[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 11, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59116-59117]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-20356]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2005-22118; Notice 2]


Eaton Aeroquip, Inc., Grant of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Eaton Aeroquip, Inc. (Eaton) has determined that the end fittings 
that it produced for nylon air brake hoses do not comply with S7.2.2(d) 
of 49 CFR 571.106, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 
106, ``Brake hoses.'' Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), 
Eaton has petitioned for a determination that this noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and has filed an appropriate 
report pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance 
Reports.'' Notice of receipt of a petition was published, with a 30-day 
comment period, on August 25, 2005, in the Federal Register (70 FR 
49972). NHTSA received no comments.
    Affected are a total of approximately 7,784,614 end fittings 
produced from 2001 to June 30, 2005, plus an indeterminate number of 
end fittings produced prior to 2001 for which records are not available 
(Eaton acquired the end fitting manufacturing business on November 1, 
2002). S7.2.2(d) of FMVSS No. 106 requires that each fitting shall be 
etched, embossed, or stamped with

    (d) The * * * outside diameter of the plastic tubing to which 
the fitting is properly attached expressed in inches or fractions of 
inches or in millimeters followed by the letters OD * * *.

    The subject end fittings are missing the letters OD from their 
labels.
    Eaton believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety and that no corrective action is warranted. Eaton states 
that the purpose of the letters OD on the label is to indicate that the 
measurement refers to the outside

[[Page 59117]]

diameter of a plastic tube as opposed to the inside diameter. Eaton 
points out that if the end user was to assume that the measurement 
referred to the inside diameter because of the absence of the letters 
OD, it ``would be physically impossible, for example, to insert a \1/2\ 
inch inside diameter hose into an end fitting made for \1/2\ inch 
outside diameter plastic tubing.'' According to Eaton, ``if an end-user 
were to mistakenly attempt to use the mislabeled end fittings with a 
hose, instead of plastic tubing, the incompatibility would be obvious 
because the diameters would not match.'' Eaton states that therefore, 
``there is no potential that the mislabeled end fittings could be used 
improperly, and there could be no resulting issue of motor vehicle 
safety.''
    NHTSA agrees with Eaton that the noncompliance is inconsequential 
to motor vehicle safety. Should someone mistakenly assume the outside 
diameter size marking was an inside diameter size marking, it would be 
physically impossible to mismatch the hose and the end fitting. 
Therefore a safety issue would not arise from this noncompliance. Eaton 
has corrected the problem.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
petitioner has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance 
described is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, 
Eaton's petition is granted and the petitioner is exempted from the 
obligation of providing notification of, and a remedy for, the 
noncompliance.

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

    Issued on: October 4, 2005.
Ronald L. Medford,
Senior Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety.
[FR Doc. 05-20356 Filed 10-7-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P