[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 90 (Thursday, May 11, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22058-22059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-09497]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0140; Notice 1]


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

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

ACTION: Receipt of petition.

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SUMMARY: General Motors, LLC (GM), has determined that certain model 
year (MY) 2014-2016 GM motor vehicles do not fully comply with Federal 
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110, Tire Selection and Rims 
and Motor Home/Recreation Vehicle Trailer Load Carrying Capacity 
Information for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 
pounds) or Less. GM filed a noncompliance report dated December 6, 
2016, and revised it on April 6, 2017. GM also petitioned NHTSA on 
January 5, 2017, and submitted a revised petition on April 7, 2017, for 
a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it 
relates to motor vehicle safety.

DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is June 12, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written data, 
views, and arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the 
docket and notice number cited in the title of this notice and 
submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to U.S. Department 
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: Deliver comments by hand to U.S. Department 
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. The 
Docket Section is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except 
Federal Holidays.
     Electronically: Submit comments electronically by logging 
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Web site at https://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Comments may also be faxed to (202) 493-2251.
    Comments must be written in the English language, and be no greater 
than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of 
necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in 
hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish 
to receive confirmation that comments you have submitted by mail were 
received, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the 
comments. Note that all comments received will be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided.
    All comments and supporting materials received before the close of 
business on the closing date indicated above will be filed in the 
docket and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the fullest extent possible.
    When the petition is granted or denied, notice of the decision will 
also be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority 
indicated at the end of this notice.
    All comments, background documentation, and supporting materials 
submitted to the docket may be viewed by anyone at the address and 
times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the Internet at 
https://www.regulations.gov by following the online instructions for 
accessing the dockets. The docket ID number for this petition is shown 
in the heading of this notice.
    DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement is available for review in a 
Federal Register notice published on April 11, 2000, (65 FR 19477-78).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    I. Overview: General Motors, LLC (GM), has determined that certain 
model year (MY) 2014-2016 GM motor vehicles do not fully comply with 
paragraph S4.4.2(e) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 
No. 110, Tire Selection and Rims and Motor Home/Recreation Vehicle 
Trailer Load Carrying Capacity Information for Motor Vehicles with a 
GVWR of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or Less. GM filed a 
noncompliance report dated December 6, 2016, and revised it on April 6, 
2017, pursuant to 49 CFR part

[[Page 22059]]

573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. GM also 
petitioned NHTSA on January 5, 2017, and submitted a revised petition 
on April 7, 2017, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 49 
CFR part 556, for an exemption from the notification and remedy 
requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
    This notice of receipt of GM'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.
    II. Vehicles Involved: Approximately 130,088 of the following MY 
2014-2016 GM motor vehicles manufactured between August 7, 2014, and 
June 15, 2015, are potentially involved:
 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade
 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade ESV
 2015-2015 Cadillac SRX
 2015-2016 Chevrolet Tahoe
 2015-2016 GMC Yukon
 2015-2016 GMC Yukon XL
 2014-2015 GMC Sierra
 2014-2015 Chevrolet Silverado
 2015-2016 Chevrolet Suburban

    III. Noncompliance: GM explains that the noncompliance is that the 
subject vehicles are equipped with wheels supplied by Citic Dicastal 
Co. LTD (Dicastal) that are marked with unregistered date of 
manufacture marks that were not previously disclosed to NHTSA and 
therefore, do not comply with paragraph S4.4.2(e) of FMVSS No. 110.
    IV. Rule Text: Paragraph S4.4.2(e) of FMVSS No. 110 states:

