34330 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 121 /Wednesday, June 24, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

1Parenthetical text is only appropriate for

vehicles with a factory-installed on-off switch.

2While the final rule includes a definition of

‘‘smart passenger air bags’’, the agency is currently

working on a rulemaking which will replace this

definition with a definition of ‘‘advanced air bags’’.

3Cf., letter to Hank Thorp, Inc., August 7, 1973

(FMVSS No. 211); letter to Joseph Lucas North

America, Inc., October 6, 1975 (FMVSS No. 106).

standards described in the Head Start

Act; and

(ii) Was the basis for the termination

or denial of refunding described in

§ 1302.30 of this part.

(b) The responsible HHS official shall

determine whether an employee was

responsible for a deficiency within the

meaning and context of this section.

[FR Doc. 98–16826 Filed 6–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4184–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA–98–3968, Notice 1]

RIN 2127–AG14

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standards; Occupant Crash Protection

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Response to petitions for

reconsideration.

SUMMARY: This action denies four

petitions for reconsideration of

NHTSA’s final rule and correcting

amendments concerning air bag warning

labels. The rule requires vehicles with

air bags to bear three new, attentiongetting warning labels. Two of the labels

replace previous labels on the sun visor

and the third is a new temporary (i.e.,

removable) label located on the vehicle

dash.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

NHTSA published a final rule

amending Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, Occupant

Crash Protection’’, on November 27,

1996 (61 FR 60206). The rule requires

vehicles with air bags to bear three new,

attention-getting warning labels. Two of

the labels replace previous labels on the

sun visor and the third is a new

removable label located on the vehicle

dash. Under the final rule, the labels on

the sun visors in vehicles produced after

February 25, 1997, are required to state:

WARNING: DEATH or SERIOUS INJURY

can occur. Children 12 and under can be

killed by the air bag. The BACK SEAT is the

SAFEST place for children. NEVER put a

rear-facing child seat in the front (unless air

bag is off) 1. Sit back as far as possible from

the air bag. ALWAYS use SEAT BELTS and

CHILD RESTRAINTS.

The removable label on the dash must

state:

WARNING: Children May Be KILLED or

INJURED by Passenger Air Bag. The back seat

is the safest place for children 12 and under.

Make sure all children use seat belts or child

seats.

The rule excludes vehicles with smart

passenger air bags, as those devices are

defined in the regulatory text made part

of the final rule.2

Subsequent to the final rule, NHTSA

published three correcting or technical

amendments. On December 4, 1996, the

agency published a correcting

amendment allowing manufacturers of

vehicles without passenger-side air bags

to omit the required warning language

concerning hazards to children from air

bags (61 FR 64297). A second correcting

amendment was issued on December 11,

1996 that allowed manufacturers of

vehicles with no back seat to omit the

required warning language stating that

children are safest in the back seat (61

FR 57187). On January 2, 1997, NHTSA

published a technical amendment

correcting a typographical error by

changing the word ‘‘may’’ to ‘‘can’’ in

the temporary warning label (62 FR 31).

II. Summary of Petitions

NHTSA received three petitions for

reconsideration of the November 27,

1996 final rule. Meyercord, a label

manufacturer, petitioned for a definition

of the term ‘‘permanently affixed’’ as

used in the standard. The Parent’s

Coalition for Air Bag Warnings asked for

the definition of ‘‘smart passenger air

bag’’ to be refined to include air bags

that do not deploy if the passenger seat

is occupied by an individual weighing

130 pounds or less rather than 66

pounds or less. AAMA requested an

amendment allowing the new air bag

warning label and the utility vehicle

rollover warning label required under

49 CFR section 575.105 to be on the

same side of the sun visor.

The agency received one petition for

reconsideration of the December 11,

1996 correcting amendment. AAMA

asked that the required warning

language regarding children and the

back seat be changed from ‘‘The BACK

SEAT is the SAFEST place for children’’

to ‘‘If the vehicle has a BACK SEAT,

that seat is the SAFEST place for

children’’. Under AAMA’s petition, all

vehicles, including those without a back

seat, would be required to use its

proposed language in the warning

labels.

