Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 174 / Tuesday, September 9, 1997 / Proposed Rules 47411

(ii) In the case of an article that consists in

whole or in part of materials from another

country or instrumentality, has been

substantially transformed in a designated

country into a new and different article of

commerce with a name, character, or use

distinct from that of the article or articles

from which it was so transformed. The term

refers to a product offered for purchase under

a supply contract, but for purposes of

calculating the value of the end product

includes services (except transportation

services) incidental to its supply, provided

that the value of those incidental services

does not exceed the value of the product

itself.

(6) End product means those articles,

materials, and supplies to be acquired for

public use under the contract. For this

contract, the end products are the line items

to be delivered to the Government (including

supplies to be acquired by the Government

for public use in connection with service

contracts, but excluding installation and

other services to be performed after delivery).

(7) NAFTA country end product means an

article that—

(i) Is wholly the growth, product, or

manufacture of the NAFTA country; or

(ii) In the case of an article that consists in

whole or in part of materials from another

country or instrumentality, has been

substantially transformed in a NAFTA

country into a new and different article of

commerce with a name, character, or use

distinct from that of the article or articles

from which it was so transformed. The term

refers to a product offered for purchase under

a supply contract, but for purposes of

calculating the value of the end product

includes services (except transportation

services) incidental to its supply, provided

that the value of those incidental services

does not exceed the value of the product

itself.

(8) Nondesignated country end product

means any end product that is not a U.S.

made end product or a designated country

end product.

(9) North American Free Trade Agreement

(NAFTA) country means Canada or Mexico.

(10) Qualifying country means any country

set forth in subsection 225.872–1 of the

Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation

(FAR) Supplement.

(11) Qualifying country end product

means—

(i) An unmanufactured end product mined

or produced in a qualifying country; or

(ii) An end product manufactured in a

qualifying country if the cost of the

components mined, produced, or

manufactured in the qualifying country and

its components mined, produced, or

manufactured in the United States exceeds

50 percent of the cost of all its components.

(12) United States means the United States,

its possessions, Puerto Rico, and any other

place subject to its jurisdiction, but does not

include leased bases or trust territories.

(13) U.S. made end product means an

article that—

(i) Is wholly the growth, product, or

manufacture of the United States; or

(ii) In the case of an article that consists in

whole or in part of materials from another

country or instrumentality, has been

substantially transformed in the United

States into a new and different article of

commerce with a name, character, or use

distinct from that of the article or articles

from which it was so transformed.

(b) Unless otherwise specified, the Trade

Agreements Act of 1979 (19 U.S.C. 2501 et

seq.), the North American Free Trade

Agreement Implementation Act of 1993 (19

U.S.C. 3301 note), and the Caribbean Basin

Initiative apply to all items in the Schedule.

(c) (1) The Contractor agrees to deliver

under this contract only U.S. made,

qualifying country, designated country,

Caribbean Basin country, or NAFTA country

end products unless, in its offer, it specified

delivery of other nondesignated country end

products in the Trade Agreements Certificate

provision of the solicitation.

(2) The Contractor may not supply a

nondesignated country end product other

than a qualifying country end product, a

Caribbean Basin country end product, or a

NAFTA country end product, unless—

(i) The Contracting Officer has determined

that offers of U.S. made end products or

qualifying, designated, Caribbean Basin, or

NAFTA country end products from

responsive, responsible offerors are either not

received or are insufficient to fill the

Government’s requirements; or

(ii) A national interest waiver has been

granted under section 302 of the Trade

Agreements Act of 1979 (see FAR 25.402(c)).

(d) The offered price of end products listed

under paragraph (c)(2) of the Trade

Agreements Certificate provision of the

solicitation must include all applicable duty,

whether or not a duty-free entry certificate

will be granted. The offered price of

qualifying country, designated country,

Caribbean Basin country, or NAFTA country

end products for line items subject to the

Trade Agreements Act, or the North

American Free Trade Agreement

Implementation Act, should not include

custom fees or duty. The offered price of U.S.

made end products should not include duty

for qualifying country components.

(End of clause)

ALTERNATIVE I (XXX 19XX). As

described in 225.408(a)(4), delete Singapore

from the list of designated countries in

paragraph (a)(4) of the basic clause.

