Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 16, 2017 / Notices 39001 

V. Summary of Autocar’s Petition: 

Autocar described the subject 

noncompliance and stated its belief that 

the noncompliance is inconsequential 

as it relates to motor vehicle safety. 

In support of its petition, Autocar 

submitted the following reasoning: 

(a) Autocar notes that the purpose of 

the low brake air pressure telltale is to 

alert the driver to a low air condition, 

consistent with the requirements of 

FMVSS No. 121, S5.1.5 (warning 

signal). The words ‘‘BRAKE 

PRESSURE’’ instead of ‘‘Brake Air,’’ the 

CMVSS required symbol, and an 

audible alert that occurs in the subject 

vehicles would alert the driver to an air 

issue with the brake system. Once 

alerted, the driver can check the actual 

air pressure by reading the primary and 

secondary air gauges and seeing the 

contrasting color on the gauges 

indicating low pressure. 

(b) NHTSA stated in a 2005 FMVSS 

No. 101 rulemaking that the reason for 

including vehicles over 10,000 pounds 

GVWR in the application of the 

standard is that drivers of heavier 

vehicles need to see and identify their 

displays just like drivers of lighter 

vehicles. See 70 FR 48295, 48298 (Aug. 

17, 2005). Drivers of commercial 

vehicles conduct pre-trip daily 

inspections. For vehicles with 

pneumatic brake systems, the in-cab air 

brake checks for warning light and 

buzzer, at 60 PSI, would familiarize the 

driver with the specific telltale 

displayed and audible warning in the 

event a low-air condition occurred 

during operation. 

(c) There are two scenarios when a 

low brake air pressure condition could 

exist: A parked vehicle and a moving 

vehicle. In both conditions, the driver 

would be alerted to a low-air condition 

by the following means: 

• Red contrasting color of the telltale 

indicating ‘‘BRAKE PRESSURE’’ 

• Audible alert to the driver as long as 

the vehicle has low air 

• Air pressure gauges for the primary 

and secondary air reservoirs clearly 

indicating the level of air pressure in 

the system 

• Red contrasting color on the air 

gauges indicating pressure below 60 

PSI 

The functionality of both the parking 

brake system and the service brake 

system remains unaffected by using 

‘‘BRAKE PRESSURE’’ instead of ‘‘Brake 

Air’’ for the telltale in the subject 

vehicles. 

(d) NHTSA Precedents—Autocar 

notes that NHTSA has previously 

granted petitions for decisions of 

inconsequential noncompliance for 

similar brake telltale issues. See Docket 

No. NHTSA–2012–0004, 78 FR 69931 

(November 21, 2013) (grant of petition 

for Ford Motor Company); Docket No. 

NHTSA–2014–0046, 79 FR 78559 

(December 30, 2014) (grant of petition 

for Chrysler Group, LLC); and Docket 

No. NHTSA–2016–0103, 82 Federal 

Register 17084 (April 7, 2017) (grant of 

petition for Daimler Trucks North 

America). In all of these instances, the 

vehicles at issue did not have the exact 

requirements listed in FMVSS No. 101 

table 2. The available warnings were 

deemed sufficient to provide the 

necessary driver warning. Autocar 

respectfully suggests that the same is 

true for the subject vehicles: the red 

‘‘BRAKE PRESSURE’’ telltale, the 

audible alert, and the contrasting colors 

on the air pressure gauges are fully 

sufficient to warn the driver of a low 

brake air pressure situation. 

Autocar concluded by expressing the 

belief 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. 

To view Autocar’s petition analyses in 

its entirety you can visit https://

www.regulations.gov by following the 

online instructions for accessing the 

dockets and by using the docket ID 

number for this petition shown in the 

heading of this notice. 

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 vehicles that Autocar no 

longer controlled at the time it 

determined that the noncompliance 

existed. However, any decision on this 

petition does not relieve vehicle 

distributors and dealers of the 

prohibitions on the sale, offer for sale, 

or introduction or delivery for 

introduction into interstate commerce of 

the noncompliant vehicles under their 

control after Autocar 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. 

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe, 

Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17331 Filed 8–15–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Advisory Committee: VA National 

Academic Affiliations Council Notice of 

Meeting 

The Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) gives notice under the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act that the VA 

National Academic Affiliations Council 

(NAAC) will meet via conference call on 

September 12, 2017, from 11:00 a.m. to 

1:00 p.m. EST. The meeting is open to 

the public. 

The purpose of the Council is to 

advise the Secretary on matters affecting 

partnerships between VA and its 

academic affiliates. 

On September 12, 2017, the Council 

will explore current regulatory 

proposals to limit the duration of 

administrative leave available to Federal 

employees and the possible impact on 

VA’s educational mission; discuss the 

prohibition on VA employees engaging 

in teaching activities with for-profit 

educational institutions; prioritize 

previous Council recommendations for 

renewed policy focus; and receive 

updates on: VA’s graduate medical 

education expansion initiative, the 

NAAC’s Diversity and Inclusion 

Subcommittee, and VA’s August 2017 

Health Professions Education Summit in 

Iron Mountain, MI. The Council will 

receive public comments from 12:45 

p.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST. 

Interested persons may attend and/or 

present oral statements to the Council. 

The dial in number to attend the 

conference call is: 1–800–767–1750. At 

the prompt, enter access code 45206 

then press #. Individuals seeking to 

present oral statements are invited to 

submit a 1–2 page summary of their 

comments at the time of the meeting for 

inclusion in the official meeting record. 

Oral presentations will be limited to five 

minutes or less, depending on the 

number of participants. Additionally, 

interested parties may also provide 

written comments for review by the 

Council prior to the meeting or at any 

time, via email to Steve.Trynosky@

va.gov, or by mail to Stephen K. 

Trynosky J.D., M.P.H., M.M.A.S., 

Designated Federal Officer, Office of 

Academic Affiliations (10A2D), 810 

Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES
39002 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 16, 2017 / Notices 

20420. Any member of the public 

wishing to participate or seeking 

additional information should contact 

Mr. Trynosky via email or by phone at 

(202) 461–6723. 

Dated: August 11, 2017. 

Jelessa M. Burney, 

Federal Advisory Committee Management 

Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2017–17294 Filed 8–15–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 


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