52966 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Notices 

without edit, including any personal 

information the commenter provides, to 

http://www.regulations.gov, as 

described in the system of records 

notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which can 

be reviewed at http://www.dot.gov/ 

privacy. 

Docket: Background documents or 

comments received may be read at 

http://www.regulations.gov at any time. 

Follow the online instructions for 

accessing the docket or go to the Docket 

Operations in Room W12–140 of the 

West Building Ground Floor at 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lynette Mitterer, AIR–673, Federal 

Aviation Administration, 1601 Lind 

Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98057–3356, 

email Lynette.Mitterer@faa.gov, phone 

(425) 227–1047; or Alphonso 

Pendergrass, ARM–200, Office of 

Rulemaking, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591, 

email alphonso.pendergrass@faa.gov, 

phone (202) 267–4713. 

This notice is published pursuant to 

14 CFR 11.85. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

November 3, 2017. 

Victor Wicklund, 

Manager, Transport Standards Branch. 

Petition for Exemption 

Docket No.: FAA–2017–1046. 

Petitioner: Bombardier Inc. 

Section of 14 CFR Affected: 

§ 25.813(e). 

Description of Relief Sought: Allow 

installation of doors between passenger 

seats and emergency exits on the 

Bombardier Model BD–700–2A12 

(Global 7000) and BD–700–2A13 (Global 

8000) airplanes. 

[FR Doc. 2017–24735 Filed 11–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2017–0027; Notice 2] 

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Grant 

of Petition for Decision of 

Inconsequential Noncompliance 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Grant of petition. 

SUMMARY: Cooper Tire & Rubber 

Company (Cooper), has determined that 

certain Cooper Mastercraft Courser HSX 

Tour brand tubeless radial tires do not 

fully comply with Federal Motor 

Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 

139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for 

Light Vehicles. Cooper filed a 

noncompliance report dated April 12, 

2017. Cooper also petitioned NHTSA on 

April 12, 2017, for a decision that the 

subject noncompliance is 

inconsequential as it relates to motor 

vehicle safety. 

ADDRESSES: For further information on 

this decision contact Abraham Diaz, 

Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, the 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration (NHTSA), telephone 

(202) 366–5310, facsimile (202) 366– 

5930. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Overview: Cooper Tire & Rubber 

Company (Cooper), has determined that 

certain Cooper Mastercraft Courser HSX 

Tour brand tubeless radial tires do not 

fully comply with paragraph S5.5.1(b) of 

FMVSS No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial 

Tires for Light Vehicles. Cooper filed a 

noncompliance report dated April 12, 

2017, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, 

Defect and Noncompliance 

Responsibility and Reports. Cooper also 

petitioned NHTSA on April 12, 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. 

Notice of receipt of the petition was 

published in the Federal Register (82 

FR 25909) with a 30-day public 

comment period, on June 5, 2017. No 

comments were received. To view the 

petition and all supporting documents 

log onto the Federal Docket 

Management System (FDMS) Web site 

at: http://www.regulations.gov/. Then 

follow the online search instructions to 

locate docket number ‘‘NHTSA–2017– 

0027.’’ 

II. Tires Involved: Approximately 484 

Cooper Mastercraft Courser HSX Tour 

brand tubeless radial tires, size 275/ 

55R20, manufactured between March 6, 

2017, and March 15, 2017, are 

potentially involved. 

III. Noncompliance: Cooper explains 

that the noncompliance is that the 

inboard sidewalls of the subject tires are 

labeled with an incorrect manufacturer’s 

identification mark, and therefore do 

not fully meet all applicable 

requirements of paragraph S5.5.1(b) of 

FMVSS No. 139. Specially, the tires are 

labeled with the manufacturer’s 

identification mark ‘‘UP’’ instead of 

‘‘UT.’’ 

IV. Rule Text: Paragraph S5.5.1 of 

FMVSS No. 139 states, in pertinent part: 

S5.5.1 Tire Identification Number. 

