[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 227 (Friday, November 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54860-54862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-21527]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0047; Notice 2]
Michelin North America, Inc., Grant of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Grant of petition.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Michelin North America, Inc. (MNA) has determined that certain
Michelin LTX A/T2 tires do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires For Light
Vehicles. MNA filed an original noncompliance report dated April 14,
2023, and later amended the report on July 3, 2023. MNA subsequently
petitioned NHTSA (the ``Agency'') on April 17, 2023, and later amended
the petition on July 6, 2023, for a decision that the subject
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
This document announces the grant of MNA's petition.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayton Lindley, General Engineer,
NHTSA, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, (325) 655-0547.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview: MNA determined that certain Michelin LTX A/T2 tires
size LT275/65R20 126/123R, do not fully comply with paragraphs S5.5(e)
and S5.5(f) of FMVSS No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires For Light
Vehicles (49 CFR 571.139).
MNA filed an original noncompliance report dated April 14, 2023,
and later amended the report on July 3, 2023, pursuant to 49 CFR part
573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. MNA
petitioned NHTSA on April 17, 2023, and later amended the petition on
July 6, 2023, 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.
Notice of receipt of MNA's petition was published with a 30-day
public comment period, on March 26, 2024, in the Federal Register (89
FR 21170). No comments were received. To view the petition and all
supporting documents log onto the Federal Docket
[[Page 54861]]
Management System (FDMS) website at https://www.regulations.gov/. Then
follow the online search instructions to locate docket number ``NHTSA-
2023-0047.''
II. Tires Involved: Approximately 7,153 Michelin LTX A/T2 tires
sized LT275/65R20 126/123R Load Range E, manufactured between January
15, 2023, and February 8, 2023, were reported by the manufacturer.
III. Noncompliance: MNA explains that the subject tires contain
incorrect information regarding the general name of cord materials and
the actual number of plies on the intended outboard sidewall of the
tires, and therefore, do not fully comply with paragraphs S5.5(e) and
S5.5(f) of FMVSS No. 139. Specifically, the sidewall of the subject
tires states ``TREAD PLIES: 2 POLYESTER + 2 STEEL SIDEWALL PLIES: 2
POLYESTER,'' when they should state ``TREAD PLIES: 2 POLYESTER + 1
POLYAMIDE + 2 STEEL SIDEWALL PLIES: 2 POLYESTER.''
IV. Rule Requirements: Paragraphs S5.5(e) and S5.5(f) of FMVSS No.
139 include the requirements relevant to this petition. Paragraph
S5.5(e) requires that the sidewall be marked with the generic name of
each cord material used in the plies (both sidewall and tread area) of
the tire, and paragraph S5.5(f) requires that the sidewall be marked
with the actual number of plies in the sidewall, and the actual number
of plies in the tread area, if different.
V. Summary of MNA's Petition: The following views and arguments
presented in this section, ``V. Summary of MNA's Petition,'' are the
views and arguments provided by MNA. They do not reflect the views of
the Agency. MNA describes the subject noncompliance and contends that
the noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle
safety.
MNA explains that the subject noncompliance occurred as a result of
an error made by a maintenance employee at the manufacturing site. On
January 15, 2023, the employee accidentally used the incorrect
plaquette when replacing a loose one in a mold for the subject tire. A
tire verification employee noticed a gap in the information in the
tread plies plaquette on the intended outboard side of the tire and
notified the Quality team. MNA says that its internal investigation
revealed that of the 7,997 tires produced, approximately 813 affected
tires were identified and contained and approximately 598 affected
tires (8 percent) of the production during this time period had entered
the US market.
MNA asserts that the subject tires comply with all applicable FMVSS
tire safety performance standards and they are marked with the correct
tire size information, including the load range and maximum single and
dual loads at the specified pressures. Further, MNA says that the
subject tires were tested and passed all applicable FMVSS No. 139
performance tests. MNA says that it has taken corrective measures and
removed the incorrect plaquette from the mold used on the subject tires
and replaced it with the correct plaquette.
MNA contends that NHTSA has found petitions for similar
noncompliances to be inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. MNA
provides the following examples:
1. Michelin North America, Inc., NHTSA docket number 2020-0092,
granted 7 February 2022.