    S4.4.2 Rim markings for vehicles other than passenger cars. Each 
rim or, at the option of the manufacturer in the case of a single-
piece wheel, each wheel disc shall be marked with the information 
listed in S4.4.2 (a) through (e), in lettering not less than 3 
millimeters in height, impressed to a depth or, at the option of the 
manufacturer, embossed to a height of not less than 0.125 
millimeters . . .
    (e) The month, day and year or the month and year of 
manufacture, expressed either numerically or by use of a symbol, at 
the option of the manufacturer. For example: ``September 4, 2001'' 
may be expressed numerically as: ``90401'', ``904, 01'' or ``01, 
904''; ``September 2001'' may be expressed as: ``901'', ``9, 01'' or 
``01, 9''.
    i. Any manufacturer that elects to express the date of 
manufacture by means of a symbol shall notify NHTSA in writing of 
the full names and addresses of all manufacturers and brand name 
owners utilizing that symbol and the name and address of the 
trademark owner of that symbol, if any. The notification shall 
describe in narrative form and in detail how the month, day, and 
year or the month and year are depicted by the symbol. Such 
description shall include an actual size graphic depiction of the 
symbol, showing and/or explaining the interrelationship of the 
component parts of the symbol as they will appear on the rim or 
single piece of wheel disc, including dimensional specifications, 
and where the symbol will be located on the rim or single piece 
wheel disc. The notification shall be received by NHTSA not less 
than 60 calendar days before the first use of the symbol . . .

    V. Summary of GM's Petition: GM described the subject noncompliance 
and stated its belief that the noncompliance is inconsequential as it 
relates to motor vehicle safety.
    In support of its petition, GM submitted the following reasons:
    (a) This is not a safety issue: Neither the marking method nor the 
timely disclosure of it to NHTSA have any effect on the operation, 
performance, or safety of the affected vehicles. For example, the 
required date marks do not serve any safety purpose and do not provide 
any safety benefit. The purpose of the date mark is traceability in the 
event a future wheel defect is discovered. For example, if it were 
discovered that Dicastal wheels manufactured in January 2015 had a 
defect (e.g., high porosity in the casting) a dealer could use the date 
marking to determine if a given wheel was in the suspect population.
    Importantly, here, all the affected wheels on GM's vehicles have 
accurate date markings and can be traced in the event of a defect. 
Except for a small percentage of affected wheels, the markings have all 
been disclosed to NHTSA. Disclosed or not, however, GM and its dealers 
can still trace the wheels because the unregistered date marks contain 
sufficient information to clearly identify the month and year of 
manufacture. Therefore, the issue here is more of a procedural one, and 
the fact that these date marks were not registered with NHTSA in a 
timely manner presents no substantive safety issue and is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    (b) NHTSA has granted similar requests: Granting this petition 
would be consistent with NHTSA's past decisions involving wheel 
markings required by FMVSS No. 110. For example, NHTSA recently granted 
a petition for inconsequential treatment related to a noncompliance 
with FMVSS No. 110's requirement that the source of the published 
nominal dimensions be marked on the rims. In that case, NHTSA agreed 
that the incorrect rim marking had no effect on the performance and 
safety of the tire/rim combination. Here, the connection to safety is 
even more attenuated because the markings on the wheels are correct, 
they were just not disclosed to NHTSA in a timely manner. For at least 
the same reasons NHTSA found incorrect rim markings inconsequential to 
vehicle safety, GM requests that NHTSA come to the same conclusion 
regarding the correct, but unregistered, markings in this case as being 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    (c) The issue has been corrected: Dicastal corrected the issue in 
production on April 25, 2015, when it stopped using unregistered date 
marks. Since then, the manufacture date marks on GM's Dicastal wheels 
have been properly disclosed to NHTSA and comply with FMVSS No. 110.
    GM concluded by expressing the belief that the subject 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety, 
and that its petition to be exempted from providing notification of the 
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and a remedy for the 
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120, should be granted.
    To view GM's petition, pictures and analyses in its entirety you 
can visit https://www.regulations.gov by following the online 
instructions for accessing the dockets and by using the docket ID 
number for this petition shown in the heading of this notice.
    NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a 
determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers 
only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, 
to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance 
and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, any decision on 
this petition only applies to the subject vehicles that GM no longer 
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. 
However, any decision on this petition does not relieve vehicle 
distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for 
sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate 
commerce of the noncompliant vehicles under their control after GM 
notified them that the subject noncompliance existed.

    Authority:  (49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at 
49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8)

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2017-09497 Filed 5-10-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P