[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32895-32896]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16185]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[Docket No. 96-003; Notice 2]


Michelin North America, Inc.; Grant of Application for Decision 
of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    This notice grants the application by Michelin North America, Inc. 
(Michelin) of Greenville, South Carolina, to be exempted from the 
notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 for a 
noncompliance with 49 CFR 571.109, Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 
109, ``New Pneumatic Tires.'' The basis of the petition is that the 
noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    Notice of receipt of the petition was published on February 2, 
1996, and an opportunity afforded for comment (61 FR 3962).

Background

    Section S4.3(b) of FMVSS No. 109 requires that tires be labeled 
with the maximum permissible inflation pressure.
    During the period of the 27th through the 37th week of 1995, 
Manufacture Francaise des Pneumatiques Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, 
France, manufactured tires that had incorrect maximum inflation 
pressure information in pounds per square inch (psi), labeled on both 
tire sidewalls. Approximately 247 of the tires may have reached the 
United States. The subject tires, P185/75R14X Radial BW, are correctly 
labeled with a maximum inflation pressure of 240 kilopascals (kPa). The 
label on these tires incorrectly gives the maximum inflation pressure 
as 33 psi. The maximum inflation pressure should be 35 psi. All tires 
are sold only in the replacement market.
     Michelin supported its petition for inconsequential noncompliance 
with the following:
    [Michelin does] not believe that this minor error on the tire 
sidewall will impact motor vehicle safety since the pressure is 
correctly marked in kPa on the tire sidewall. Furthermore, the vehicle 
owners manual and/or vehicle placard, as required by 49 CFR Part 
571.110 S4.3(c), instructs the user of the correct pressure to be used 
in the tire. Additionally, many publications, instructing the user to 
inflate tires to the recommended inflation found on the placard, are 
available to the public. Examples of these documents include:
    1. Tire Industry Safety Council (CTG-1/94)--``Motorist's Tire Care 
and Safety Guide''--``The correct air pressure is shown on the tire 
placard (or sticker) attached to the vehicle-door post, glove box, or 
fuel door.''
    2. Tire Industry Safety Council--April 4, 1995, release--``Owners 
should inflate tires for normal operation to the vehicle manufacturer's 
recommended inflation pressure found on the door post, glove box, or in 
the owner's manual.''
    3. Rubber Manufacturers Association (ALT 8-87)--``Care and Service 
of Automobile and Light Truck Tires,'' ``Proper tire inflation is shown 
on the vehicle's tire placard. If there is no tire placard, consult the 
vehicle owner's manual or check with the tire or vehicle manufacturer 
for the proper inflation.''

Comments

    One commenter, who describes himself as an ``experienced tire 
engineer,'' responded to the February 2, 1996, Federal Register notice. 
The commenter opposes granting the Michelin petition on the basis that 
the subject is not an ``inconsequential noncompliance,'' and should be 
denied. The commenter also trusts that a recall will be ordered should 
Michelin have prematurely, accidentally, or inadvertently released or 
distributed the 247 P185/75R14x Radial BW tires. He submitted the 
following reasons in support:
    1. Having the incorrect maximum inflation pressure is a major 
safety problem when it is on the tire. Consumers and, more importantly, 
tire mounters refer most often to the tire itself for inflation 
information--and not to the door post, glove box, door edge, fuel door, 
or the usually missing owner's manual, or the many available public 
documents referenced.
    2. Any one noticing a value on the tire being different from the 
other sources would trust the tire over the other information sources, 
particularly on a Michelin tire--one of the more widely-trusted brands.
    3. Having the error occur in the psi value is much more detrimental 
than in the kPa value, since 99.9999 ad infinitum [percentage %] 
American would use the psi value and not the [kPa] value.
    4. The actual conversion for 35 psi is 241 kPa--not 240 as Michelin 
claims.
    5. * * * most gauges sold in the U.S. as well as most self-serve 
air supply gauges do not read in or show kPa.
    6. If Michelin really wants to sell these mere 247 tires, they can 
easily brand the correct psi maximum value on the tires. Michelin might 
have to sell

[[Page 32896]]

them as BLEMs or seconds at a reduced price, but at least the tires 
would have the correct maximum inflation pressure of 35 psi, if not the 
correct maximum inflation pressure of 241, actually 241.32, kPa.

Discussion

    Michelin has admitted manufacturing and not being able to locate 
approximately 247 P185/75R14x Radial BW tires that have incorrect 
maximum inflation pressure information in pounds per square inch 
labeled on both tire sidewalls. The actual mark on these tires is ``240 
kPa(33psi)MAX.PRESS,'' and the required mark is ``240 
kPa(35psi)MAX.PRESS.'' Michelin cites the availability of several 
publications which instruct users of the correct maximum inflation 
pressure to be used in tires. Michelin's inconsequentiality application 
does not address the potential safety hazard which could be caused by 
the reported noncompliance. Instead, Michelin argues that the 
noncompliance in labeling is minor because the maximum inflation 
pressure is correctly marked in kPa on the tire sidewall.
    The potential safety hazard is overloading the vehicle on which the 
tires are installed. To determine whether there might be a potential 
overloading problem, the agency referred to The 1995 Tire and Rim 
Association Yearbook. The tire load limits at (240kPa/35psi) and 
(240kPa/33psi) are very close, the difference being approximately 55 
lbs. (See Table I.)

Table I--1995--The Tire and Rim Association, Inc.

Tire Size Designation--P185/75*14
Tire Load Limits at Various Cold Inflation Pressures Standard Load
    kPa--220 to 240
    psi--32 to 35
    Kg--560 to 585
    lbs.--1,235 to 1,290

    NHTSA is not convinced that the chart indicates that tire 
overloading is likely to occur should customers and tire mounters 
adhere to the noncompliant tire label. The agency's belief is based on 
the assumption that the tires will most likely be used on passenger 
vehicles and that most passenger vehicles are not loaded to their 
maximum load weight. Usually these vehicles carry an average of two 
passengers and this would not create an overloaded condition. Also, the 
average tire owner is not likely to inflate tires on a vehicle to the 
recommended maximum inflation pressure that appears on the tire. 
Finally, the number of noncompliant tires is very small, only 247, 
which reduces the import of the noncompliance.
    Accordingly, for the reasons expressed above, the petitioner has 
met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance herein described is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and the agency grants 
Michelin's application for exemption from notification of the 
noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and from remedy as 
required by 49 U.S.C. 30120.

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

    Issued on: June 19, 1996.
Patricia Breslin,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 96-16185 Filed 6-29-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P