2. Hankook Tire America Corporation, NHTSA docket number 2020-0020,
granted 21 January 2022.
3. Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, NHTSA docket number 2017-
0040, granted 30 July 2018.
4. Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd., NHTSA docket number 2017-0071,
granted 26 March 2018.
5. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, NHTSA docket number 2016-
0107, granted 17 April 2017.
MNA 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.
VI. NHTSA's Analysis: In determining inconsequentiality of a
noncompliance, NHTSA focuses on the safety risk to individuals who
experience the type of event against which a recall would otherwise
protect.\1\ In general, NHTSA does not consider the absence of
complaints or injuries when determining if a noncompliance is
inconsequential to safety. The absence of complaints does not mean
vehicle occupants have not experienced a safety issue, nor does it mean
that there will not be safety issues in the future.\2\ Further, because
each inconsequential noncompliance petition must be evaluated on its
own facts and determinations are highly fact-dependent, NHTSA does not
consider prior determinations as binding precedent. Petitioners are
reminded that they have the burden of persuading NHTSA that the
noncompliance is inconsequential to safety.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Gen. Motors, LLC; Grant of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance, 78 FR 35355 (June 12, 2013) (finding
noncompliance had no effect on occupant safety because it had no
effect on the proper operation of the occupant classification system
and the correct deployment of an air bag); Osram Sylvania Prods.
Inc.; Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential
Noncompliance, 78 FR 46000 (July 30, 2013) (finding occupant using
noncompliant light source would not be exposed to significantly
greater risk than occupant using similar compliant light source).
\2\ See Morgan 3 Wheeler Limited; Denial of Petition for
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 81 FR 21663, 21666 (Apr.
12, 2016); see also United States v. Gen. Motors Corp., 565 F.2d
754, 759 (D.C. Cir. 1977) (finding defect poses an unreasonable risk
when it ``results in hazards as potentially dangerous as sudden
engine fire, and where there is no dispute that at least some such
hazards, in this case fires, can definitely be expected to occur in
the future'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NHTSA has evaluated the merits of the inconsequential noncompliance
petition submitted by Michelin and agrees to grant the petitioner's
request for an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements
of 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 49 U.S.C. 30120 based on the following:
NHTSA agrees that, based on the facts presented, this specific
noncompliance of the subject tires is inconsequential to motor vehicle
safety. The Agency considered the following prior to making this
determination:
1. Operational Safety & Performance: NHTSA agrees that in this
case, the missing marking for the polyamide tread ply on the tire has
no effect on the operational safety of vehicle. Additionally, the
agency has no basis to believe that the affected tires do not meet all
other performance and labeling requirements of the applicable FMVSS.
2. Tire Identification and Traceability: The tires have the
required information per 49 CFR 574.5 to ensure that the tires may be
properly registered for the purposes of a safety recall. The entire
TIN, including the plant code and manufacturing date, is both legible
and easily discernible.
3. Downstream Operations: The Agency must also consider other
stakeholders, in addition to the manufacturer and end-user. Downstream
entities involved in tire repair, retreading, and recycling operations
require certain information to determine if tires may be safely used in
their operations. The existence of steel in a tire's sidewall and tread
can be relevant to the manner in which it should be repaired or
retreaded. The use of steel cord construction in the sidewall and tread
is the primary safety concern of these industries. The Agency believes
the noncompliance of the subject tires will have no measurable effect
on the safety of the tire retread,
[[Page 54862]]
repair, and recycling industries since the tire sidewalls are marked
correctly for the number of steel plies.
4. Consumer Feedback and Focus Groups: The Agency has concluded,
based on previous feedback, that the tire construction information,
specifically the number of plies and cord material in the sidewall and
tread plies, influences very few consumers when they are deciding to
buy a motor vehicle or replacement tires. This conclusion is based on
information gathered from the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(ANPRM) that was published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2000,
(65 FR 75222).
VII. NHTSA's Decision: In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA
finds that MNA has met its burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS
No. 139 noncompliance in the affected tires is inconsequential to motor
vehicle safety. Accordingly, MNA's petition is hereby granted and MNA
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 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, this decision
only applies to the subject tires that MNA no longer controlled at the
time it determined that the noncompliance existed. However, the
granting of this petition does not relieve tire 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 MNA 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. 2025-21527 Filed 11-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P