[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46447-46449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-23315]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 575

[Docket No. 94-30, Notice ]
RIN 2127-AF17


Consumer Information Regulations, Uniform Tire Quality Grading 
Standards

ACTION: Final rule: response to petition for reconsideration.

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SUMMARY: This document responds to a petition for reconsideration of a 
final rule of this agency that amended the Uniform Tire Quality Grading 
Standards to establish a new traction grade of ``AA'' and to freeze the 
base course wear rate of course monitoring tires used in treadwear 
testing at its current value. The petition asked the agency to exclude 
the petitioner from the applicability of the amended base course wear 
rate value until the mandatory compliance date of the amendments in the 
final rule. If that request is not granted, the petitioner requested a 
lead time of 2 years following publication of the final rule.
    This document denies the petition, and reaffirms NHTSA's decision 
both to maintain the base course wear rate at its current value and the 
mandatory compliance date specified in the final rule. Further, in 
response to a number of inquiries, this document makes it clear that 
manufacturers have the option of early compliance with the amendments 
in the final rule.

DATES: The amendments promulgated in the final rule of September 9, 
1996 (61 FR 47437) become effective March 9, 1998. Optional early 
compliance with those amendments was permitted beginning October 9, 
1996.
    Any petition for reconsideration of this rule must be received by 
NHTSA not later than October 20, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Petitions for reconsideration should refer to the docket and 
notice numbers noted above for this rule and be submitted to the Docket 
Section, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh 
Street, S.W., Room 5109, Washington, DC 20590; telephone (202) 366-
4949. Docket room hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through 
Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

    For technical issues: Mr. Orron Kee, Chief, Consumer Program 
Division, Office of Planning and Consumer Programs, National Highway 
Traffic

[[Page 46448]]

Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street S.W., Room 5307, Washington, 
DC 20590; telephone (202) 366-0846; Fax (202) 493-2739.
    For legal issues: Mr. Walter Myers, Office of the Chief Counsel, 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street 
S.W., Room 5219, Washington, DC 20590; telephone (202) 366-2992; Fax 
(202) 366-3820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 30123(e) of Title 49, United States Code requires the 
establishment of a uniform system for grading motor vehicle tires to 
assist consumers in making informed choices when purchasing tires. 
Pursuant to that congressional mandate, NHTSA established the Uniform 
Tire Quality Grading Standards (UTQGS) at 49 CFR Sec. 575.104. The 
UTQGS are applicable to new pneumatic passenger car tires, except deep 
tread, winter-type snow tires, space saver or temporary-use spare 
tires, tires with nominal rim diameters of 10 to 12 inches, and limited 
production tires as defined in Sec. 575.104(c)(2).
    The UTQGS require tire manufacturers and brand name owners to grade 
and mark their tires with respect to the tires' relative performance in 
the areas of treadwear, traction, and temperature resistance. Treadwear 
grades are shown by numbers, such as 100, 160, and 200, while traction 
and temperature resistance grades are indicated by the letters A, B, 
and C, with A representing the highest performance rating and C 
indicating the lowest.
    NHTSA published a final rule on September 9, 1996 (61 FR 47437) 
which amended the UTQGS to add a top-end rating of ``AA'' to the 
current traction rating categories and to freeze the base course wear 
rate (BCWR) for course monitoring tires (CMTs) used in treadwear 
testing at its current value of 1.34 mils per thousand miles (MPTM). 
The final rule specified an effective date of March 9, 1998.

The Petition

    On October 17, 1996 the Japan Automobile Tire Manufacturers 
Association, Inc. (JATMA) submitted a petition for reconsideration of 
the final rule asking that NHTSA exclude tires introduced into the 
United States prior to March 9, 1998 from the freezing of the BCWR at 
1.34, and suggesting that the new rule be applicable to new tire lines 
introduced after the effective date of March 9, 1998 specified in the 
final rule. JATMA argued that revision of the treadwear grade based on 
a fixed BCWR value of 1.34 MPTM for tires manufactured before March 9, 
1998 will result in 2 different traction grades for the same type of 
tire being available on the market at the same time, which could be 
confusing and misleading to consumers. If NHTSA does not grant that 
request, JATMA asked that a lead time of at least 2 years be provided 
in the final rule to give them time for ``explanation to the customers 
and re-tooling all the production tire molds.''