252.225–7035 [Amended]

20. Section 252.225–7035 is amended

in the introductory text by revising the

reference ‘‘225.408(a)(3)’’ to read

‘‘225.408(a)(5)’’.

252.225–7036 [Amended]

21. Section 252.225–7036 is amended

in the introductory text by revising the

reference ‘‘225.408(a)(4)’’ to read

‘‘225.408(a)(6)’’.

[FR Doc. 97–23656 Filed 9–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 5000–04–M

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

48 CFR Parts 833 and 852

RIN 2900–AI51

VA Acquisition Regulation:

Department Protests

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This document proposes to

amend the Department of Veterans

Affairs (VA) Acquisition Regulations

(VAAR) to delete coverage which

duplicates or conflicts with the Federal

Acquisition Regulation; to delete

internal agency guidance to contracting

officers; to delete obsolete references to

the General Services Administration

Board of Contract Appeals; to

incorporate changes made by Federal

Acquisition Circular (FAC) 90–40, Item

XIII and FAC 90–45, Item XII; to publish

VA policy regarding the availability of

staff of the VA Board of Contract

Appeals to serve as third party neutrals

in alternative dispute resolution

proceedings; and to update clauses and

references. These changes will

implement VA policy and are required

to ensure that the VAAR corresponds

with the requirements of the Federal

Acquisition Regulation and public law.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before November 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand deliver written

comments to: Director, Office of

Regulations Management (02D),

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Avenue, NW, Room 1154,

Washington, DC 20420. Comments

should indicate that they are submitted

in response to ‘‘RIN: 2900–AI51.’’ All

written comments will be available for

public inspection in the Office of

Regulations Management, Room 1158,

between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30

p.m., Monday through Friday (except

holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don

Kaliher; Acquisition Policy Team (95A),

Office of Acquisition and Materiel

Management, Department of Veterans

Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW,

Washington DC 20420, (202) 273–8819.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As

provided by Public Law 104–106, the

Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, the General

Services Administration Board of

Contract Appeals (GSBCA) no longer

hears bid protests. Therefore, obsolete

references to the GSBCA would be

removed from the VAAR.

This proposed rule would clarify an

existing VA procedure in 833.103(a),

which allows an interested party to file
47412 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 174 / Tuesday, September 9, 1997 / Proposed Rules

an initial protest at a level above the

contracting officer, and, as required by

FAR 33.103(d)(4), would add new

clause 852.233–71, Alternate Protest

Procedure, to inform bidders/offerors of

the availability of this alternate protest

procedure. This is one of the two

methods discussed in FAR 33.103(d)(4)

for providing an independent review of

a protest. In addition, existing

Department procedures for appealing a

contracting officer’s protest decision,

which is the other method discussed in

FAR 33.103(d)(4) for providing an

independent review of a protest, would

be clarified and relocated from

833.103(c) to new paragraph 833.103(f).

Material in 833.103(c) which is internal

agency guidance to contracting officers

would be removed from the VAAR.

It is current VA practice to make

available the administrative judges and

hearing examiners of the VA Board of

Contract Appeals (VABCA) to serve as

neutral third parties when alternative

dispute resolution (ADR) methods are

used to resolve potential or actual

contract disputes and appeals. This

practice would be codified in VAAR at

833.214. In addition, as provided at FAR

33.103(c), this practice would be

extended to bid protests at 833.103(b)

and would make the administrative

judges and hearing examiners of

VABCA available to serve as neutral

third parties when ADR is used to

resolve bid protests.

This proposed rule would renumber

current paragraph 833.103(b) as

833.103(c) and would make changes to

the paragraph to comply with the

requirements of FAR 33.103 (f)(1) and

(f)(3). FAR paragraphs 33.103 (f)(1) and

(f)(3) require that a justification or

determination to award a contract or to

continue contract performance after

receipt of a protest shall be approved at

a level above the contracting officer or

by another official pursuant to agency

procedures. Proposed paragraph

833.103(c) would revise and clarify who

that approving official is within VA.

Paragraph 833.103(e) currently

provides guidance to contracting

officers on actions to take upon receipt

of a protest after a contract has been

awarded. FAR 33.103(f)(3) was recently

revised to provide new guidelines on

when a contract must be suspended

upon receipt of a protest. This proposed

rule would revise 833.103(e) to conform

VAAR to, and comply with, these new

requirements of FAR 33.103(f)(3).

