Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 101 /Wednesday, May 27, 1998 / Notices 29059

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

Environmental Impact Statement:

Gasconade and Montgomery Counties,

MO

AGENCY: Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this

notice to advise the public that an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

will be prepared for proposed

replacement of the Missouri Route 19

bridge and appurtenant roadways/

structures over the Missouri River at

Hermann in Gasconade and

Montgomery Counties, Missouri.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Donald Neumann, Programs Engineer,

FHWA Division Office, 209 Adams St.,

Jefferson City, MO 65101, Telephone:

(573) 636–7104 or Phil Broyles, District

Engineer, Missouri Department of

Transportation, P.O. Box 1067,

Hannibal, MO 63401, Telephone: (573)

248–2490.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

FHWA, in cooperation with the

Missouri Department of Transportation

(MoDOT), will prepare an EIS on a

proposal to reconstruct the Missouri

Route 19 bridge and appurtenant

roadways/structures over the Missouri

River at Hermann in Gasconade and

Montgomery Counties, Missouri. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers

and the United States Coast Guard are

expected to be cooperating agencies on

this project.

The study area is roughly bounded by

Missouri Route 94 one mile north of the

existing bridge, a point two miles south

of the bridge, and 1.5 miles east and

west of the bridge.

Reconstructing the Missouri Route 19

bridge is being considered to provide a

safe and efficient crossing of the

Missouri River. The existing bridge,

which was constructed in 1922, is

considered structurally deficient. It has

a sufficiency rating of 18 on a scale of

100. MoDOT considers bridges with

sufficiency ratings below 50 as

candidates for replacement. Alternatives

under consideration include (1) no

build; (2) build adjacent to the existing

bridge; (3) build a new bridge east or

west of the existing structure.

Information describing the proposed

action and solicitation for comments

will be sent to appropriate federal, state,

and local agencies, and to private

organizations and citizens who have

previously expressed or are known to

have interest in this proposal. As part of

the scoping process, an interagency

coordination meeting will be held.

Agencies having an interest in, or

jurisdiction regarding the proposed

action will be contacted regarding the

date and location of the meeting. Public

meetings, information centers and

advisory committee meetings will be

held to solicit public and agency input

on the reasonable range of alternatives.

In addition, a public hearing will be

held to present the findings of the draft

EIS (DEIS). Public notice will be given

announcing the time and place of the

public meetings and hearing. The DEIS

will be available for public and agency

review and comment prior to the public

hearing.

To ensure that the full range of issues

related to this proposed action are

addressed and all significant issues

identified, comments and suggestions

are invited from all interested parties.

Comments or questions concerning this

proposed action and the EIS should be

directed to the FHWA or MoDot at the

addresses provided above.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning

and Construction. The regulations

implementing Executive Order 12373

regarding intergovernmental consultation on

Federal programs and activities apply to this

program.)

Issued: May 15, 1998.

Donald L. Neumann,

Programs Engineer, Jefferson City.

[FR Doc. 98–13974 Filed 5–26–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA–97–3154]

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company; Grant

of Application for Decision of

Inconsequential Noncompliance

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company

(Cooper) of Findlay, Ohio has

determined that some of its tires fail to

comply with the labeling requirements

of 49 CFR Part 574 ‘‘Tire Identification

and Recordkeeping,’’ and has filed an

appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR

Part 573, ‘‘Defect and Noncompliance

Reports.’’ Cooper has also applied to be

exempted from the notification and

remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C.

Chapter 301—‘‘Motor Vehicle Safety’’

on the basis that the noncompliance is

inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.

Although the applicant expresses

noncompliance with Part 574, NHTSA

considers this to be a noncompliance

with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New

pneumatic tires for vehicles other than

passenger cars. Paragraph S6.5(b) of

FMVSS No. 119 requires each tire to be

marked with a ‘‘tire identification

number’’ required by Part 574 of this

chapter. If a tire lacks this number, it

fails to comply with FMVSS No. 119

and is subject to notification and

remedy.

Notice of receipt of the application

was published, with a 30-day comment

period, on December 17, 1997, in the

Federal Register (62 FR 66176). NHTSA

received no comments on this

application during the 30-day comment

period.

In § 574.5(d) Fourth Grouping, the

manufacturer is required to identify the

week and year of manufacture of tires

using three symbols. The first two

symbols identify the week of the year

using ‘‘01’’ for the first full calendar

week in each year. The third symbol

identifies the year. The purpose of this

information is to facilitate the

notification of dealers, distributors, and

purchasers regarding defective or nonconforming tires, pursuant to Sections

30118 and 30119 of Title 49, United

States Code, so that the appropriate

remedial action can be taken in the

interest of public safety.

During the thirty-second week of

1997, Cooper produced and

inadvertently shipped twenty-eight (28)

tires without the date code. This

occurred after the tires originally were

labeled with the correct date code

upside-down; Cooper removed the

improperly oriented date code by

buffing. The tires were then

inadvertently shipped with only the

identification of ‘‘DOT UPOP’’—where

‘‘UP’’ is the identification code for

Cooper’s Findlay plant and ‘‘OP’’ is the

identification of the tire size. The

subject tires are Cooper SRM Radial LT

215/85R16, Load Range D.

Cooper supports its application for

inconsequential noncompliance with

the following:

‘‘The incomplete DOT identification code

on each tire does not present a safety-related

defect.’’

‘‘The involved tires are capable of being

registered with UPOP. They have a unique

DOT identification which would permit

Cooper to notify the purchasers of these tires,

if properly registered, should they be recalled

for other reasons.’’

‘‘The involved tires produced from this

mold during the aforementioned production

period comply with all other requirements of

49 CFR 571.119 and 574.5.’’

The agency has reviewed Cooper’s

application and believes this labeling

noncompliance is inconsequential to

motor vehicle safety. This mislabeling