[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 4, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28123-28124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-13866]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571


Denial of Petition for Rulemaking; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standards

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Denial of petition for rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document denies the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 
petition to incorporate the latest version of SAE J592 Clearance, Side 
Marker, and Identification Lamps, and SAE J593 Backup Lamps, into 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108. NHTSA's analysis 
of the petition concludes that there is minimal benefit to the public 
in updating the reference to these SAE standards. While incorporation 
would make them more readily available to lighting and vehicle design 
engineers as a reference, this is a minimal benefit compared to the 
expenditures of Agency resources to implement it and other SAE 
standards whose references in FMVSS No. 108 are not the most recent. 
The Agency's commitment of its resources to its safety priorities 
precludes granting this petition. However, the agency has compiled a 
reference document of materials incorporated into FMVSS No. 108 to 
improve the availability of these materials. This document is available 
upon request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard L. Van Iderstine, Office 
of Crash Avoidance Standards, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington, DC 20590. Mr. Van Iderstine's telephone number is: (202) 
366-5280. His facsimile number is (202) 366-4329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By letter dated February 15, 1996, William 
A. McKinney, Chairman of the Lighting Coordinating Committee of the 
Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. (Petitioner) petitioned the 
agency to incorporate the latest version of SAE J592 Clearance, Side 
Marker, and Identification Lamps, and SAE J593 Backup Lamps, into 49 
CFR 571.108 (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, Lamps, 
reflective devices and associated equipment.)
    The Petitioner claimed the changes in SAE J592 DEC94 Clearance, 
Side Marker, and Identification Lamps provide significant improvements 
as follows:
    a. Photometric performance requirements are based on zones, 
including 60% minimum requirement for individual test points, and are 
consistent with the required format used for most signal and marking 
lamps regulated by FMVSS 108, and a 0.5 degree radius tolerance area 
for maximum readings is also additionally specified to allow for 
inconsequential light streaks,
    b. Additional explanations and guidelines for installation are 
provided,
    c. The format and content is consistent with the current SAE 
formatting requirements, and
    d. Information on SAE publications referenced in the document is 
incorporated.
    The petitioner claimed the changes in SAE J593 OCT95 Backup provide 
the following:
    a. A definition of point of visibility,
    b. Photometric performance requirements based on zones, including 
60% minimum requirement for individual test points, thus allowing the 
deletion of FMVSS 108, Figure 2, Minimum Luminous Intensity 
Requirements for Backup Lamps,
    c. A specific maximum requirement of 500 cd for a one (1) backup 
lamp system, whereas the current FMVSS 108, Table 2 footnote leaves the 
maximum requirement subject to interpretation,
    d. Specific requirements for limiting and measuring the currently 
specified ``incidental red, amber, or white light * * *.''
    e. Additional explanations and guidelines for photometry and 
installation,
    f. Revised format with content that is consistent with the current 
SAE formatting requirements, and
    g. Information on SAE publications referenced in the document.
    Petitioner further claimed that these revisions make new versions 
easier to apply, as well as easier to find because they are located in 
current SAE Handbooks. Petitioner also claimed that the changes would 
not adversely affect the costs of any lighting. No claims about safety 
or performance were made.
    The agency has reviewed what would be required to implement the 
Petitioner's desired solution. It has found that the tests and many 
requirements of the new documents are from other SAE standards newer 
than those referenced in FMVSS No. 108, making an update only partially 
of value to any particular user.
    Thus, the advantage claimed by Petitioner by referencing standards 
in current SAE Handbooks appears to be very small because this action 
would update only the two referenced documents, and none of the 
subreferenced documents. Additionally, because NHTSA reference to SAE 
standards is not always absolute, in that parts of standards are 
referenced or exceptions are made to specific requirements in SAE 
standards where different or more stringent performance is necessary 
for safety purposes, the value of having the latest version of an SAE 
document is lessened. Thus, without a careful reading of FMVSS No. 108, 
a reader of the newest referenced documents could be misled as to the 
pertinent requirements, just as can occur with the currently referenced 
versions.
    Additionally, it is unlikely these two documents, or any version of 
a referenced industry standard would be wholly usable for more than 
just a short period of time and probably would be out of print within 
no more than five years because of SAE's 5-year schedule

[[Page 28124]]

of periodic updating of its standards. In fact, SAE J593 was updated in 
June 1987, February 1995, and October 1995, three times in less than 
nine years. Thus, unless SAE changes the policy of regular updates, the 
value of the rulemaking effort requested by this petition soon would be 
negated by another update. While the agency acknowledges that industry 
standards must be updated to assure their relevance to technology and 
their value to users, periodic updating where few if any substantive 
changes are made may be counterproductive for use as Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standards.
    Allocation of agency resources and agency priorities also must be 
considered in processing what is the second petition from the SAE to 
update its standards directly or indirectly referenced in FMVSS No. 
108. All of these standards have specific dated versions referenced in 
FMVSS No. 108. Because the SAE endeavors to update its standards on a 
regular schedule, the federal regulatory workload from such a course of 
updating would be continuous and drain resources from the Agency's 
identified priorities. This is not a desirable course. Nonetheless, 
NHTSA recognizes that the technical expertise of engineers from around 
the world participating in SAE Committee activities is invaluable to 
NHTSA's mission, particularly when performance requirements must be 
developed to accommodate new technologies.
    As stated in the recent denial (61 FR 14044) on the first SAE 
petition to update references to SAE standards, NHTSA is considering 
how best to cooperate with SAE. The Agency has compiled and will 
provide on request, a reference document containing all the SAE and 
other organizations' standards that are directly referenced in FMVSS 
No. 108. The immediate effect is to make it easier for all interested 
parties, especially lighting and vehicle personnel, to have available 
the requirements in the Federal lighting standard. The agency 
recognizes the problem of finding older SAE standards, and takes this 
action as a short term solution to solve that problem. Together, this 
document of referenced standards and the current version of FMVSS No. 
108 will provide our customers with as current a version of the 
lighting standard as is reasonable.
    As a longer term solution, the Agency looks to SAE and our 
regulated partners to help find ways to make the more recent SAE 
documents be more acceptable from a regulatory burden and motor vehicle 
safety perspective, and to be longer lasting in their value. Thus, the 
agency will be favorably inclined to consider any future SAE or other 
petitioner's request that has significant safety benefit or when such 
action would remove impediments to the use of new technologies.
    In accordance with 49 CFR part 552, this completes the agency's 
review of the petition. The agency has concluded that there is no 
reasonable possibility that the specific action requested by the 
petitioner would be issued at the conclusion of a rulemaking 
proceeding. Accordingly, it denies the SAE's petition.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30103, 30162; delegation of authority at 49 
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: May 29, 1996.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 96-13866 Filed 6-3-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P