Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 184 / Thursday, September 23, 2004 / Notices 57133

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2004–19121] 

Notice of Receipt of Petition for 

Decision That Nonconforming 2000 

BMW R1150 GS Motorcycles Are 

Eligible for Importation

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of petition for 

decision that nonconforming 2000 BMW 

R1150 GS motorcycles are eligible for 

importation. 

SUMMARY: This document announces 

receipt by the National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a 

petition for a decision that 2000 BMW 

R1150 GS motorcycles that were not 

originally manufactured to comply with 

all applicable Federal motor vehicle 

safety standards are eligible for 

importation into the United States 

because (1) they are substantially 

similar to vehicles that were originally 

manufactured for sale in the United 

States and that were certified by their 

manufacturer as complying with the 

safety standards, and (2) they are 

capable of being readily altered to 

conform to the standards.

DATES: The closing date for comments 

on the petition is 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to 

the docket number and notice number, 

and be submitted to: Docket 

Management, Room PL–401, 400 

Seventh St., SW., Washington, DC 

20590. (Docket hours are from 9 a.m. to 

5 p.m.) Anyone is able to search the 

electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register

published on April 11, 2000 (volume 65, 

number 70; pages 19477–78), or you 

may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Coleman Sachs, Office of Vehicle Safety 

Compliance, NHTSA (202–366–3151).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under 49 U.S.C. 30141(a)(1)(A), a 

motor vehicle that was not originally 

manufactured to conform to all 

applicable Federal motor vehicle safety 

standards shall be refused admission 

into the United States unless NHTSA 

has decided that the motor vehicle is 

substantially similar to a motor vehicle 

originally manufactured for importation 

into and sale in the United States, 

certified under 49 U.S.C. 30115, and of 

the same model year as the model of the 

motor vehicle to be compared, and is 

capable of being readily altered to 

conform to all applicable Federal motor 

vehicle safety standards. 

Petitions for eligibility decisions may 

be submitted by either manufacturers or 

importers who have registered with 

NHTSA pursuant to 49 CFR part 592. As 

specified in 49 CFR 593.7, NHTSA 

publishes notice in the Federal Register

of each petition that it receives, and 

affords interested persons an 

opportunity to comment on the petition. 

At the close of the comment period, 

NHTSA decides, on the basis of the 

petition and any comments that it has 

received, whether the vehicle is eligible 

for importation. The agency then 

publishes this decision in the Federal 

Register. 

Wallace Environmental Testing 

Laboratories, Inc. (WETL) (Registered 

Importer 90–005) has petitioned NHTSA 

to decide whether non-U.S. certified 

2000 BMW R1150 GS motorcycles are 

eligible for importation into the United 

States. The vehicles that WETL believes 

are substantially similar are 2000 BMW 

R1150 GS motorcycles that were 

manufactured for sale in the United 

States and certified by their 

manufacturer as conforming to all 

applicable Federal motor vehicle safety 

standards. 

The petitioner claims that it carefully 

compared non-U.S. certified 2000 BMW 

R1150 GS motorcycles to their U.S. 

certified counterparts, and found the 

vehicles to be substantially similar with 

respect to compliance with most Federal 

motor vehicle safety standards. 

WETL submitted information with its 

petition intended to demonstrate that 

non-U.S. certified 2000 BMW R1150 GS 

motorcycles as originally manufactured, 

conform to many Federal motor vehicle 

safety standards in the same manner as 

their U.S. certified counterparts, or are 

capable of being readily altered to 

conform to those standards. 

Specifically, the petitioner claims that 

non-U.S. certified 2000 BMW R1150 GS 

motorcycles are identical to their U.S. 

certified counterparts with respect to 

compliance with Standard Nos. 106 

Brake Hoses, 111 Rearview Mirrors, 116 

Brake Fluid, 119 New Pneumatic Tires 

for Vehicles other than Passenger Cars,

122 Motorcycle Brake Systems, and 205 

Glazing Materials.

The petitioner further contends that 

the vehicles are capable of being readily 

altered to meet the following standards, 

in the manner indicated below: 

Standard No. 108 Lamps, Reflective 

Devices and Associated Equipment:

installation of the following components 

(a) U.S.-model headlamps; and (b) U.S.-

model front and rear reflex reflectors. 

Standard No. 120 Tire Selection and 

Rims for Vehicles other than Passenger 

Cars: (a) Installation of a tire 

information placard; and (b) inspection 

of all vehicles to ensure compliance 

with rim marking requirements, and 

replacement of rims that are not 

properly marked. 

Standard No. 123 Motorcycle Controls 

and Displays: installation of U.S.-model 

speedometer and odometer units, or 

modification of the speedometer and 

odometer unit components so that the 

speedometer reads in miles per hour. 

The petitioner also states that a 

certification label must be affixed to the 

motorcycle to comply with the 

requirements of 49 CFR part 567. 

Comments should refer to the docket 

number and be submitted to: Docket 

Management, Room PL–401, 400 

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20590. It is requested but not required 

that 10 copies be submitted. 

All comments received before the 

close of business on the closing date 

indicated above will be considered, and 

will be available for examination in the 

docket at the above address both before 

and after that date. To the extent 

possible, comments filed after the 

closing date will also be considered. 

Notice of final action on the petition 

will be published in the Federal 

Register pursuant to the authority 

indicated below.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30141(a)(1)(A) and 

(b)(1); 49 CFR 593.8; delegations of authority 

at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

Claude H. Harris, 

Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.

[FR Doc. 04–21377 Filed 9–22–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs 

Administration 

Office of Hazardous Materials Safety; 

Notice of Application for Exemptions

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs 

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: List of applications for 

exemption. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

procedures governing the application 

for, and the processing of, exemptions 

from the Department of Transportation’s