[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 144 (Friday, July 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60679-60680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16482]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0101; Notice 1]


AROW Global Corp., 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: AROW Global Corp. (AROW) has determined that certain glass 
panes for use as original equipment and replacement service parts of 
side window assemblies on transit buses do not fully comply with 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 205, Glazing 
Materials. AROW filed a noncompliance report dated September 19, 2022, 
and later amended the report on September 20, 2022. AROW subsequently 
petitioned NHTSA (the ``Agency'') on October 12, 2022, for a decision 
that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to 
motor vehicle safety. This document announces receipt of AROW's 
petition.

DATES: Send comments on or before August 26, 2024.

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 may be 
submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to the 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 the 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 for Federal Holidays.
     Electronically: Submit comments electronically by logging 
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website 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).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack Chern, General Engineer, NHTSA,

[[Page 60680]]

Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, (202) 366-0661.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    I. Overview: AROW determined that certain glass panes for use as 
orginal equipment and replacement service parts of side window 
assemblies on transit buses, do not fully comply with paragraph S6.2 of 
FMVSS No. 205, Glazing Materials (49 CFR 571.205).
    AROW filed a noncompliance report dated September 19, 2022, and 
later amended the report on September 20, 2022, pursuant to 49 CFR part 
573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. AROW 
petitioned NHTSA on October 12, 2022, 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 AROW's petition is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
another exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.
    II. Equipment Involved: Approximately 1,600 certain glass panes for 
use as orginal equipment and replacement service parts of side window 
assemblies on transit buses, manufactured between March 31, 2022, and 
September 9, 2022, were reported by the manufacturer.
    III. Noncompliance: AROW explains that the subject glass panes are 
marked with the incorrect manufacturer's code, and therefore, do not 
comply with paragraph S6.2 of FMVSS No. 205. Specifically, the subject 
glass panes are marked ``DOT 1187'' when they should be marked ``DOT 
1178.''
    IV. Rule Requirements: Paragraph S6.2 of FMVSS No. 205 includes the 
requirements relevant to this petition. A prime glazing manufacturer 
certifies its glazing by adding to the marks required by section 7 of 
ANSI/SAE Z26.1-1996, in letters and numerals of the same size, the 
symbol ``DOT'' and a manufacturer's code mark that NHTSA assigns to the 
manufacturer. NHTSA will assign a code mark to a manufacturer after the 
manufacturer submits a written request which must include the company 
name, address, and a statement from the manufacturer certifying its 
status as a prime glazing manufacturer as defined in paragraph S4 of 
FMVSS No. 205.
    V. Summary of AROW's Petition: The following views and arguments 
presented in this section, ``V. Summary of AROW's Petition,'' are the 
views and arguments provided by AROW. They have not been evaluated by 
the Agency and do not reflect the views of the Agency. AROW describes 
the subject noncompliance and contends that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
    AROW explains that the subject glass panes contain the 
manufacturer's code mark ``DOT 1187,'' which incorrectly identifies 
Glass Industry PLC as the manufacturer. AROW says that while the 
manufacturer code on the subject glass panes is incorrect, the 
certification mark contains the correct AS item number and the glass 
panes meet the FMVSS No. 205 technical requirements as applicable to 
tempered glass for use in motor vehicles.\1\
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    \1\ AROW's petition includes supporting test reports issued by a 
third part testing services provider.
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    AROW states that the subject glass panes are intended for use in 
the North American transit bus market, where there are only a few 
glazing suppliers, and the production volume of vehicles are relatively 
low. The manufacturer indicated by the incorrect manufacturer code on 
the subject glass panes, Glass Industry PLC, is not known to supply the 
affected side window assemblies during the specified time period the 
noncompliance may exist. Furthermore, AROW believes that it is unlikely 
that the manufacturer code marked on the subject glass panes would be 
used to obtain new or replacement parts. Instead, AROW believes that 
the bus manufacturer would be contacted to obtain replacement parts, 
and the part numbers and part sources would be identified from the 
original build contract. Moreover, AROW states that all parts contain 
its corporate logo, which indicates AROW as the supplier of the part.
    AROW contends that NHTSA has granted prior petitions for similar 
noncompliances. Specifically, AROW refers to a petition submitted by 
Custom Glass Solution Upper Sandusky Corporation \2\ that involved 
glass panes that were ``labeled with the incorrect manufacturer's code 
mark, incorrect Manufacturer's trademark, and incorrect manufacturer's 
model number, and were incorrectly marked as Tempered.'' AROW cited the 
following from NHTSA's decision: NHTSA believes that the subject 
labeling errors are inconsequential to motor vehicle safety because the 
marking of glazing as ``Tempered'' or ``Laminated'' is not required by 
FMVSS No. 205, the probability of anyone in the United States obtaining 
the subject incorrectly marked glazing as replacement glazing is very 
unlikely since the affected glazing is specifically designed for use in 
mining vehicles manufactured by Atlas Copco in Australia. In addition, 
there is no concern that the wrong model number on the subject glazing 
would result in an incorrect replacement part being used because 
replacement parts are ordered by referring to the glazing part number 
or by identifying the vehicle for which the replacement glazing is 
intended.
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    \2\ See Custom Glass Solutions Upper Sandusky Corporation, Grant 
of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 80 FR 
3737 (January 23, 2015).
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    AROW concludes by stating its belief that the subject noncompliance 
is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety and 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.
    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 equipment that AROW no longer 
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. 
However, any decision on 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 equipment under their control after AROW 
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. 2024-16482 Filed 7-25-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P