[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 14288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4018]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2006-23553; Notice 2]


Pacific Coast Retreaders, Inc., Grant of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Pacific Coast Retreaders, Inc. (Pacific Coast) has determined that 
certain tires that it imported do not comply with S6.5(b) of 49 CFR 
571.119, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, ``New 
pneumatic tires for vehicles other than passenger cars.'' Pursuant to 
49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), Pacific Coast 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 January 19, 
2006, in the Federal Register (71 FR 3152). NHTSA received no comments.
    Affected are a total of approximately 780 tires produced in March 
2005 by Linglong Rubber Company in China and imported by Pacific Coast 
in April 2005. One requirement of S6.5 of FMVSS No. 119, tire markings, 
is that the tire identification shall comply with 49 CFR part 574, 
``Tire Identification and Recordkeeping,'' which includes the marking 
requirements of 574.5(b) DOT size code. The subject tires are missing 
the required tire size code. Pacific Coast has corrected the problem 
that caused these errors so that they will not be repeated in future 
production.
    Pacific Coast believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential to 
motor vehicle safety and that no corrective action is warranted. 
Pacific Coast explains that, as a result of mold cleaning and repair, 
some of the tire size code symbols were not restamped after repair, and 
worn symbols were not re-traced. Pacific Coast states that ``the tire 
size is embossed in very larger (sic) raised characters on both 
sidewalls and [is] easily identifiable from a great distance.'' The 
petitioner states that as a result, there is no confusion as to the 
tire size.
    NHTSA agrees with Pacific Coast that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. As Pacific Coast points out, 
the tires do have markings which provide the correct size. Therefore, 
there should be no confusion by the user of this information.
    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, 
Pacific Coast'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: March 14, 2006.
Daniel C. Smith,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E6-4018 Filed 3-20-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P