Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 16, 2017 / Notices 38999 

(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 ISO 

brake malfunction telltale. 

• Audible alert to the driver as long 

as the vehicle has low air. 

• Dual indicator air pressure gauge 

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 the 

ISO symbol for brake malfunction 

instead of ‘‘Brake Air’’ for the telltale in 

the subject vehicles. 

(d) NHTSA Precedents—Autocar 

Industries 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 Industries 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 Industries 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 Industries’ 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 

Industries 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 Industries 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. 2017–17330 Filed 8–15–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2017–0065] 

Autocar, LLC, Receipt of Petition for 

Decision of Inconsequential 

Noncompliance 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Receipt of petition. 

SUMMARY: Autocar, LLC (Autocar), has 

determined that certain model year 

(MY) 2014–2018 Autocar Xpeditor 

trucks do not fully comply with Federal 

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 

No. 101, Controls and Displays. Autocar 

filed a noncompliance report dated June 

14, 2017, and subsequently petitioned 

NHTSA on June 19, 2017, for a decision 

that the subject noncompliance is 

inconsequential as it relates to motor 

vehicle safety. 

DATES: The closing date for comments 

on the petition is September 15, 2017. 

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: 

• Mail: Send comments by mail 

addressed to U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver comments 

by hand to 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 Federal Holidays. 

• Electronically: Submit comments 

electronically by logging onto the 

Federal Docket Management System 

(FDMS) Web site at https://

www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• 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 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES
39000 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 16, 2017 / Notices 

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 

dockets. 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). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Overview: Autocar, LLC (Autocar), 

has determined that certain MY 2014– 

2018 Autocar Xpeditor trucks do not 

fully comply with Table 2 of Federal 

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 

No. 101, Controls and Displays. Autocar 

filed a noncompliance report dated June 

14, 2017, pursuant to CFR part 573, 

Defect and Noncompliance 

Responsibility and Reports, and 

petitioned NHTSA on June 19, 2017, 

pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 

30120(h) and 49 CFR part 556, 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. 

This notice of receipt of their 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. Vehicles Involved: Approximately 

5,545 MY 2014–2018 Autocar Xpeditor 

trucks, manufactured between 

September 3, 2013 and June 2, 2017, are 

potentially involved. 

III. Noncompliance: Autocar explains 

that the noncompliance is that the Low 

Brake Air Pressure telltale for air brake 

system displays the word ‘‘BRAKE 

PRESSURE’’ and the Canadian Motor 

Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 101 

specified symbol, rather than the words 

‘‘Brake Air,’’ as specified in Table 2 of 

FMVSS No. 101. Autocar states that the 

telltale is accompanied by an audible 

alert and pressure gauges. 

IV. Rule Text: Paragraph S5 of FMVSS 

No. 101 provides: ‘‘Each passenger car, 

multipurpose passenger vehicle, truck 

and bus that is fitted with a control, a 

telltale, or an indicator listed in Table 

1 or Table 2 must meet the requirements 

of this standard for the location, 

identification, color, and illumination of 

that control, telltale or indicator.’’ 

Paragraph S5.2.1 of FMVSS No. 101 

provides, in pertinent part: ‘‘. . . each 

control, telltale and indicator that is 

listed in column 1 of Table 1 or Table 

2 must be identified by the symbol 

specified for it in column 2 or the word 

or abbreviation specified for it in 

column 3 of Table 1 or Table 2.’’ 

Table 2 appears as follows: 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICESEN16AU17.002</GPH>
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