[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 206 (Tuesday, October 26, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62512-62513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-23877]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2004-18923; Notice 2]


CCI Manufacturing IL Corporation, Grant of Petition for Decision 
of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    CCI Manufacturing IL Corporation (CCI) has determined that certain 
brake fluid containers manufactured by its supplier, Gold Eagle, do not 
comply with S5.2.2.2(d) of 49 CFR 571.116, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 116, ``Motor vehicle brake fluids.'' Pursuant to 
49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), CCI has petitioned for a determination 
that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and 
has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect 
and Noncompliance Reports.'' Notice of receipt of a petition was 
published, with a 30-day comment period, on August 31, 2004, in the 
Federal Register (69 FR 53130). NHTSA received no comments.
    A total of approximately 21,204 units of brake fluid containers 
manufactured in March 2004 are affected. S5.2.2.2 of FMVSS No. 116 
requires that:

    Each packager of brake fluid shall furnish the information 
specified in [paragraph d] of this S5.2.2.2 by clearly marking it on 
each brake fluid container or on a label (labels) permanently 
affixed to the container * * * After being subjected to the 
operations and conditions specified in S6.14, the information 
required by this section shall be legible. * * *

The information specified in paragraph (d) of S5.2.2.2 is ``[a] serial 
number identifying the package lot and date of packaging.'' With regard 
to the noncompliant brake fluid containers, the lot and date codes 
required by S5.2.2.2(d) are not legible after the containers are 
subjected to the test conditions of S6.14.
    CCI believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety and that no corrective action is warranted. CCI stated:

    NHTSA has identified only one purpose for [the lot and date 
code] marking: namely, ``to facilitate determination of the extent 
of defective brake fluid should such be discovered.'' * * * While it 
is clearly in the manufacturer's interest to be able to limit the 
``extent of defective brake fluid should such

[[Page 62513]]

be discovered,'' by reference to lot/date code markings, there is no 
serious risk to motor vehicle safety if that information is lost. 
Instead, in the event of a defect or noncompliance determination 
affecting certain batches of brake fluid, the brake fluid 
manufacturer would be compelled to recall a larger population of 
brake fluid containers than it otherwise would need to do, because 
it could not rely on the presence of a legible lot/date code marking 
to limit the population of the recall.

CCI explained that it sold the affected brake fluid only to Mercedes-
Benz, who then distributed it to its dealerships and authorized repair 
facilities. CCI does not believe Mercedes-Benz offers the brake fluid 
for retail sale to customers. CCI stated:

    First, Mercedes-Benz purchases and distributes the brake fluid 
to its dealerships and authorized repair facilities in bulk 
quantities, and those products are used quickly. Even in the 
unlikely event that a dealership or repair facility could not read 
the lot/date code on a particular container of brake fluid, that 
entity would likely have other containers from the same lot/date 
code on its premises, and could ascertain the lot/date code for the 
fouled container from its companion products. Second, CCI believes 
that all of the noncompliant containers in Mercedes-Benz's inventory 
may already have been used.

    The agency agrees that under the circumstances, the lot and date 
information could most likely be determined if necessary. In addition, 
the brake fluid containers comply with all other requirements of FMVSS 
No. 116 and the brake fluid itself complies with the performance 
requirements of FMVSS No. 116. CCI has corrected the problem.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
petitioner has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance 
described is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, 
CCI's petition is granted and the petitioner is exempted from the 
obligation of providing notification of, and a remedy for, the 
noncompliance.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: October 19, 2004.
Kenneth N. Weinstein,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 04-23877 Filed 10-25-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P