. . . 

(b) Tires manufactured on or after 

September 1, 2009. Each tire must be labeled 

with the tire identification number required 

by 49 CFR part 574 on the intended outboard 

sidewall of the tire. Except for retreaded tires, 

either the tire identification number or a 

partial tire identification number, containing 

all characters in the tire identification 

number, except for the date code and, at the 

discretion of the manufacturer, any optional 

code, must be labeled on the other sidewall 

of the tire. Except for retreaded tires, if a tire 

does not have an intended outboard sidewall, 

the tire must be labeled with the tire 

identification number required by 49 CFR 

part 574 on one sidewall and with either the 

tire identification number or a partial tire 

identification number, containing all 

characters in the tire identification number 

except for the date code and, at the discretion 

of the manufacturer, any optional code, on 

the other side wall. 

V. Summary of Cooper’s Petition: 

Cooper 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, Cooper 

submitted the following reasoning: 

(a) While the 484 tires in the subject 

population contain an improper plant 

code on the inboard side of the tire, they 

are in all other respects properly labeled 

and meet all performance requirements 

under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 

Standards. Plant code identification has 

no bearing on the performance or 

operation of a tire and does not create 

a safety concern to either the operator of 

the vehicle on which the tires are 

mounted, or the safety of personnel in 

the tire repair, retread and recycle 

industry. 

(b) Tire registration and traceability 

could be a concern in some instances 

where there are plant code errors; 

however, in this instance, the incorrect 

plant code is still tied to a Cooper Tire 

manufacturing facility. Consumers will 

be able to accurately identify the 

responsible manufacturer and there will 

be no issues with registering the tires. 

Cooper Tire has modified its internal 

registration systems to allow for the 

proper registration of the affected tires. 

Cooper Tire accepts tire registration in 

a number of ways including 

electronically via the company’s Web 

site. Cooper Tire’s online database has 

been modified to accept registrations 

from consumers which include an 

incorrectly listed UP plant code when 

the other identifying information 

(brand, serial week) are accurately 

reported. Cooper Tire also accepts hard 

copy tire registration cards, which it 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Notices 52967 

processes manually. As long as the 

remaining identifying information 

(brand, serial and week) are listed 

accurately on the registration card, 

Cooper Tire will process the 

registration. All internal personnel 

responsible for manual processing of 

tire registration cards have been made 

aware of the plant code error and have 

been trained on how to accurately 

process and register tires with the 

incorrect plant code information. Lastly, 

Cooper Tire receives some registration 

cards through Computerized 

Information and Management Services, 

Inc. (‘‘CIMS’’), a third-party vendor that 

collects and provides tire registration 

cards to a number of manufacturers, 

including Cooper Tire. CIMS has been 

made aware of the plant code error. 

CIMS has informed Cooper Tire that 

they will provide all registration cards 

to Cooper Tire that have a Cooper Tire 

plant code listed. 

(c) In the event Cooper Tire has to 

conduct a safety related recall in 

connection with the 484 subject tires, 

Cooper Tire will include TINs UT Yl 

FXJ 1017 to 1117 and UP Yl FXJ 1017 

to 1117 in its recall universe, so that 

there will be no issues with regard to 

identifying the recall population. 

Should Cooper Tire receive any affected 

tires in its service facilities for 

adjustments, the service technician will 

record the proper TIN number to 

accurately record the data. 

(d) Cooper Tire has taken steps over 

the last year to add additional checks in 

its processes to prevent TIN errors. One 

of those checks includes implementing 

software that only allows for the plant 

to choose the plant code from a drop 

down menu that includes only its 

specific plant code. In this instance, 

however, the molds were transferred 

from one Cooper Tire facility (Findlay) 

to another (Texarkana). The Texarkana 

employee responsible for preparing the 

mold for use in the Texarkana facility 

only modified the mold on one side and 

the error went undetected. The mold 

containing the error was in production 

from March 6th through March 15th and 

when the error was detected on March 

30th, the plug error was corrected in the 

mold to prevent future issues. 