VA provision 852.233–70, Protest

Content, would be updated to conform

to FAR 33.103(d)(2); VA clause

852.233–71, Alternate Protest

Procedure, would be added to comply

with the requirements of FAR

33.103(d)(4); and VA clause 852.236–73,

Bonds, which duplicates new FAR

clause 52.228–15, Performance and

Payment Bonds, Construction, would be

deleted.

This proposed rule would also update

or change names and titles and make

other minor clarifications.

The Secretary hereby certifies that

this proposed rule would not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities as

they are defined in the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601–612.

This proposed rule would have a

minuscule effect, if any, on small

businesses. Therefore, pursuant to 5

U.S.C. 605(b), this proposed rule is

exempt from the initial and final

regulatory flexibility analysis

requirements of §§ 603 and 604.

List of Subjects

48 CFR Part 833

Administrative practices and

procedure, Government procurement.

48 CFR Part 852

Government procurement, Reporting

and recordkeeping.

Approved: August 27, 1997.

Hershel W. Gober,

Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 48 CFR parts 833 and 852 are

proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 833—PROTESTS, DISPUTES,

APPEALS

Subpart 833.1—Protests

1. The authority citation for parts 833

and 852 continue to read as follows:

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501 and 40 U.S.C.

486(c).

§ 833.102 [Amended]

2. Section 833.102 introductory text is

amended by removing ‘‘852.233–2’’ and

adding, in its place, ‘‘FAR provision

52.233–2’’. It is further amended by

removing ‘‘or the GSA Board of Contract

Appeals (GSBCA)’’; and paragraph (b) is

amended by removing ‘‘(95B)’’ and

adding, in its place, ‘‘, Acquisition

Administration Team’’.

§ 833.103 [Amended]

3. In § 833.103, paragraph (a)(1) is

amended by removing ‘‘,’’ immediately

following ‘‘contracting officer’’ and

adding, in its place, ‘‘or, as an

alternative, may request an independent

review by filing a protest with’’; by

removing ‘‘Review Division, or’’ and

adding, in its place, ‘‘Administration

Team, or, for solicitations issued by the

Office of Facilities Management,’’; by

removing ‘‘, as appropriate’’; and by

adding at the end of the paragraph ‘‘A

protest filed with the Deputy Assistant

Secretary for Acquisition and Materiel

Management or the Chief Facilities

Management Officer will not be

considered if the interested party has a

protest on the same or similar issues

pending with the contracting officer.’’

4. In § 833.103, paragraph (a)(2)(ii) is

amended by removing ‘‘Review

Division’’ and adding, in its place,

‘‘Administration Team’’; paragraphs

(a)(3) and (a)(4) are removed; paragraph

(a)(5) is redesignated as paragraph (a)(3);

newly redesignated paragraph (a)(3)(vi)

is removed; paragraphs (a)(3)(vii)

through (a)(3)(ix) are redesignated as

paragraphs (a)(3)(vi), through (a)(3)(viii),

respectively.

5. In § 833.103, paragraph (c) is

removed; paragraph (b) is redesignated

as a new paragraph (c) and is revised

and a new paragraph (b) is added to

read as follows:

§ 833.103 Protests to the Department.

* * * * *

(b) Where appropriate, alternative

dispute resolution (ADR) procedures

may be used to resolve protests at any

stage in the protest process. The

Department of Veterans Affairs Board of

Contract Appeals (VABCA) is an

independent and neutral entity within

the Department of Veterans Affairs and

is available to serve as the third party

neutral (Neutral) for bid protests. If ADR

is used, the Department of Veterans

Affairs will not furnish any

documentation in an ADR proceeding

beyond what is allowed by the Federal

Acquisition Regulation.

(c) Action upon receipt of protest. For

protests filed with the contracting

officer, the head of the contracting

activity (HCA) shall be the approving

official for the determinations identified

in FAR 33.103(f)(1) and (f)(3). If the

HCA is also the contracting officer, the

approving official shall be the Deputy

Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and

Materiel Management. For protests filed

with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for

Acquisition and Materiel Management,

Acquisition Administration Team, or

the Chief Facilities Management Officer,

Office of Facilities Management, those

individuals shall be the approving

officials for the determinations

identified in FAR 33.103(f)(1) and (f)(3).

