[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 108 (Friday, June 5, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30809-30810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15037]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-97-3194; Notice 2]


Cosco, Inc.; Grant of Application for Decision of Inconsequential 
Noncompliance

    Cosco, Incorporated of Columbus, Indiana, has determined that 
approximately 82,176 child restraint systems fail to comply with 49 CFR 
571.213, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, ``Child 
Restraint Systems,'' and has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 
CFR part 573, ``Defects and Noncompliance Reports.'' Cosco 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.
    Notice of receipt of the application was published, with a 30-day 
comment period, on February 20, 1998, in the Federal Register (63 FR 
8735). NHTSA received no comments.
    FMVSS No. 213, paragraph S5.7, requires that each material used in 
a child restraint system shall conform to the requirements of S4 of 
FMVSS No. 302, ``Flammability of Interior Materials.'' This requires 
that any material that does not adhere to other material(s) at every 
point of contact shall meet the burn rate requirements of S4.3 when 
tested separately. Materials are to be tested as a composite only if 
the material adheres to other material(s) at every point of contact.
    Following compliance tests conducted by the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Cosco has confirmed through its 
investigation that it manufactured and distributed a number of Touriva 
convertible child restraint systems whose covers incorporate an 
additional polyester fiberfill pillow which does not meet the 
flammability requirements of FMVSS Nos. 213 and 302. The Cosco child 
restraints affected and the dates of production are as follows: Touriva 
Overhead Shield Accu-Just (Model 02-025; 3/95 to 6/96); Touriva Luxury 
Overhead Shield AccuJust (Model 02-045; 2/95 to 6/96); Touriva Overhead 
Shield (Model 02-034; 4/94 to 6/96); Touriva Overhead Shield Accu-Just 
(Model 02-054; 4/94 to 6/96); Touriva 5 point (Model 02-564; 3/95 to 6/
96); Touriva Overhead Shield (Model 02-055; 1/95 to 6/96); Touriva 
Luxury Overhead Shield (Model 02-065; 3/95 to 6/96); Olympian Overhead 
Shield (Model 02-257; 6/96); Touriva 5 point (Model 02-597; 6/96); 
Touriva Safe T-Shield (Model 02-096; 4/96 to 6/96); and Touriva 
Overhead Shield Accu-Just (Model 02-064;1/95 to 6/96). All of the 
models listed are convertible child restraints incorporating the same 
shell design and a pillow in the head contact area, but the different 
models are a combination of restraint types, cover designs, and 
options. In each of the noncompliant models, a polyester fiberfill is 
utilized to form the pillow in the head area of the cover, and it is 
this polyester fiberfill material which exceeded the 4 inches per 
minute maximum burn rate when tested in accordance with S4 of FMVSS No. 
302. In its investigation, Cosco found burn rates ranging from 17.3 
inches per minute to 39.5 inches per minute in six tests conducted on 
two different samples of the polyester fiberfill in question.
    Cosco supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance 
with the following:

    As the non-complying polyester fiberfill is incorporated into a 
pillow located in the child restraint near the top of the pad; it is 
a vertical surface. This configuration makes the likelihood of 
ignition from cigarettes or any other similar ignition source 
virtually nil.
    Complying materials encase the relatively small amount of non-
complying polyester fiberfill. The amount of potentially non-
complying polyester fiberfill incorporated in the pillow is 0.0951 
pounds. The various Touriva convertible child restraints range in 
weight from approximately eight to ten pounds. This means that 
approximately one percent of the child restraint is potentially non-
complying. Furthermore, as is confirmed in the NHTSA tests which 
identified the non-complying polyester fiberfill, the material 
encompassing the non-complying polyester fiberfill complies with the 
FMVSS 302 Flammability Standard. This includes the fabric covering 
the surface of the pad, the polyurethane foam in the pad, the fabric 
backing of the pad, and the polypropylene shell itself. Thus, the 
only way the non-complying fiberfill would be exposed to a source of 
ignition that has not already consumed the child restraint is if the 
cover of the pillow is torn, exposing the fiberfill, and an ignition 
source then finds its way to this exposed fiberfill. The probability 
of such a sequence of events occurring is virtually nil. These facts 
make the potential of the non-complying polyester fiberfill in the 
pillow contributing to an injury or death even less likely.
    Cosco has no reports of the burning of a cover of one of the 
suspect models (or any other child restraint system cover). All 
occupant protection studies which Cosco has reviewed, indicate an 
almost infinitesimal risk of injury or death by vehicle fires in 
total, at least in collisions. Cosco is unaware of any data on fires 
of the interior of vehicles unrelated to collisions.

    The agency has reviewed Cosco's application and has decided that 
the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. NHTSA 
agrees with Cosco that the noncompliant polyester fiberfill material 
incorporated in the pillow of noncompliant Touriva child restraint 
systems is unlikely to pose a flammability risk due to the unlikelihood 
of exposure to an ignition source given the pillow's vertical 
orientation on the child restraint, the fact that the noncompliant 
material is fully encased by materials which comply with the 
flammability requirements of FMVSS No. 302, and the very limited 
quantity of noncompliant material used in construction of the child 
restraint.
    The agency granted an application for inconsequential noncompliance 
submitted by PACCAR, 57 FR 45868 (October 5, 1992), in which the 
circumstances were analogous to those presented in the Cosco 
application. PACCAR manufactured mattresses for the sleeper areas of 
certain truck tractors. A small portion of the material used in the 
construction of the mattresses, and subject to the requirements of 
FMVSS No. 302, failed the burn rate test. The agency determined that 
ignition of the noncompliant material was unlikely and, due to the 
small volume of the material, would not pose the threat of a serious 
fire if ignited. As a result of this analysis, the PACCAR petition was 
granted.
    NHTSA disagrees with Cosco's assertion that the risk of injury or 
death in vehicle fires due to collisions is ``infinitesimal.'' 
Nevertheless, although it is possible that fuel-fed fires from vehicle 
crashes could consume a vehicle's interior, the flammability of the 
polyester fiberfill materials would be irrelevant to the severity of 
such a fire and to the potential injuries incurred by a child.

[[Page 30810]]

    NHTSA's evaluation of the consequentiality of this noncompliance 
should not be interpreted as a diminution of the agency's concern for 
child safety. Rather, it represents NHTSA's assessment of the gravity 
of the noncompliance based upon the likely consequences. Ultimately, 
the issue is whether this particular noncompliance is likely to 
increase the risk to safety. Although empirical results are not 
determinative, the absence of any reports of fires originating in these 
child restraints supports the agency's decision that the noncompliance 
does not have a consequential effect on safety.
    For the above reasons, the agency has decided that Cosco has met 
its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance at issue here is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and its application is granted. 
Accordingly, Cosco is hereby exempted from the notification and remedy 
provisions of 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118(d), 30120(h) delegations of authority 
at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: May 29, 1998.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 98-15037 Filed 6-4-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P