III. Discussion of Issues

A. Petitions for Reconsideration of the

November 27, 1996 Final Rule

1. Meyercord

Meyercord petitioned the agency to

‘‘require that the air bag warning

graphics pass specifications to ensure

that the important message does in fact

remain ‘‘permanently affixed.’’

Meyercord maintains that there is

consensus in the automotive industry

that labels which are ‘‘permanently

affixed’’ ‘‘should last the life of the

vehicle and that any attempt to remove

it would result in the base material

being cut or gouged in some way.’’

According to Meyercord, only heat

transfer graphics can meet this

definition of ‘‘permanently affixed’’.

Sticker graphics, Meyercord avers, can

be peeled away. The company included

in its petition a photograph of a sun

visor with a peeling sticker graphic and

Ford’s 15-page Engineering Material

Specification No. WSS–M7G7–B1,

which it believes will assist the agency

in defining a level of adhesiveness.

Meyercord’s petition is denied.

Following its practice in other NHTSA

regulations where the term

‘‘permanently affixed’’ is also used,

NHTSA did not define ‘‘permanently

affixed’’ when it added the term to

Standard No. 208. NHTSA has not

found a definition necessary in those

other regulations. When asked, NHTSA

has issued an interpretation of the

term.3 Specifically, NHTSA has said

that a label is permanent if it cannot be

removed without destroying or defacing

it and that the label should remain

legible for the expected life of the

product under normal conditions.

NHTSA does not know the context

under which the label depicted in the

photograph submitted by Meyercord

began to peel away from the sun visor.

NHTSA surmises that the vehicle was

probably within its expected lifespan,

given the time when such labels were

first required on motor vehicles. Absent

the existence of abnormal conditions in

the history of the vehicle, the

photograph might be an indication of a

noncompliance with Standard No. 208.

In such an instance, the existence of a

performance test is not necessary to

enforce the requirement for permanently

affixing a label.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 121 /Wednesday, June 24, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 34331

2. Parents’ Coalition for Air Bag

Warnings

The Parents’ Coalition for Air Bag

Warnings (Coalition) requested that

NHTSA amend the provision which

excludes a ‘‘smart passenger air bag’’

from the requirement for a warning label

on the above sun visor. Currently, in

order to qualify as a smart air bag, a

passenger air bag must not deploy if the

passenger seat is occupied by a child or

child and car seat (if applicable) having

a total mass of 30 kg (approximately 66

lbs) or less. The Coalition would like to

revise the exclusion so that in order to

qualify as a smart passenger air bag, an

air bag must not deploy if the passenger

seat is occupied by a child weighing 130

pounds or less. The Coalition notes that

the average 12 year old boy weighs 99

pounds and the average 12 year old girl

weighs 102 pounds. The Coalition also

notes that 90th percentile male and

female 12 year old children weigh 130

pounds and 133 pounds, respectively.

The Coalition believes that amending

the criteria for a smart passenger air bag

is necessary to make them consistent

with the warning label requirement that

states all children 12 years and under

should ride in the back seat.

The petition is denied. The warning

label requirement and the smart

passenger air bag exclusion serve two

separate functions. The warning label

advises parents and other adult drivers

of the risks involved in allowing a child

to ride in the front seat. The smart

passenger air bag exclusion is intended

to encourage the installation of smart

passenger air bags by relieving a vehicle

manufacturer from complying with

some of the labeling requirements if the

manufacturer installs such a passenger

air bag. The criteria for a smart

passenger air bag were selected to

ensure that a qualifying air bag would

not injure two specially at-risk groups of

children (i.e., infants in rear facing child

restraints or children weighing less that

30 kg). Most of the child deaths have

involved children weighing less than 60

pounds and significantly younger than

twelve. Smart air bag technology based

on weight classifications is an absolute

measure which would deactivate the air

bag regardless of who is sitting in the

front seat. The agency believes that the

air bag should remain operable for

occupants who do not fall within the

narrowly prescribed risk group. An

upper weight limit of 130 pounds would

be overly broad since it would

deactivate the air bag for a large portion

of the adult population as well as most

children.