* * * * *

6. In § 833.103, paragraph (d) is

amended by removing ‘‘lodged’’ and

adding, in its place, ‘‘filed’’; by

removing ‘‘he/she’’ each time it appears

and adding, in its place, ‘‘the

contracting officer’’; by removing

‘‘Review Division’’ and adding, in its
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 174 / Tuesday, September 9, 1997 / Proposed Rules 47413

place, ‘‘Administration Team’’; and by

removing ‘‘officer will’’ and adding, in

its place, ‘‘officer shall’’.

7. In § 833.103, paragraph (e) is

revised and paragraph (f) is added to

read as follows:

§ 833.103 Protests to the Department.

* * * * *

(e) Protest after award. When a

written protest is filed with the

contracting officer after contract award:

(1) If FAR 33.103(f)(3) requires

suspension of contract performance, the

contracting officer shall seek to obtain a

mutual agreement with the contractor to

suspend performance on a no-cost basis

and, if successful, shall document the

suspension with a supplemental

agreement. If unsuccessful, the

contracting officer shall issue a stopwork order in accordance with contract

clause FAR 52.233–3, Protest After

Award.

(2) If suspension of contract

performance is not required by FAR

33.103(f)(3) and if the contracting officer

determines that the award was proper,

the contracting officer shall furnish the

protester a written explanation of the

basis for the award which is responsive

to the allegations of the protest. The

contracting officer shall advise the

protester that the protester may appeal

the determination to the Deputy

Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and

Materiel Management, Acquisition

Administration Team, or the Chief

Facilities Management Officer, Office of

Facilities Management, in the case of a

contract awarded by the Office of

Facilities Management, or the

Comptroller General, as specified in

internal Department guidance.

(3) If suspension of contract

performance is not required by FAR

33.103(f)(3) but the contracting officer

determines that the award is

questionable, the contracting officer

may consult with the Office of the

General Counsel (025) and shall advise

the contractor of the protest and invite

the contractor to submit comments and

relevant information. The contracting

officer shall submit the case promptly to

the Deputy Assistant Secretary for

Acquisition and Materiel Management,

Acquisition Administration Team, or

the Chief Facilities Management Officer,

Office of Facilities Management, in the

case of a contract awarded by the Office

of Facilities Management, who may

consult with the Office of the General

Counsel (025) and who shall either

advise the contracting officer of the

appropriate action to take, or submit the

case to the Comptroller General for a

decision. The contracting officer shall

provide interested parties with a copy of

the final decision.

(f) Agency appellate review of

contacting officer’s protest decision. An

interested party may request an

independent review of a contacting

officer’s protest decision by filing an

appeal with the Deputy Assistant

Secretary for Acquisition and Materiel

Management or, for solicitations issued

by the Office of Facilities Management,

with the Chief Facilities Management

Officer, Office of Facilities Management.

To be considered timely, the appeal

must be received by the Deputy

Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and

Materiel Management or, for

solicitations issued by the Office of

Facilities Management, by the Chief

Facilities Management Officer, Office of

Facilities Management, within 10

calendar days of the date the interested

party knew, or should have known,

whichever is earlier, of the basis for the

appeal. Appeals shall be addressed as

provided in paragraphs (a)(2)(ii) or (iii)

of this section. Appeals shall not extend

GAO’s timeliness requirements for

appeals to GAO. By filing an appeal as

provided herein, an interested party

may waive its rights to further appeal to

the Comptroller General at a later date.

Agency responses to appeals submitted

to the agency shall be reviewed and

concurred in by the Office of the

General Counsel (025).

§ 833.105 [Removed]

8. Section 833.105 is removed.

9. Section 833.106 is revised to read

as follows:

§ 833.106 Solicitation provision.

(a) The contracting officer shall insert

the provision at 852.233–70, Protest

Content, in each solicitation where the

total value of all contract awards under

the solicitation is expected to exceed the

simplified acquisition threshold.

