[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 193 (Friday, October 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80987-80988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23016]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0077; Notice 2]


Michelin North America, LLC, Grant of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Grant of petition.

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SUMMARY: Michelin North America, LLC (MNA), has determined that certain 
Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 replacement passenger car tires do 
not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 
139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for Light Vehicles. MNA filed a 
noncompliance report dated September 14, 2021. MNA subsequently 
petitioned NHTSA on September 30, 2021, and later supplemented the 
petition on September 30, 2022, for a decision that the subject 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. 
This document announces the grant of MNA's petition.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayton Lindley, General Engineer, 
NHTSA, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, (325) 655-0547.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Overview

    MNA has determined that certain Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 
replacement passenger car tires do not fully comply with the 
requirements of paragraph S5.5.4(b) of FMVSS No. 139, New Pneumatic 
Radial Tires for Light Vehicles (49 CFR 571.139). MNA filed a 
noncompliance report dated September 14, 2021, pursuant to 49 CFR part 
573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. MNA 
subsequently petitioned NHTSA on September 30, 2021, and later 
supplemented the petition on September 30, 2022, for an exemption from 
the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on 
the basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to 
motor vehicle safety, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 
49 CFR part 556, Exemption for Inconsequential Defect or Noncompliance.
    Notice of receipt of MNA's petition was published with a 30-day 
public comment period, on June 23, 2022, in the Federal Register (87 FR 
37553). No comments were received. To view the petition and all 
supporting documents log onto the Federal Docket Management System 
(FDMS) website at https://www.regulations.gov/. Then follow the online 
search instructions to locate docket number ``NHTSA-2021-0077.''

II. Tires Involved

    According to MNA approximately 3,589 Michelin Pilot Sport All 
Season 4, size 295/40ZR21 111Y XL, replacement passenger car tires, 
manufactured between October 7, 2020, and August 20, 2021, and sold in 
the United States and Canada were affected by the subject 
noncompliance. MNA says that of the 3,589 tires, 1,729 tires entered 
the U.S. market, 110 entered the Canadian market, and the remaining 
1,750 were blocked in MNA's inventory control system to be repaired or 
scrapped. For the 110 tires that entered the Canadian market, the 
Agency cannot exempt MNA from the duties found in sections 30118 and 
30120, respectively, to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a 
defect or noncompliance and to remedy the defect or noncompliance for 
those tires. Therefore, the Agency's decision will only apply to the 
1,729 tires that entered the U.S. market.

III. Noncompliance

    MNA explains that the noncompliance was due to a mold error in 
which one sidewall, the serial sidewall, of the subject tires 
incorrectly states the maximum load range as required by paragraph 
S5.5.4(b) of FMVSS No. 139. Specifically, the subject tires were marked 
with a maximum load of 1,090 kg (1,433 lbs.) when the conversion of 
kilograms to pounds should have resulted in a maximum load of 1,090 kg 
(2,403 lbs.).

IV. Rule Requirements

    Paragraph S5.5.4(b) of FMVSS No. 139 includes the requirements 
relevant to this petition. For passenger car tires, if the maximum 
inflation pressure of a tire is 240, 280, 300, 340, or 350 kPa, then 
each marking of the tire's maximum load rating in kilograms must be 
followed in parenthesis by the equivalent load rating in pounds, 
rounded to the nearest whole number.

V. Summary of MNA's Petition

    The following views and arguments presented in this section, ``V. 
Summary of MNA's Petition,'' are the views and arguments provided by 
MNA and do not reflect the views of the Agency. MNA describes the 
subject noncompliance and contends that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety for the following 
reasons:
    MNA asserts that although erroneously marked, the subject tires

