[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 209 (Monday, October 31, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65641-65642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23598]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0095; Notice 2]


Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, Grant of Petition for 
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

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

ACTION: Grant of petition.

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SUMMARY: Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, (CTA) has determined that 
certain Continental motorcycle tires do not fully comply with Federal 
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New Pneumatic Tires for 
Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of More Than 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 
Pounds), Specialty Tires, and Tires for Motorcycles. CTA filed a 
noncompliance report dated December 2, 2021, and subsequently 
petitioned NHTSA on December 22, 2021, for a decision that the subject 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. 
This notice announces the grant of CTA's petition.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayton Lindley, General Engineer, 
NHTSA, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, telephone (325) 655-0547.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Overview

    CTA has determined that certain Continental motorcycle tires from 
several different tire lines do not fully comply with the requirements 
of paragraph S6.5(b) of FMVSS No. 119, New Pneumatic Tires for Motor 
Vehicles with a GVWR of More Than 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) (49 
CFR 571.119). CTA filed a noncompliance report dated December 2, 2021, 
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility 
and Reports. CTA subsequently petitioned NHTSA on December 22, 2021, 
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, pursuant to 49 
U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 49 CFR part 556, Exemption for 
Inconsequential Defect or Noncompliance.
    This notice of receipt of CTA'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.
    Notice of receipt of CTA's petition was published with a 30-day 
public comment period, on April 13, 2022, in the Federal Register (87 
FR 22022). No comments were received. To view the petition and all 
supporting documents log onto the Federal Docket Management System 
(FDMS) website at https://www.regulations.gov/. Then follow the online 
search instructions to locate docket number ``NHTSA-2021-0095.''

II. Tires Involved

    Approximately 14,198 Continental motorcycle tires, size 100/80-16 
M/C 50P, manufactured between July 2, 2018, and September 24, 2020, are 
potentially involved.

III. Noncompliance

    CTA explains the noncompliance is that the tires contain symbols in 
the tire identification number (TIN) that are not allowed and, 
therefore, do not meet the requirements of 49 CFR 574.5(f) which 
results in a noncompliance with paragraph S6.5(b) of FMVSS No. 119. 
Specifically, the sidewalls of the subject tires are marked with a TIN 
that may contain one of the following unauthorized symbols: G, I, O, Q, 
S, and Z.

[[Page 65642]]

IV. Rule Requirements

    Paragraph S6.5(b) of FMVSS No. 119 includes the requirements 
relevant to this petition. Each tire must be marked on each sidewall 
with the TIN required by part 574. Specifically, section 574.5(f) 
states that the only symbols that manufacturers and retreaders are 
allowed to use in the tire identification number are: A, B, C, D, E, F, 
H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, T, U, V, W, X, Y, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 
and 0.

V. Summary of CTA's Petition

    The following views and arguments presented in this section, ``V. 
Summary of CTA's Petition,'' are the views and arguments provided by 
CTA. They do not reflect the views of the Agency.
    CTA begins its petition by describing the subject noncompliance and 
contending that it is inconsequential because the subject tires can 
still be registered with the unauthorized symbols and can be identified 
in the event of a recall.
    CTA explains that it uses a third-party company, Computerized 
Information and Management Services, Inc. (CIMS), who maintains ``a 
database of all CTA's tire registrations for the purpose of identifying 
purchasers of tires in the event of a future recall.'' Further, CTA 
states that the database can be searched for not only exact matches but 
also ``close matching database entries,'' which would mean the database 
can perform a search ``if an `I' was misrepresented as a `1' or vice 
versa.''
    CTA says that in the event of a recall, the subject tires can be 
identified in the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association's tire recall 
search tool \1\ because it uses an algorithm in which the unauthorized 
letter can be used interchangeably with a corresponding allowed number, 
for example, ``G or 6, I or 1, O or 0, etc.''
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    \1\ https://recallinfo.ustires.org/.
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    CTA states that NHTSA has previously assigned a plant code 
containing an unauthorized letter to Continental Tire's location in 
Timisoara, Romania. In that case, CTA says the plant code contained the 
letter ``G'' which CTA believes ``does not cause any issues with tire 
registration and would not affect the registration search in the case 
of a recall.'' Therefore, CTA argues, that the use of the unauthorized 
symbols in the TIN of the subject tires will not affect tire 
registration or the identification of the TIN in the event of a recall.
    CTA says that it has stopped the sale of the subject tires and 
``has initiated the process of changing tire curing molds to compliant 
DOT TIN's'' and that ``the mold change dates will be documented in the 
CTA specification system for future traceability.'' CTA also says that 
it is taking action to prevent the reoccurrence of the subject 
noncompliance by modifying its sidewall specification system to include 
``a control point before a DOT TIN can be released for production.'' 
Additionally, CTA says that it will comply with the new 13 character 
TIN requirement by including a 3 character assigned plant code and the 
6 digit manufacturer code that will be ``automatically generated by the 
specification system, which assures that only authorized symbols are 
used.''
    CTA concludes its petition by stating 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.

VI. NHTSA's Analysis

    NHTSA has evaluated the merits of the inconsequential noncompliance 
petition submitted by CTA and is granting their request for relief from 
notification and remedy based on the following:
     Operational Safety & Performance: NHTSA has not identified 
a manner in which the incorrect characters in the TIN will have an 
effect on the operational safety and performance of the affected tires.
     Traceability & Identification: NHTSA currently has no 
reason to believe that the registration rate of the tires will decrease 
due to the use of unauthorized characters. CTA demonstrated that the 
affected tires can be registered by using either the actual or the 
alternative, visually similar, characters (examples are ``G'' and 
``6'', ``1'' and ``I'', etc.). Further, CTA demonstrated that, through 
the use of CIMS, registrations using a similar unauthorized symbol in 
lieu of a permitted symbol may be retrieved from the CIMS registration 
database. This will ensure that in the event of a recall, registration 
information for variations of the TIN numbers including both the 
permitted and unauthorized symbols will be included, and therefore the 
notification to consumers will not be diminished. Finally, NHTSA 
believes that the incorrect characters in the TIN will not prevent 
consumers from identifying the affected tires in the event of a recall.
    Other Arguments: The Agency does not find an errant plant code 
assignment using unauthorized symbols as compelling support for this 
petition. Further, a previous error committed by the Agency does not 
negate the requirements as stated in 49 CFR 574.5 (f).

VII. NHTSA's Decision

    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA finds that CTA has met its 
burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS No. 119 noncompliance in 
the affected tires is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. 
Accordingly, CTA's petition is hereby granted and CTA is consequently 
exempted from the obligation of providing notification of, and a free 
remedy for, that noncompliance under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120.
    NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file inconsequentiality 
petitions, only allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers from the duties to 
notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance and 
to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, the granting of this 
petition only applies to the subject tires that CTA no longer 
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. 
However, the granting of this petition does not relieve equipment 
distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for 
sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate 
commerce of the noncompliant tires under their control after CTA 
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)

Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2022-23598 Filed 10-28-22; 8:45 am]
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