(b) The contracting officer shall insert

the provision at 852.233–71, Alternate

Protest Procedure, in each solicitation

where the total value of all contract

awards under the solicitation is

expected to exceed the simplified

acquisition threshold.

Subpart 833–2—Disputes and Appeals

10. Section 833.214 is added to read

as follows:

§ 833.214 Alternative dispute resolution

(ADR).

(a) Contracting officers and

contractors are encouraged to use

alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

procedures to resolve contract disputes

before they become appealable disputes

by using the Department of Veterans

Affairs’ ADR Program.

(b) Under the Department’s ADR

Program, the Department of Veterans

Affairs Board of Contract Appeals

(VABCA or Board) Chair, who is the

Department’s Dispute Resolution

Specialist, will appoint a Board member

or hearing examiner (at no cost to either

party) to serve as a Neutral to aid in

resolving matters before they become

appealable disputes. The administrative

judges and hearing examiners are

trained Neutrals and are available to

assist in ADR proceedings.

(c) Under the ADR Program, the

parties are able to select the ADR

process they believe will help resolve

the matter. Everything discussed during

the ADR meeting is confidential. In the

event a Board member serves as a

Neutral in a matter that is not resolved

using ADR, that Board member shall

keep all discussions confidential and

shall have no further input or contact

with the parties or other Board members

in subsequent Board activities (ref. the

Administrative Dispute Resolution Act,

5 U.S.C. 571–583; and, Federal

Acquisition Regulation, Subpart 33.2).

(d) The Department of Veterans

Affairs and contractors are also

encouraged to use ADR in disputes

appealed to the VABCA.

PART 852—SOLICITATION

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT

CLAUSES

Subpart 852.2—Texts of Provisions

and Clauses

11. Section 852.233–70 is revised to

read as follow:

§ 852.233–70 Protest content.

As prescribed in 833.106, insert the

following provision in each solicitation

where the total value of all contract

awards under the solicitation is

expected to exceed the simplified

acquisition threshold:

PROTEST CONTENT (XXX 1997)

(a) Any protest filed by an interested party

shall:

(1) Include the name, address, fax number,

and telephone number of the protester;

(2) Identify the solicitation and/or contract

number;

(3) Include an original signed by the

protester or the protester’s representative,

and at least one copy;

(4) Set forth a detailed statement of the

legal and factual grounds of the protest,

including a description of resulting prejudice

to the protester, and provide copies of

relevant documents;

(5) Specifically request a ruling of the

individual upon whom the protest is served;

(6) State the form of relief requested; and
47414 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 174 / Tuesday, September 9, 1997 / Proposed Rules

(7) Provide all information establishing the

timeliness of the protest.

(b) Failure to comply with the above may

result in dismissal of the protest without

further consideration.

(End of Provision)

12. Section 852.233–71 is added to

read as follows:

§ 852.233–71 Alternate Protest Procedure.

As prescribed in 833.106, insert the

following provision in each solicitation

where the total value of all contract

awards under the solicitation is

expected to exceed the simplified

acquisition threshold:

ALTERNATE PROTEST PROCEDURE (XXX

1997)

As an alternative to filing a protest with the

contracting officer, an interested party may

file a protest with the Deputy Assistant

Secretary for Acquisition and Materiel

Management, Acquisition Administration

Team, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC,

20420, or, for solicitations issued by the

Office of Facilities Management, the Chief

Facilities Management Officer, Office of

Facilities Management, 810 Vermont Avenue,

NW, Washington, DC 20420. The protest will

not be considered if the interested party has

a protest on the same or similar issues

pending with the contracting officer.

§ 852.236–73 [Removed]

13. Section 852.236–73 is removed.

[FR Doc. 97–23753 Filed 9–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. 97–45; Notice 1]

RIN 2127–AG84

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standards; Lamps, Reflective Devices

and Associated Equipment

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: This document proposes to

amend the Federal motor vehicle safety

standard on lighting to permit

asymmetrical headlamp beams on

motorcycle headlighting systems. An

amendment of this nature would allow

upper and lower beams to be emitted by

separate dedicated headlamps on either

side of a motorcycle’s vertical centerline

or by separate off center light sources

within a single headlamp that is located

on the vertical centerline. This action

implements the grant of a rulemaking

petition from Kawasaki Motors

Corp.U.S.A. and represents a further

step towards harmonization of Standard

No. 108 with the lighting standards of

other nations.