Additionally, NHTSA noted in the

preamble to the notice of proposed

rulemaking issued in August 1996 that

the definition of a smart passenger air

bag was very general and would be

refined in future rulemaking. In the

more recent (November 1997) final rule

permitting retrofit on-off switches for air

bags, the agency stated that the

definition would be addressed in the

forthcoming proposal on advanced air

bags (the current name of smart air

bags).

3. AAMA

AAMA petitioned the agency to

permit the new air bag warning labels

and the utility vehicle rollover warning

label required by 49 CFR section

595.105 to be on the same side of a

utility vehicle’s sun visor. As was the

case prior to the publication of the final

rule, the utility vehicle label is

prohibited from being placed on the

same side of the sun visor as the air bag

warning label. The vehicle rollover

warning label can be placed on the front

of sun visors that have an air bag alert

label with the actual air bag warning

label on the back of the visor.

AAMA stated that the language

proposed in the August 1996 NPRM did

not include the prohibition against

having the vehicle rollover warning

label and the air bag warning label on

the front side of the visor. This omission

was corrected in the final rule.

Additionally, AAMA noted that the size

and number of the required air bag alert

labels will lead many manufacturers to

place an air bag warning label on the

front of the visor only. AAMA

contended that there is no good location

for the utility vehicle label other than

the front of the sun visor. It also

maintained that the two labels,

coexisting on the same side of the sun

visor, will not distract people’s attention

from the air bag warning given ‘‘the

number and prominence of those

labels’’.

The petition is denied. NHTSA

believes that AAMA may be correct that

manufacturers will place a single

warning label on the front of the visor

and will discard the air bag alert label.

The agency also acknowledges that the

new air bag warning labels are more

eye-catching than existing utility

vehicle labels which only have a

required text and not required size,

color, or layout. However, on April 13,

1998, NHTSA proposed changes to the

utility vehicle label that would make it

nearly as eye catching as the air bag

warning labels (63 FR 17974). That

rulemaking specifically asks for

comments on the location of the

proposed label, including whether it

should be allowed on the same side of

the sun visor as the air bag label.

Accordingly, NHTSA intends to address

AAMA’s concerns in that rulemaking.

B. Petition for Reconsideration of the

December 11, 1996 Correcting

Amendment

AAMA petitioned NHTSA to amend

the warning label language applicable to

children and a vehicle’s rear seat. The

current language states that ‘‘The BACK

SEAT is the SAFEST place for

children.’’ AAMA suggested changing

the language to read: ‘‘If the vehicle has

a BACK SEAT, that seat is the SAFEST

place for children.’’ A corresponding

change was suggested for the temporary

dashboard label. AAMA also suggested

that the current exclusion from the

required language for vehicles with no

back seat be eliminated.

AAMA maintained that the post-final

rule amendments allow up to eight

possible labels, a situation which it

regards as confusing and expensive for

manufacturers. It contended that its

suggestion would eliminate the need for

two separate labels (one for vehicles

with a back seat and a different one for

vehicles without a back seat). It also

argued that absence of a labeling

requirement for vehicles without a back

seat may encourage adults to place

children in those vehicles instead of in

vehicles in which the children can be

placed in the back seat, away from the

passenger air bag.

The petition is denied. NHTSA finds

no support for AAMA’s contention that

people would be more likely to

transport their children in a vehicle

without a back seat than in a vehicle

with a back seat under the current

labeling requirements. Accordingly, the

agency believes that this contention is

incorrect.

NHTSA notes that AAMA member

companies were among the

manufacturers recommending the

amendments which allow for multiple

labeling options, depending on vehicle

type. The original warning label,

without any exclusions based on vehicle

type, is appropriate for any vehicle

regardless of the existence of a back

seat. Indeed, NHTSA is concerned that

AAMA’s suggested language could lead

a consumer to believe that the front seat

of vehicles without a back seat are

somehow safer than the front seat of

vehicles with a back seat. The original

label clearly states that back seats are

safest. Additionally, NHTSA notes that

the AAMA’s recommended language

increases the length and wordiness of

the warning label. Focus groups

indicated that the messages on the label

should be concise.
34332 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 121 /Wednesday, June 24, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115,

30117, and 30166; delegation of authority at

49 CFR 1.50.

Issued on: June 18, 1998.

