[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 23, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 70914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23138]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2005-22970; Notice 1]


Les Entreprises Michel Corbeil Inc., Receipt of Petition for 
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Les Entreprises Michel Corbeil Inc. (Corbeil) has determined that 
certain school buses that it produced in 2004 do not comply with S5.1 
of 49 CFR 571.221, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 
221, ``School bus body joint strength.'' Corbeil 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), Corbeil 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 Corbeil's 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 295 school buses produced 
between May 3, 2004 and June 4, 2004. S5.1 of FMVSS No. 221 requires 
that,

    * * * each body panel joint * * * when tested in accordance with 
the procedure of S6, shall hold the body panel to the member to 
which it is joined when subjected to a force of 60 percent of the 
tensile strength of the weakest joined body panel determined 
pursuant to S6.2.

    The longitudinal roof joint on some of the subject school buses 
fails when tested according to the requirements of S5.1.
    Corbeil believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety and that no corrective action is warranted. Corbeil 
states that during the period of production of the subject school 
buses, ``the production used expired glue.'' Corbeil estimates that 61 
of the 295 buses could be affected, based on the number of expired glue 
cartridges that were used.
    Corbeil further states,

    * * * repairs could affect the structural integrity of these 
buses' roofs. If we proceed with repairs, we must remove the actual 
MS polymer strips on the roof to reach the joints. This operation 
requires us to preheat (300-600 [deg]F) the MS polymer strip (will 
soften the MS polymer) but at the same time will cause a significant 
urethane chemical modification and will affect the actual joint 
strength. The roof joint is composed of urethane glue and this glue 
will be affected if the temperature is higher than 194 [deg]F * * * 
If our educated estimate is that only 61 buses on (sic) the 295 
buses involved in this recall are affected, however they cannot be 
individually identified. Also, during the test, the transverse joint 
succeeded at 116% of the requirement and the longitudinal joint 
failed only by 9% with 91% of the requirement. The objective of this 
recall is to increase the strength of the joint. We presently 
suspect that a retrofit could affect/damage the roof rather to (sic) 
reinforce the joint.

    Corbeil states that no accidents or injuries have occurred as a 
result of this noncompliance.
    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: December 23, 2005.

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

    Issued on: November 17, 2005.
Daniel C. Smith,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 05-23138 Filed 11-22-05; 8:45 am]
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