73998 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 229 / Tuesday, November 30, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Part 571 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2010–0132] 

RIN 21217–AK17 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 

Standards; New Pneumatic Tires for 

Motor Vehicles With a Gross Vehicle 

Weight Rating (GVWR) of More Than 

4,536 Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) and 

Motorcycles 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Extension of comment period. 

SUMMARY: NHTSA has received a 

petition asking the agency to extend the 

comment period for its proposal to 

upgrade the Federal motor vehicle 

safety standard (FMVSS) that applies to 

new pneumatic tires for use on vehicles 

with a gross vehicle weight rating 

(GVWR) greater than 10,000 pounds and 

motorcycles. In the proposal, NHTSA 

established a deadline for the 

submission of written comments of 

November 29, 2010. In light of that 

petition and the need to ensure that all 

interested parties have a sufficient 

amount of time to fully develop their 

comments, the agency is extending the 

deadline for the submission of written 

comments by 30 days. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by December 29, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

(identified by the NHTSA Docket ID 

Number above) by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility: 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 

9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

Privacy Act: 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 (65 FR 

19477–78). 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov or the street 

address listed above. Follow the online 

instructions for accessing the dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

George Soodoo, NHTSA Office of 

Rulemaking (Telephone: 202–366–2720) 

(Fax: 202–493–2739) or Thomas Healy, 

NHTSA Office of Chief Counsel 

(Telephone: 202–366–7161) (Fax: 202– 

366–3820). The mailing address for 

these officials is: National Highway 

Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA 

issued a notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM) proposing to upgrade FMVSS 

No. 119 (49 CFR 571.119), which 

applies to new pneumatic tires for 

vehicles with a GVWR greater than 

10,000 pounds and motorcycles. The 

NPRM was published on September 29, 

2010 (75 FR 60037, Docket No. NHTSA– 

2010–0132). In the NPRM, among other 

matters, NHTSA proposed to amend 

FMVSS No. 119 to adopt a more 

stringent endurance test and a new high 

speed test for heavy vehicle tires with 

a load range of F, G, H, J, and L. 

The Rubber Manufacturers 

Association (RMA), which represents 

manufacturers of finished rubber 

products, including tire manufacturers, 

has petitioned for an extension of the 

comment period on the NPRM. RMA 

said that it is requesting a 30-day 

extension so that its members can 

complete all of their additional testing 

to evaluate the more stringent 

endurance test proposed by the agency 

and to develop new data to demonstrate 

differences in outcomes with tire breakin versus no break-in for the new 

proposed high speed test. RMA 

indicated that it also intends to 

supplement its earlier test data 

submitted to the agency on April 14, 

2009. RMA believes that the earlier data 

set submitted to the docket, combined 

with additional new data, will assist 

NHTSA in evaluating RMA’s comments 

and arriving at a final rule. RMA 

maintains that its members require 

several weeks to complete even a small 

test program of the 47-hour endurance 

test. Therefore, RMA indicates that it is 

not possible for its members to complete 

all of their additional testing and have 

it ready for submittal by November 29, 

2010. 

In considering the extension request, 

NHTSA weighed the complexity and 

importance of this rulemaking and the 

basis for the request. We have decided 

there is good cause to grant the petition 

and extend the comment period 30 

days. The extension is in the public 

interest since it will provide the public 

additional time to prepare and submit 

useful technical information that should 

benefit agency decision-making in this 

rulemaking action. Accordingly, 

NHTSA extends the period for the 

submission of written comments in this 

proceeding to December 29, 2010. 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 

30166 and 30177; delegation of authority at 

49 CFR 1.50. 

Issued: November 24, 2010. 

Joseph S. Carra, 

Acting Associate Administrator for 

Rulemaking. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30096 Filed 11–24–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4910–56–P 


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