10294 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 44 / Wednesday, March 7, 2007 / Notices 

1All temporary spares were required to be 

certified to FMVSS No. 109 until June 26, 2003 

when FMVSS No. 139 took effect. However, the 

agency moved temporary spares back to FMVSS No. 

109 after January 6, 2006 by granting a petition for 

reconsideration. 

1All temporary spares were required to be 

certified to FMVSS No. 109 until June 26, 2003 

when FMVSS No. 139 took effect. However, the 

agency moved temporary spares back to FMVSS No. 

109 after January 6, 2006 by granting a petition for 

reconsideration. 

read the letters. Therefore, the 

noncompliance does not affect the 

safety of the tire or its use. 

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, Hankook’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: February 28, 2007. 

Daniel C. Smith, 

Associate Administrator for Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. E7–3925 Filed 3–6–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA 2006–26422; Notice 2] 

Hankook Tire Co., Ltd.; Grant of 

Petition for Decision of 

Inconsequential Noncompliance 

Hankook Tire Co., Ltd. (Hankook) has 

determined that certain tires that it 

produced in 2005 and 2006 do not 

comply with S5.5.5 of 49 CFR 571.139, 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 

(FMVSS) No. 139, ‘‘New pneumatic 

radial tires for light vehicles.’’ Pursuant 

to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), 

Hankook 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 December 13, 2006, in the 

Federal Register (71 FR 74995). NHTSA 

received no comments. 

Affected are a total of approximately 

19,606 passenger car temporary spare 

tires produced between October 2005 

and April 2006. Although Hankook 

asserted that they had certified the 

subject tires to the requirements of 

FMVSS No. 139, only tires 

manufactured between June 26, 2003 

and January 6, 2006 were permitted, at 

the manufacturer’s option, to be 

certified to the requirements of FMVSS 

No. 139.1 See ‘‘Federal Motor Vehicle 

Safety Standards; Tires,’’ 68 FR 38116 

(June 26, 2003) and 71 FR 877 (January 

6, 2006). For tires manufactured after 

January 6, 2006, FMVSS No. 109, ‘‘New 

Pneumatic Tires’’ is the only safety 

standard to which temporary spares 

could be certified. Therefore, Hankook’s 

petition is being processed as applying 

to FMVSS No. 109 in addition to 

FMVSS No. 139. In either standard, the 

noncompliance issue is the same; 

however, different paragraphs are 

referenced for the two standards. S4.3.5 

of FMVSS No. 109 and S5.5.5 of FMVSS 

No. 139 require that the tires have a 

sidewall marking ‘‘inflate to 420 kPa (60 

psi)’’ of no less than 12.7 mm high. In 

the marking on the noncompliant tires, 

the letters are 8 mm high. Hankook has 

corrected the problems that caused 

these errors so that they will not be 

repeated in future productions. 

Hankook believes that the 

noncompliance is inconsequential to 

motor vehicle safety and that no 

corrective action is warranted. Hankook 

states that the noncompliance ‘‘affects 

consumer information only and does 

not affect safety of the tires.’’ Hankook 

further states that the tires comply with 

all other FMVSS requirements. 

NHTSA agrees with Hankook that the 

noncompliance is inconsequential to 

motor vehicle safety. As Hankook states, 

even with the reduced size of the 8mm 

on the sidewall marking, the user or 

purchaser of the tire can still read the 

letters. Therefore, the noncompliance 

does not affect the safety of the tire or 

its use. 

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, Hankook’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: February 28, 2007. 

Daniel C. Smith, 

Associate Administrator for Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. E7–3926 Filed 3–6–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA 2006–26423; Notice 2] 

Hankook Tire Co., Ltd.; Grant of 

Petition for Decision of 

Inconsequential Noncompliance 

Hankook Tire Co., Ltd. (Hankook) has 

determined that certain tires that it 

produced in 2001 through 2006 do not 

comply with S5.5(h) of 49 CFR 571.139, 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 

(FMVSS) No. 139, ‘‘New pneumatic 

radial tires for light vehicles.’’ Pursuant 

to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), 

Hankook 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 December 15, 2006, in the 

Federal Register (71 FR 75610). NHTSA 

received no comments. 

Affected are a total of approximately 

99,620 passenger car temporary spare 

tires produced between January 2001 

through September 2006. Although 

Hankook asserted that they had certified 

the subject tires to the requirements of 

FMVSS No. 139, only tires 

manufactured between June 26, 2003 

and January 6, 2006 were permitted, at 

the manufacturer’s option, to be 

certified to the requirements of FMVSS 

No. 139.1 See ‘‘Federal Motor Vehicle 

Safety Standards; Tires,’’ 68 FR 38116 

(June 26, 2003) and 71 FR 877 (January 

6, 2006). For tires manufactured before 

June 26, 2003, or manufactured after 

January 6, 2006, FMVSS No. 109, ‘‘New 

Pneumatic Tires’’ is the only safety 

standard to which temporary spares 

could be certified. Therefore, Hankook’s 

petition is being processed as applying 

to FMVSS No. 109 in addition to 

FMVSS No. 139. In either standard, the 

noncompliance issue is the same; 

however, different paragraphs are 

referenced for the two standards. S4.3(g) 

of FMVSS No. 109 and S5.5(h) of 

FMVSS No. 139 require that the tires 

have a sidewall marking ‘‘radial’’ if the 

tire is a radial ply tire. These tires lack 

the word ‘‘radial’’ in the sidewall 

marking. Hankook has corrected the 

problem that caused these errors so that 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES