[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 188 (Monday, September 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56041-56042]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24580]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 03-15651; Notice 3]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Lamps, Reflective 
Devices, and Associated Equipment

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

ACTION: Extension of comment period for a notice of draft 
interpretations.

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SUMMARY: This document extends the comment period on a notice setting 
forth two draft interpretations concerning how our standard on lamps, 
reflective devices, and associated equipment applies to replacement 
equipment. In response to petitions from the Transportation Safety 
Equipment Institute (TSEI) and the Truck Trailer Manufacturers 
Association (TTMA), the agency is extending the comment period from 
October 2, 2003 to October 31, 2003.

DATES: You should submit comments early enough to ensure that Docket 
Management receives them not later than October 31, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by the docket number set 
forth above) 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. Please note, if 
you are submitting petitions electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, we 
ask that the documents submitted be scanned using Optical Character 
Recognition (OCR) process, thus allowing the agency to search and copy 
certain portions of your submissions.\1\
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    \1\ Optical character recognition (OCR) is the process of 
converting an image of text, such as a scanned paper document or 
electronic fax file, into computer-editable text.
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    [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, except Federal Holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments, see 
the Submission of Comments heading of the Supplementary Information 
section of the Notice of Draft Interpretations (68 FR 42454, 42456; 
July 17, 2003). Note that all comments received will be posted without 
change to http://dms.dot.gov, including any personal information 
provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading under Regulatory Notices.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to 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, 
except Federal Holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Feygin, Office of Chief 
Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, Telephone: (202) 366-2992, Fax: 
(202) 366-3820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 17, 2003, the agency published a 
notice requesting comments on two draft interpretations in response to 
questions

[[Page 56042]]

whether replacement lamps for the rear of a vehicle may have the reflex 
reflectors in a location that is inboard from that in the original 
lamps, and whether light source modifications are permissible for 
aftermarket lamps (68 FR 42454). The draft letters would be 
interpretations of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, 
Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment.
    We initially provided a comment period of 45 days, until September 
2, 2003. Subsequently, in response to a petition from the Specialty 
Equipment Market Association (SEMA), we extended the comment period to 
October 2, 2003 (68 FR 51635, August 27, 2003).
    NHTSA received two petitions requesting an additional extension of 
the comment period, to October 31, 2003. The petitioners are the 
Transportation Safety Equipment Institute (TSEI) and the Truck Trailer 
Manufacturers Association (TTMA).
    TSEI stated that it and its members have devoted a substantial 
amount of time and effort to consideration of comments. However, that 
organization stated that it cannot complete its recommendations until 
its Fall 2003 membership meeting, which will be held on October 9 and 
10. According to the petitioner, a large portion of time during this 
meeting has been reserved for discussion and development of TSEI's 
position on the agency's draft interpretations by its engineering 
committee. Thereafter, TSEI expects to complete and submit its 
comments. The petitioner stated that in order to afford it the 
opportunity to apply the resources available to it during the October 9 
and 10 meeting to complete work on its response, it requests an 
additional extension of the comment period, until October 31, 2003.
    TTMA stated that its Engineering Committee is scheduled to meet on 
October 14 and 15, and that the agency's notice of draft interpretation 
will be one of the topics discussed. That organization stated that any 
comment it makes would best be developed at that time and would include 
the views of the TTMA membership.
    After considering the arguments raised by TSEI and TTMA, we have 
decided that it is in the public interest to extend the comment period 
from October 2, 2003 to October 31, 2003, pursuant to the petitioners' 
requests.

Privacy Act

    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111; 49 CFR 501.8(d)(5).

    Issued on September 24, 2003.
Stephen P. Wood,
Assistant Chief Counsel for Vehicle Safety Standards and Harmonization.
[FR Doc. 03-24580 Filed 9-26-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P