Agency Decision

    The BCWR, its purpose and how it is calculated, was discussed at 
length in both the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) of May 24, 1995 
(60 FR 27472) and the final rule of September 9, 1996. To reiterate 
briefly, CMTs are specially designed and built to American Society for 
Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard E1136 to be used as the control 
in the treadwear testing of candidate tires. The BCWR is intended to 
provide a common baseline for grading candidate tires by relating all 
new CMTs to the original lot of CMTs. In the past, each new lot of CMTs 
was tested against the previous lot and a new BCWR calculated for the 
new lot. NHTSA has noted, however, that over the years the BCWRs of 
successive new lots have steadily declined which, in turn, has resulted 
in significant increases in treadwear grades. Treadwear grades have 
increased to the extent that the agency believes that they have become 
misleading indicators of actual tread life when compared to tires 
tested earlier with higher BCWRs. Based on the belief that the BCWR 
calculation is flawed, NHTSA decided to freeze the BCWR at its latest 
value, 1.34 MPTM, to arrest the inflation in treadwear grades. Other 
benefits include elimination of the expense of testing and calibrating 
each new lot of CMTs, reduction in the procurement and storage of CMTs 
for resale, and the environmental benefits of eliminating at least one 
test convoy per year.
    The BCWR value has not been specified in the UTQGS in the past 
because, as explained above, the BCWR has been recalculated for each 
new lot. The agency has historically sold CMTs to tire manufacturers 
and test laboratories for their own testing purposes, each time 
advising those purchasers of the BCWR for that lot. The periodic 
changing of the BCWR has not in the past obligated tire manufacturers 
to change the treadwear grade of an existing tire line that was tested 
at an earlier time, regardless of the BCWR value in effect at the time, 
so long as the tire design and compounding of that line remains 
unchanged. The freezing of the BCWR does not alter the obligations of 
the tire manufacturers. Thus, tires of the same line but with different 
treadwear grades should not appear simultaneously on store shelves. If 
that situation does occur, however, it should present neither a new nor 
significant problem for tire manufacturers and retailers.
    With respect to JATMA's suggestion that the freezing of the BCWR be 
applicable to new tire lines marketed after the mandatory compliance 
date of March 9, 1998, NHTSA points out that, as explained above, the 
BCWRs of each new lot of CMTs in the past has been recalculated and 
those BCWRs have been utilized in the testing of both CMTs and 
candidate tires. The current BCWR value of 1.34 MPTM was calculated for 
the latest lot of CMTs procured and tested in 1995. Thus, that value 
would have been assigned to those CMTs and used by NHTSA, 
manufacturers, and test facilities in any case. The agency's action in 
freezing the BCWR at that value only made that figure permanent instead 
of temporary.
    In view of the above discussion, the agency denies JATMA's request 
to delay the effective date for the freezing of the BCWR.
    With respect to the JATMA's alternative request to provide a lead 
time of 2 years after publication of the final rule, the agency also 
addressed this issue in the final rule, explaining that a lead time of 
18 months

    [S]hould permit new labels and brochures to be prepared and 
printed in accordance with the normal business cycle, without undue 
scrappage of obsolete material. With respect to changing tire molds, 
the agency notes that since an AA rating is optional, tire 
manufacturers have an unlimited time in which to change molds on 
qualifying tire lines, if they decide to rate their tires with a 
traction grade of AA at all.

(61 FR at 47441) (emphasis added). The agency continues to believe that 
a lead time of 18 months is ample time in which to phase in new tire 
molds for those manufacturers that want to develop and market tires 
with an AA traction grade and to phase in new tread labels and point-
of-sale brochures explaining the new AA traction grade.
    The agency notes that no one else has objected to or opposed the 
18-month lead time specified in the final rule as being inadequate. On 
the contrary, a number of tire manufacturers have expressed an intent 
to market new tire lines with AA traction grades before the March 9, 
1998 effective date, and want to start testing and preparing molds, 
tread labels, and advertising campaigns now. Several, however, 
expressed

[[Page 46449]]

confusion as to whether the final rule permitted early compliance.
    In reviewing the final rule, NHTSA recognizes that an ambiguity 
could reasonably exist as to the permissibility of early compliance. In 
drafting the final rule, NHTSA was aware of a number of comments on the 
NPRM addressing various difficulties in complying with the traction 
proposals and the added costs involved. To minimize costs and any 
compliance difficulties, the agency specified an effective date of 18 
months so that manufacturers could phase in compliance in the normal 
course of changing tire molds and updating tread labels, sales 
brochures, and advertising materials (see above quote from the final 
rule at 61 FR 47441). In addition, in discussing the cost/benefits of 
the AA rating, the agency stated at 61 FR 47442:

    The addition of an AA traction grade will not require any 
additional testing by manufacturers. Further, as previously noted, 
the assessing of an AA traction grade is optional for manufacturers. 
Accordingly, any costs associated with changing tire molds to show 
an AA grade can be phased in at the manufacturers' convenience and 
during the regular course of reworking the molds for their tire 
lines (emphasis added).

    In summary, the agency's action in freezing the BCWR at 1.34 MPTM 
was primarily intended to arrest the treadwear grade creep that has 
been occurring over the past several years. Since the BCWR for the 
latest lot of CMTs, calculated at 1.34 MPTM in 1995, would have been 
assigned to that lot and used by NHTSA, manufacturers, and test 
facilities in any case, and because no retesting or regrading is 
required as a result of that action, the agency sees no need to delay 
the freezing of the BCWR. Accordingly, NHTSA denies JATMA's request.
    With respect to the effective date, the amendments promulgated by 
the final rule permitted but did not require tire manufacturers to 
assign an AA traction grade to their tire lines that demonstrate 
traction characteristics higher than 0.54<greek-m> on wet asphalt and 
higher than 0.38<greek-m> on wet concrete. The only mandatory 
requirement imposed by the final rule was an explanation of the AA 
grade to be added to the tread label required by 
Sec. 575.104(d)(1)(i)(B)(2), along with the required explanation of the 
other grading categories. In drafting the final rule, the agency 
considered the preamble language quoted and emphasized above 
sufficiently clear to express the agency's intent that manufacturers 
could phase in, at their convenience and in the normal course of 
business, compliance with the new labeling requirement and the 
preparation of the molds for the tires they wanted to grade AA for 
traction. In view of the uncertainty as to the permissibility of early 
compliance expressed by some manufacturers, however, NHTSA declares 
that early compliance with the provisions of the final rule is 
permitted at any time after 30 days following publication of the final 
rule in the Federal Register, namely October 9, 1996 (see DATES above).

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. Secs. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117, and 30166; 
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

    Issued on August 26, 1997.
Ricardo Martinez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-23315 Filed 9-2-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P