DATES: Comments are due October 24,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to

the docket number and notice number,

and must be submitted to: Docket

Section, Room 5109, 400 Seventh Street,

SW, Washington, DC 20590. (Docket

hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jere

Medlin, Office of Safety Performance

Standards, NHTSA (Phone: 202–366–

5276).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Table IV

of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No.

108 specifies where motorcycle

headlighting systems are to be located.

If a motorcycle has a single headlamp,

the headlamp must be mounted on the

vehicle’s vertical centerline. If two

headlamps are provided, they must be

symmetrically disposed around the

vertical centerline. Under Standard No.

108, a center-mounted headlamp must

provide upper and lower beams with a

single light source, and each headlamp

in a two-headlamp motorcycle

headlighting system must provide both

an upper and a lower beam with a single

light source. In interpretation letters in

1994 and 1995, NHTSA advised

Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S.A.

(Kawasaki) that a single-lamp

headlighting system in which an upper

beam or lower beam is provided by a

single light source that is not on the

vertical centerline is not permitted by

Standard No. 108.

Kawasaki has developed a projector

beam headlighting system which it

wishes to offer on motorcycles that it

sells in the United States. The system

incorporates light sources that are not

on the vertical centerline and that will

typically be illuminated singly. The

consequence is that the motorcycle will

have a single-off center light source.

Under the Kawasaki system, separate

headlamps provide the upper and lower

beam respectively, or separate light

sources in a single headlamp, which lie

on either side of the vertical centerline

even if the headlamp itself is centered

on it. Accordingly, Kawasaki has

petitioned the agency for rulemaking to

amend Standard No. 108 in a manner

that would allow its asymmetrical

headlighting system.

The agency has granted this petition.

At the time that Standard No. 108 was

issued, the predominant concern was

that the headlighting system clearly

identify a motorcycle as such when the

vehicle was being operated at night.

Thus, the location of a single headlamp

on the vertical centerline was justifiable

to distinguish the motorcycle from an

approaching passenger car whose left

headlamp was inoperative. To assist

oncoming drivers in detecting the

nature of an approaching vehicle,

Standard No. 108 also requires

passenger cars and light trucks to have

parking lamps, and requires the parking

lamps to be illuminated when the

headlamps are on. Motorcycles are not

required to have parking lamps, and

their appearance at night will differ in

this respect from that of a four-wheeled

motor vehicle. Kawasaki has assured the

agency that, in markets where projector

beam headlamps are common, there has

been no increase in crashes because of

misjudgment of a motorcycle’s presence.

This assurance allows the agency to

contemplate the advisability of allowing

a single beam to be projected

somewhere other than on the vertical

centerline. Kawasaki has brought the

agency’s attention to the Official Journal

of the European Communities, Council

Directive 93/92/EEC dated 29 October

1993. This Directive allows separate

upper and lower beam headlamps, but

specifies that their ‘‘reference centers

must be symmetrical in relation to the

median longitudinal plane of the

vehicle’’, and that the distance between

the edges of the illuminating surfaces of

the two headlamps must not exceed 200

mm., i.e., approximately 8 inches.

Adoption of this maximum separation

distance should ensure that

asymmetrical beams remain relatively

close to the vertical centerline of the

vehicle and do not mislead oncoming

drivers. It will also ensure that NHTSA’s

amendment of Standard No. 108 would

be consistent with regulations of other

nations concerning the same lighting

specification.

The agency is therefore proposing that

Standard No. 108 be amended in a

manner that would allow Kawasaki to

use the projector beam headlighting

system. Although traditionally

motorcycle headlighting requirements

have been contained in Tables III and

IV, paragraph S7.9 Motorcycles has been

added to Standard No. 108 to contain

and set apart all motorcycle lighting

performance requirements for ease of

reference. This purpose will be

enhanced by specifying headlighting

location requirements as well.

Accordingly NHTSA proposes that a

new paragraph S7.9.6 be added which

will contain the previous location

requirements specified in Table IV as

modified by the proposed changes to

accommodate Kawasaki’s request, and

as discussed above. A two-headlamp

system in which each headlamp