[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 120 (Thursday, June 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37553-37555]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13365]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0077; Notice 1]


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

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

ACTION: Receipt 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, and subsequently 
petitioned

[[Page 37554]]

NHTSA on September 30, 2021, for a decision that the subject 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. 
This notice announces receipt of MNA's petition.

DATES: Send comments on or before July 25, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written data, 
views, and arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the 
docket and notice number cited in the title of this notice and 
submitted by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590.
    <bullet> Hand Delivery: Deliver comments by hand to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590. The Docket Section is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
except for Federal holidays.
    <bullet> Electronically: Submit comments electronically by logging 
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website at https://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    <bullet> Comments may also be faxed to (202) 493-2251.
    Comments must be written in the English language and be no greater 
than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of 
necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in 
hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish 
to receive confirmation that comments you have submitted by mail were 
received, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the 
comments. Note that all comments received will be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided.
    All comments and supporting materials received before the close of 
business on the closing date indicated above will be filed in the 
docket and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the fullest extent possible.
    When the petition is granted or denied, notice of the decision will 
also be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority 
indicated at the end of this notice.
    All comments, background documentation, and supporting materials 
submitted to the docket may be viewed by anyone at the address and 
times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the internet at 
https://www.regulations.gov by following the online instructions for 
accessing the docket. The docket ID number for this petition is shown 
in the heading of this notice.
    DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement is available for review in a 
Federal Register notice published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78).

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, 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.
    This notice of receipt of MNA's petition is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any Agency decision or 
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.

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 Michelin'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 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 state 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 1090 kg (1433 lbs.) when they should have been 
marked with a maximum load of 1090 kg (2403 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. They have not been evaluated by the Agency 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 
were ``designed as a load index 111 tire, with a maximum load rating of 
1090 kilograms, or 2403 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 1433 lbs., which is less than the actual designed 
maximum load of 2403 lbs.''
    MNA cites the following past inconsequentiality petitions NHTSA has 
granted that MNA claims are similar to the subject petition:

[[Page 37555]]

    <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 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.
    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, any decision on 
this petition only applies to the subject tires that MNA no longer 
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. 
However, any decision on this petition does not relieve equipment 
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. 2022-13365 Filed 6-22-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P