[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 23, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84692-84693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28227]


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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0098; Notice 2]


General Motors LLC, Withdrawal of Petition To Amend Takata DIR 
Schedule

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of petition mootness.

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SUMMARY: General Motors, LLC (GM) petitioned the Agency to alter the 
Part 573 defect information report (DIR) filing schedule set forth in 
paragraph 14 of the May 4, 2016 Amendment to November 3, 2015 Consent 
Order between NHTSA and TK Holdings Inc. (Takata). More specifically, 
GM requested that NHTSA modify the DIR schedule with respect to certain 
GM-branded motor vehicles to defer the filing date from December 31, 
2016 to December 31, 2017. GM has since withdrawn this petition.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Mykytiuk, Office of the 
Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at (202) 
366-2992.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On May 4, 2016, NHTSA issued, and Takata agreed to, an Amendment to 
the November 3, 2015 Consent Order (the ``Amendment''), under which 
Takata is bound to declare a defect in all frontal driver and passenger 
inflators that contain a phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN)-based 
propellant and do not contain a moisture-absorbing desiccant. Such 
defect declarations are to be made on a rolling basis. See Amendment at 
] 14. Takata timely submitted the first scheduled DIR on May 16, 2016. 
See Recall Nos. 16E-042, 16E-043, and 16E-044. The next scheduled DIR 
is due to be filed by Takata on December 31, 2016. That second DIR is 
expected to include passenger inflators installed as original equipment 
on certain motor vehicles manufactured by GM (the ``covered passenger 
inflators''), as well as inflators installed as original equipment on 
motor vehicles manufactured by a number of other automakers, which are 
not at issue here. The Takata filing of the second DIR will trigger 
GM's obligation to file a DIR for affected GM vehicles. See 49 CFR part 
573; Amendment at ] 16; November 3, 2015 Coordinated Remedy Order at ] 
46.\1\
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    \1\ Under 49 CFR 573.5(a), a vehicle manufacturer is responsible 
for any safety-related defect determined to exist in any item of 
original equipment.
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    Paragraph 17 of the Amendment sets forth the following procedure 
under which the DIR schedule may be modified or amended:

    Based on the presentation of additional test data, analysis, or 
other relevant and appropriate evidence, by Takata, an automobile 
manufacturer, or any other credible source, NHTSA may, after 
consultation with Takata, alter the schedule set forth in Paragraph 
14 to modify or amend a DIR or to defer certain inflator types or 
vehicles, or a portion thereof, to a later DIR filing date. Any such 
evidence must be submitted to NHTSA no later than one-hundred-twenty 
(120) days before the relevant DIR filing date. This paragraph 
applies only to the DIRs scheduled to be issued on or after December 
31, 2016 under the schedule established by Paragraph 14 of this 
Amendment.

    On July 22, 2016, NHTSA issued Enforcement Guidance Bulletin 2016-
03 to inform the public of the process and procedure the Agency had 
established in connection with paragraph 17, as well as the standards 
and criteria that would guide Agency decision-making. See 81 FR 47854. 
Therein, the Agency stated that it may grant a petition to modify or 
amend the DIR schedule ``if

[[Page 84693]]

the Agency finds that the written data, information, and arguments 
regarding the petition and other available information demonstrate, by 
a preponderance of the evidence, that either: (i) There has not yet 
been, nor will be for some period of years in the future, sufficient 
propellant degradation to render the inflators contained in the 
particular class of vehicles unreasonably dangerous in terms of 
susceptibility to rupture; or (ii) the service life expectancy of the 
inflators installed in the particular class of vehicles is sufficiently 
long that they will not pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle 
safety if recalled at a later date.'' Id. at 47856. The Agency also 
clarified that the paragraph 17 petition process could not be used to 
expedite or expand the DIR schedule, or to eliminate a population of 
vehicles from the recall altogether. Id.
    On September 2, 2016, GM filed a petition pursuant to paragraph 17 
of the Amendment and Enforcement Guidance Bulletin 2016-03. Therein, GM 
requested that NHTSA modify the DIR schedule to defer the inclusion of 
certain GM passenger-side inflators from December 31, 2016 to December 
31, 2017. See General Motors LLC's Petition to Amend Takata DIR 
Schedule.
    Notice of receipt of GM's petition was published in the Federal 
Register, and a public comment period commenced on September 20, 2016 
(81 FR 64575). Six comments were received, including one comment from 
GM that, after further consideration, it would withdraw the petition 
and will instead address the subject population through an alternative 
procedure. See Letter from Jeffrey Boyer to Jeffrey Giuseppe (Nov. 15, 
2016). To view the petition and all supporting documents visit the 
Federal Docket Management System Web site at: http://www.regulations.gov. Then, follow the online search instructions to 
locate docket number ``NHTSA-2016-0098.''

II. NHTSA's Decision

    Petitions filed under Paragraph 17 are actionable by the Agency 
only so long as they are submitted and maintained by the petitioner. In 
its comment to the petition, GM explained that it was withdrawing the 
petition and that it will address the subject vehicle population 
through an alternative procedure. See Boyer Letter (Nov. 15, 2016).
    Because GM has withdrawn its petition to defer the inclusion of the 
covered passenger inflators in the Takata equipment DIR, that petition 
is moot and no further action on the petition is warranted. Therefore, 
the DIR schedule set forth in Paragraph 14 of the Amendment is 
unchanged. The covered passenger inflators shall be included in 
Takata's equipment DIR submission due on December 31, 2016. See 49 CFR 
part 573; Amendment at ] 16; November 3, 2015 Coordinated Remedy Order 
at ] 46.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30101, et seq., 30118, 30162, 30166(b)(1), 
30166(g)(1); delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.95(a); 49 CFR parts 
573, 577.

    Issued: November 17, 2016.
Michael L. Brown,
Acting Director, Office of Defect Investigations.
[FR Doc. 2016-28227 Filed 11-22-16; 8:45 am]
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