the U.S. territories, and some vehicles 
produced for sale in Canada included labels intended for the U.S. 
market.
    Mazda argued that first, the warning contained on the bilingual 
label is identical to the warning required by the standard. Second, the 
layout of the label and its location in the vehicle is also the same as 
the requirements of the standard. The only difference between the 
noncomplying label and the label required by the standard is that the 
information on the label is also provided in French and the area of the 
English language warning is 16 square centimeters rather than the 30 
square centimeters required by the standard.
    Since January 1997, Mazda has sold more than 260,000 vehicles with 
this identical bilingual label in Canada. In that time, Mazda believes 
that NHTSA has not had a single complaint that a driver or passenger 
was unable to decipher the information on the label because of the size 
of the message. If there are individuals who have difficulty reading 
the size of the warning, the information is also found in the owner's 
manual.
    Mazda believes that its noncompliance with S4.5.1 of FMVSS No. 208 
does not present a risk to vehicle safety and that it should be exempt 
from the notification and remedy requirements of the Safety Act.

Availability of the Petition and Other Documents

    The petition and other relevant information are available for 
public inspection in NHTSA Docket No. NHTSA-2003-15990; Notice 1. You 
may call the Docket at (202) 366-9324 or you may visit the Docket 
Management in Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday). You may also view the 
petition and other relevant information on the internet. To do this, do 
the following:
    (1) Go to the Docket Management System (DMS) web page of the 
Department of Transportation (http://dms.dot.gov/).
    (2) On that page, click on ``Simple Search.''
    (3) On the next page (http://dms.dot.gov/searchform.simple.cfm/), 
type in the docket number ``xxxxxxx.'' After typing the docket number, 
click on ``Search.''
    (4) On the next page, which contains docket summary information for 
the docket you selected, click on the desired comments. You may 
download the comments and other materials.
    Comments: You may submit comments by DOT DMS Docket Number NHTSA 
2003-15990; Notice 1, by any of the following methods:
    [sbull] Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
    [sbull] Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    [sbull] Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-001.
    [sbull] Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, accept Federal holidays.
    [sbull] Federal Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    All comments received before the close of business on the closing 
date indicated below will be considered. The application and supporting 
materials, and all comments received after the closing date, will also 
be filed and will be considered to the extent practicable. When the 
application is granted or denied, a notice will be published in the 
Federal Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
    Comment closing date: October 20, 2003.

(49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 
49 CFR 501.8)

    Issued on: September 11, 2003.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 03-23875 Filed 9-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P