[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 17 (Thursday, January 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 4396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-958]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2005-23171; Notice 2]


Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire, LLC, Grant of Petition 
for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire, LLC (Bridgestone 
Firestone) has determined that certain tires that it produced in 2005 
do not comply with S4.3.2 of 49 CFR 571.109, Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 109, ``New pneumatic tires.'' Pursuant to 
49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), Bridgestone Firestone has petitioned 
for a determination that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety and has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR 
Part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' Notice of receipt of a 
petition was published, with a 30-day comment period, on December 9, 
2005 in the Federal Register (70 FR 73323). NHTSA received no comments.
    Affected are a total of approximately 50 P205/70R15 Le Mans 
Champion SE tires produced in 2005. S4.3.2 of FMVSS No. 109 refers to 
49 CFR Part 575.4, section (d) of which requires that the sidewall 
stamping include the date of manufacture. The noncompliant tires are 
stamped HYMOLCM, while the correct stamping including the date of 
manufacture should be HYMOLCM2705.
    Bridgestone Firestone believes that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and that no corrective action 
is warranted. Bridgestone Firestone states that ``[t]he noncompliant 
tires meet or exceed all performance requirements of FMVSS No. 109 and 
will have no impact on the operational performance or safety of 
vehicles on which these tires are mounted.'' The petitioner further 
states,

    The week and year of [the] production portion of the Tire 
Identification Number (TIN) becomes important in the event of a 
safety campaign so that the consumer may properly identify the 
recalled tire(s). For this mislabeling, any safety campaign 
communication, if necessary, could include in the listing of 
recalled TINs and (sic) the TIN for these tires with the missing or 
blank date of production so that the consumer would know that these 
mislabeled tires are included in the recall.

    NHTSA agrees with Bridgestone Firestone that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. As Bridgestone Firestone 
points out, a consumer notification of a recall of the tires could be 
accomplished by referring to the TIN. Bridgestone Firestone has 
corrected the problem.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
petitioner has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance 
described is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, 
Bridgestone Firestone's petition is granted and the petitioner is 
exempted from the obligation of providing notification of, and a remedy 
for, the noncompliance.

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

    Issued on: January 20, 2006.
Daniel C. Smith,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
 [FR Doc. E6-958 Filed 1-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P