L. Robert Shelton,

Associate Administrator for Performance

Standards.

[FR Doc. 98–16824 Filed 6–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 971208297–8054–02; I.D.

061898A]

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Pollock in Statistical

Area 610

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Closure.

SUMMARY: NMFS is prohibiting directed

fishing for pollock inStatistical Area 610

in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action

is necessary to prevent exceeding the

second seasonal apportionment of

pollock total allowable catch (TAC) in

this area.

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local

time (A.l.t.), June 19, 1998, until 1200

hrs, A.l.t., September 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Andrew Smoker, 907–486-6919.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

groundfish fishery in the GOAexclusive

economic zone is managed by NMFS

according to the Fishery Management

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of

Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North

Pacific Fishery Management Council

under authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Act. Fishing by U.S.

vessels is governed by regulations

implementing the FMP at subpart H of

50 CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679.

The second seasonal apportionment

of pollock TAC has been changed to 35

percent of the annual TAC (63 FR

31939, June 11, 1998) plus a

proportionate amount of any

unharvested first seasonal

apportionment of TAC or minus a

proportionate amount of TAC harvested

in excess of the first seasonal

apportionment (§ 679.20 (a)(5)(ii)(B)).

This action was taken to limit potential

impacts of pollock fishing on Stellar sea

lions and their critical habitat during

the fall months. The notice of Final

1998 Harvest Specifications (63 FR

12027, March 12, 1998) established a

pollock TAC of 29,790 metric tons (mt)

in Statistical Area 610 for the entire

1998 fishing year and apportioned 7,978

mt of that pollock TAC as the second

seasonal apportionment. The

Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS

(Regional Administrator), established a

directed fishing allowance of 7,478 mt

and set aside the remaining 500 mt as

bycatch in support of other anticipated

groundfish fisheries. In accordance with

§ 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the Regional

Administrator found that the directed

fishing allowance would soon be

reached and NMFS closed the directed

fishery for pollock in Statistical Area

610 of the GOA on June 3, 1998 (63 FR

30644, June 5, 1998). The fishery was

reopened on June 8, 1998 (63 FR 31938,

June 11, 1998) to fully utilize a revised

second seasonal apportionment equal to

35 percent of the annual of pollock

TAC. The revised second seasonal

apportionment of the pollock TAC in

Statistical Area 610 is now 10,605 mt.

The Regional Administrator is

establishing a directed fishing

allowance of 10,105 mt and setting aside

the remaining 500 mt as bycatch to

support other anticipated groundfish

fisheries. In accordance with

§ 679.20(d)(1)(i), the Regional

Administrator has determined that the

second seasonal apportionment of

pollock TAC in Statistical Area 610 will

be reached. In accordance with

§ 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the Regional

Administrator finds that the directed

fishing allowance has been reached.

Consequently, NMFS is prohibiting

directed fishing for pollock in Statistical

Area 610 until 1200 hrs, A.l.t.,

September 1, 1998.

Maximum retainable bycatch amounts

for applicable gear types may be found

in the regulations at § 679.20(e) and (f).

Classification

This action responds to the second

seasonal TAC limitations and other

restrictions on the fisheries established

in the Final 1998 Harvest Specifications

for Groundfish for the GOA. It must be

implemented immediately to prevent

overharvesting the second seasonal

apportionment of pollock TAC in

Statistical Area 610 of the GOA. A delay

in the effective date is impracticable and

contrary to the public interest. Further

delay would only result in overharvest.

NMFS finds for good cause that the

implementation of this action should

not be delayed for 30 days. Accordingly,

under 5 U.S.C. 553(d), a delay in the

effective date is hereby waived.

This action is required by § 679.20

and is exempt from review under E.O.

12866.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: June 19, 1998.

Gary C. Matlock,

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98–16833 Filed 6–19–98; 4:51 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F