Responsible Cooper Tire personnel will 

receive additional training on these 

processes. 

Cooper 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. 

NHTSA’S Decision 

NHTSA’S Analysis: NHTSA has 

reviewed Cooper’s analyses that the 

subject noncompliance is 

inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. 

Specifically, the outboard sidewall of 

the subject tires are labeled correctly 

with the tire manufacturer’s 

identification mark, and therefore do 

not have a risk related to safety in the 

event of a recall. 

The agency believes that one measure 

of inconsequentiality to motor vehicle 

safety is that there is no effect of the 

noncompliance on the operational 

safety of the vehicles on which these 

tires are mounted. Cooper certified and 

stated that the subject tires meet and/or 

exceed all performance requirements 

and all other labeling markings required 

by FMVSS No. 139, and therefore 

NHTSA has no reason to believe that 

there are any operational safety issues 

for these tires. 

The agency also believes it is 

necessary that consumers be able to 

readily identify the tire manufacturer for 

safety reasons. Cooper explained that 

while the tire identification number 

(TIN) on the inboard sidewall of the 

subject tires is marked with the 

incorrect manufacturer’s identification 

mark (known in the industry as ‘‘plant 

code’’) ‘‘UP,’’ instead of the correct code 

‘‘UT’’, the information which identifies 

the correct manufacturer’s identification 

mark, is properly marked on the 

outboard sidewall. These tires can also 

be identified by the Cooper brand name 

and by the tire size marked on the 

sidewall of the subject tires. 

NHTSA recognizes that Cooper took 

steps to prevent the possibility that 

customers would not be able to register 

their tires because those tires have the 

incorrect manufacturer’s identification 

mark on them. Cooper worked with 

CIMS (Computerized Information and 

Management Services), Inc., to ensure 

that the electronic registration database 

could accept the registration regardless 

of the incorrect code and ensured 

internal Cooper personnel are trained to 

manually enter the incorrect codes as 

well. 

Furthermore, Cooper informed the 

agency that in an effort to prevent 

reoccurrence of this noncompliance, 

they have implemented a change to 

their support software. Specifically, the 

selection of the plant code is no longer 

manual, but rather selected from a drop 

down menu with only one choice ‘‘UT.’’ 

NHTSA feels that this is important to 

ensure this noncompliance is corrected 

on all of Cooper’s future production 

tires since the cumulative effect of 

recurring noncompliances could result 

in a safety problem. 

NHTSA’s Decision: In consideration 

of the foregoing, NHTSA finds that 

Cooper has met its burden of persuasion 

that the subject FMVSS No. 139 

noncompliance in the affected tires is 

inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. 

Accordingly, Cooper’s petition is hereby 

granted and Cooper is consequently 

exempted from the obligation of 

providing notification of, and a free 

remedy for, the subject noncompliance 

under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120. 

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, this 

decision only applies to the subject tires 

that Cooper no longer controlled at the 

time it determined that the 

noncompliance existed. However, the 

granting of this petition does not relieve 

equipment distributors and dealers of 

the prohibitions on the sale, offer for 

sale, or introduction or delivery for 

introduction into interstate commerce of 

the noncompliant tires under their 

control after Cooper 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, 

Associate Administrator for Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. 2017–24691 Filed 11–14–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Fiscal Service 

Bureau of the Fiscal Service; Senior 

Executive Service; Combined 

Performance Review Board (PRB) 

AGENCY: Bureau of the Fiscal Service, 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of appointments to the 

Combined Performance Review Board. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

appointment of the members of the 

Combined Performance Review Board 

(PRB) for the Bureau of the Fiscal 

Service, the Bureau of Engraving and 

Printing, the United States Mint, the 

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 

Bureau, and the Financial Crimes 

Enforcement Network. The Combined 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES