[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 238 (Thursday, December 11, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 69046-69047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30690]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA 2003-15855]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection

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

ACTION: Denial of petition for rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document denies a petition for rulemaking to amend 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant Crash 
Protection,'' because it is redundant to pending rulemaking action by 
the agency.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues: Louis Molino, 
Office of Crashworthiness Standards, NVS-112, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. 
Telephone (202) 366-2264. Fax: (202) 493-2290.
    For legal issues: Rebecca MacPherson, Office of Chief Counsel, NCC-
20, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-2992. Fax: (202) 366-
3820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. The Petition
III. Discussion and Analysis

I. Background

    On May 12, 2000, we published in the Federal Register (65 FR 30680) 
a final

[[Page 69047]]

rule to require advanced air bags (Docket No. NHTSA-00-7013). The rule 
amended Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, Occupant 
Crash Protection, to require that future air bags be designed so that, 
compared to current air bags, they create less risk of serious air bag-
induced injuries, particularly for small women and young children, and 
provide improved frontal crash protection for all occupants, by means 
that include advanced air bag technology.
    One means of compliance with part of the advanced air bag 
regulation is to turn off the passenger air bag by means of a weight 
sensor and/or some other method of detecting the presence of children. 
To test the ability of those means to detect the presence of children, 
the rule specifies that child test dummies be placed in child restraint 
systems (CRSs) or seats that are in turn placed on the passenger seats. 
Optionally, for infants in rear facing CRSs, compliance can also be 
achieved by placing a dummy representing a 12-month-old child in a CRS 
and assuring that the air bag deploys in a benign manner. Appendix A of 
FMVSS No. 208 provides a list of CRSs to be used for these compliance 
tests. The list published with the May 12, 2000 final rule contained 1 
car bed, 11 rear-facing seats, 7 convertible seats, and 4 booster seats 
for a total of 23.
    On December 18, 2001, a new FMVSS No. 208 Final Rule was published 
in response to petitions for reconsideration to the May 12, 2000, Final 
Rule. A new Appendix A was published as part of this new rule. All 
seats that were known to be out of production were removed from the 
list. Replacement seats were added to the list. The number of rear-
facing CRSs was reduced by one and the total number of CRSs in Appendix 
A became 22.
    On November 19, 2003, the agency published a document that 
responded, in part, to petitions for reconsideration to the December 
18, 2001, FMVSS No. 208 Final Rule. It addressed detailed dummy and 
seat positioning issues and other test procedure clarifications 
presented in the petitions for reconsideration. It also began to deal 
with issues associated with child restraints specified in Appendix A of 
FMVSS No. 208. The agency also addressed the methodology for regular 
updates to Appendix A.

II. The Petition

    The Evenflo Company, Inc., petitioned NHTSA to remove specific 
Evenflo CRS models from Appendix A of FMVSS No. 208 and change the 
model number designation of another model. There are currently six 
Evenflo products in Appendix A. One of these products is a booster 
seat, which Evenflo is not requesting to have removed from the list. On 
August 30, 2002, Evenflo discontinued production of all CRSs that were 
not LATCH compliant in accordance with the requirements of S5.9 of 
FMVSS No. 213. In its petition, Evenflo recommended replacement seats 
for the five for which removal was requested. The out-of-production 
seats and the suggested LATCH compliant seats are shown in Table 1. The 
third column in Table 1 indicates the similarity, noted by Evenflo, 
between the out-of-production seats and the suggested replacement 
seats.

                                                     Table 1
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         Out-of-production               LATCH seats                    Similarity noted by Evenflo
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                                               Rear Facing Infant
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204 First Choice...................  381 Tot Taxi.......  Base not removable.
282 On My Way Position Right V.....  386 Port About 5...  Equivalent in size.
212 Discovery Adjust Right.........  316 Discovery......  Same seat with LATCH.
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                                                Convertible Seats
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425 Horizon V......................  379 Tribute........  Equivalent in size.
254 Medallion......................  359 Triumph 5......  Equivalent in size and 5 pt. Harness.
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III. Discussion and Analysis

    Evenflo requested that five out-of-production CRSs that it 
manufactures be removed from Appendix A and replaced. The On My Way 
Position Right V has already been removed from the list, so four now 
remain. Evenflo is not unique among the CRS manufacturers represented 
in Appendix A. The agency understands that since all CRSs except car 
beds and booster seats must now be LATCH compliant, many of the CRSs in 
Appendix A are no longer in production in a non-LATCH form. In response 
to petitions for reconsideration of the December 18, 2001, FMVSS No. 
208 Final Rule, we published a notice addressing the issue of how to 
update Appendix A. The notice addressed the concerns expressed in 
Evenflo's petition. Therefore, we are denying the Evenflo petition 
because it is redundant.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30162; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 
1.50 and 49 CFR 501.8

    Issued on: December 8, 2003.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 03-30690 Filed 12-10-03; 8:45 am]
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