[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 125 (Thursday, June 30, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37893-37894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-12876]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2005-21675; Notice 1]


General Motors Corporation, Receipt of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    General Motors Corporation (General Motors) has determined that 
certain model year 2005 vehicles that it

[[Page 37894]]

produced do not comply with S6 of 49 CFR 571.205, Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 205, ``Glazing materials.'' General Motors 
has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, ``Defect 
and Noncompliance Reports.''
    Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), General Motors has 
petitioned for an exemption from the notification and remedy 
requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this 
noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    This notice of receipt of General Motors' petition 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 
petition.
    Affected are a total of approximately 7,326 model year 2005 
Chevrolet Corvette coupes equipped with removable transparent Targa 
roofs. S6, certification and marking, of FMVSS No. 205 and the 
referenced Section 7 of ANSI/SAE Z26.1-1996 specify that the required 
identification and certification markings must be located on the 
glazing. On the subject vehicles, the required markings are present, 
but they are located on the frame of the Targa roof assembly, rather 
than on the glazing portion of the roof assembly.
    General Motors believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential 
to motor vehicle safety and that no corrective action is warranted. The 
petitioner states:

--The subject glazing meets all applicable performance requirements 
of FMVSS No. 205. There is no safety performance implication 
associated with this technical noncompliance.
--The certifications markings required by FMVSS No. 205 are provided 
on the frame of the subject Corvette Targa roof assemblies. This 
noncompliance relates only to the location of the required markings, 
not to their presence.
--Once assembled, the Targa roof frame and glazing are indivisible. 
For in-service repair, the roof assembly (glazing mounted in frame) 
is serviced as a unit. There is no service provision to replace only 
the frame or only the glazing. As a practical matter, therefore, 
marking the frame is functionally equivalent to marking the glazing.
--Given the small volume of service parts that will be needed and 
the high investment cost required to manufacture the subject 
Corvette roof assemblies, it is probable that all service parts will 
be manufactured by the same supplier as the original equipment 
parts. Accordingly, there is virtually no chance of uncertainty 
about the manufacturer of the subject parts, should a need to 
identify the manufacturer arise in the future.
--GM is not aware of any crashes, injuries, customer complaints or 
field reports associated with this condition.

    General Motors also states that NHTSA has previously granted 
inconsequential noncompliance petitions involving the omission of FMVSS 
No. 205 markings and provides the following examples: Western Star 
Trucks (63 FR 66232, 12/1/1998), Ford Motor Company (64 FR 70116, 12/
15/1999), Toyota Motor Corporation (68 FR 10307, 3/4/2003), and 
Freightliner LLC (68 FR 65991, 11/24/2003).
    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments on the petition described above. Comments must refer to the 
docket and notice number cited at the beginning of this notice and be 
submitted by any of the following methods. Mail: Docket Management 
Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Nassif Building, Room PL-
401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Hand Delivery: 
Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC. It is requested, but not required, that 
two copies of the comments be provided. The Docket Section is open on 
weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Federal Holidays. Comments may 
be submitted electronically by logging onto the Docket Management 
System Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help'' to obtain 
instructions for filing the document electronically. Comments may be 
faxed to 1-202-493-2251, or may be submitted to the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal: go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
    The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received 
before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will 
be filed and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the extent possible. When the petition is granted or 
denied, notice of the decision will be published in the Federal 
Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
    Comment closing date: August 1, 2005.

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

    Issued on: June 23, 2005.
Ronald L. Medford,
Senior Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety.
[FR Doc. 05-12876 Filed 6-29-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P