[[Page 80988]]

were ``designed as a load index 111 tire, with a maximum load rating of 
1090 kilograms, or 2,403 pounds.'' MNA says that the subject tires 
``fully comply with Michelin performance requirements'' and with all 
applicable FMVSSs. According to MNA, other than the tire maximum load 
rating in pounds, the tires are correctly marked and ``provide both 
dealers and consumers with the necessary information to enable proper 
selection and application of the tires.'' MNA says that if a consumer 
were to go by the erroneous maximum load, in pounds, based on the 
markings on the tire, the tire would be put ``into service respecting a 
maximum load of 1,433 lbs., which is less than the actual designed 
maximum load of 2,403 lbs.''
    MNA cites the following past inconsequentiality petitions NHTSA has 
granted that MNA claims are similar to the subject petition:
    <bullet> Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC, Grant of 
Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance. See 78 FR 
35357, June 12, 2013;
    <bullet> The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Grant of Petition for 
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance. See 70 FR 41254, July 18, 
2005;
    <bullet> Continental Tire North America Inc., Grant of Application 
for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance. See 70 FR 14748, March 
23, 2005;
    <bullet> Michelin North America, Inc., Grant of Petition for 
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance. See 69 FR 62511, October 26, 
2004; and
    <bullet> Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., Grant of Application for 
Decision That Noncompliance Is Inconsequential to Motor Vehicle Safety. 
See 66 FR 57772, November 16, 2001.
    MNA states that they have ``captured and retained'' a total of 
1,750 tires with the intent to either repair or scrap them. MNA also 
states that they have corrected the tire specification drawing and 
updated the mold to reflect the correct maximum load in pounds.
    MNA concludes that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as 
it relates to motor vehicle safety and that its petition to be exempted 
from providing notification of the noncompliance, as required by 49 
U.S.C. 30118, and a remedy for the noncompliance, as required by 49 
U.S.C. 30120, should be granted.
    On August 1, 2022, NHTSA requested that MNA provide documentation 
that the subject tires comply with the performance requirements and all 
other labeling requirements of FMVSS No. 139. MNA's response was 
received on September 30, 2022. MNA stated that the subject tires 
comply with the applicable performance requirements and provided 
documentation under request for confidential treatment in support. 
Additionally, MNA provided photographs to show that the subject tires 
comply with all of the necessary labeling requirements, with the 
exception of the load range marking.

VI. NHTSA's Analysis

    NHTSA has evaluated the merits of the petition submitted by MNA and 
is granting MNA's request for relief from notification and remedy based 
on the following:
    1. NHTSA has no basis to believe that the subject tires do not meet 
the performance and labeling requirements of FMVSS No. 139, with the 
exception of the load markings.
    2. NHTSA agrees that if consumers were to follow the incorrect 
maximum loading value in pounds on the outboard sidewall of the tire, 
the tire would not be in overloaded condition. Additionally, the tires 
are marked with the correct load index, and the correct maximum loading 
values in kilograms on the outboard sidewall. Additionally, the inboard 
sidewall also contains the correct maximum loading values in both 
kilograms and pounds.
    3. NHTSA believes that the incorrect maximum load values do not 
affect the ability of the manufacturer or consumer to identify the 
affected tires in the event of a recall.
    The agency notes that the petitioner has provided citations to 
prior inconsequentiality determinations in support of the present 
request. The agency notes that inconsequentiality determinations are 
highly fact specific and as such should not be regarded as binding 
precedent.

VII. NHTSA's Decision

    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA finds that MNA has met its 
burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS No. 139 noncompliance in 
the affected tires is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. 
Accordingly, MNA's petition is hereby granted and MNA is consequently 
exempted from the obligation of providing notification of, and a free 
remedy for, that noncompliance under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120.
    NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a 
determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers 
only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, 
to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance 
and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, this decision 
only applies to the subject tires that MNA no longer controlled at the 
time it determined that the noncompliance existed. However, the 
granting of this petition does not relieve tire distributors and 
dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for sale, or 
introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of 
the noncompliant tires under their control after MNA notified them that 
the subject noncompliance existed.

(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at 49 
CFR 1.95 and 501.8)

Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2024-23016 Filed 10-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P