Notice2024-26539
Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc., Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance
Primary source
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Published
November 15, 2024
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Abstract
Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas, Inc., (Toyo) has determined that certain Open Country R/T light truck tires, do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New Pneumatic Tires for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of More Than 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) and Motorcycles. Toyo filed a noncompliance report dated March 15, 2021, and later amended it on April 2, 2021. Toyo simultaneously petitioned NHTSA on April 2, 2021, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This notice announces the grant of Toyo's petition.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 221 (Friday, November 15, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90350-90351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26539]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0034; Notice 2]
Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc., Grant of Petition for
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Grant of petition.
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SUMMARY: Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas, Inc., (Toyo) has determined
that certain Open Country R/T light truck tires, do not fully comply
with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New
Pneumatic Tires for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of More Than 4,536
Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) and Motorcycles. Toyo filed a noncompliance
report dated March 15, 2021, and later amended it on April 2, 2021.
Toyo simultaneously petitioned NHTSA on April 2, 2021, for a decision
that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to
motor vehicle safety. This notice announces the grant of Toyo's
petition.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayton Lindley, General Engineer,
NHTSA, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, (325) 655-0547.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview
Toyo has determined that certain Toyo Open Country R/T light truck
tires, do not fully comply with paragraph S6.5(j) of FMVSS No. 119, New
Pneumatic Tires for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of More Than 4,536
Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) and Motorcycles (49 CFR 571.119). Toyo filed
a noncompliance report dated March 15, 2021, and later amended it on
April 2, 2021, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance
Responsibility and Reports. Toyo simultaneously petitioned NHTSA on
April 2, 2021, 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,
pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 49 CFR part 556,
Exemption for Inconsequential Defect or Noncompliance.
Notice of receipt of Toyo's petition was published with a 30-day
public comment period, on May 19, 2022, in the Federal Register (87 FR
30556). No comments were received. To view the petition and all
supporting documents log onto the Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) website at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">https://www.regulations.gov/</a>. Then follow the online
search instructions to locate docket number ``NHTSA-2021-0034.''
II. Tires Involved
Approximately 518 Toyo Open Country R/T light truck tires, size
35X12.50R20LT 125Q, manufactured between January 29, 2021, and March 8,
2021, are potentially involved.
III. Noncompliance
Toyo explains that the noncompliance was due to a mold error in
which the sidewall with the partial TIN incorrectly states the load
range as required by paragraph S6.5(j) of FMVSS No. 119. Specifically,
the tires were marked: ``LOAD RANGE E MAX.LOAD 1450 kg (3195 LBS) AT
450 kPa (65 PSI) COLD'' when they should have been marked: ``LOAD RANGE
F MAX.LOAD 1650 kg (3640 LBS) AT 550 kPa (80 PSI) COLD.''
IV. Rule Requirements
Paragraph S6.5(j) of FMVSS No. 119 includes the requirements
relevant to this petition. The subject tires are required to be marked
on each sidewall with the letter designating the tire load range.
V. Summary of Toyo's Petition
The following views and arguments presented in this section, ``V.
Summary of Toyo's Petition,'' are the views and arguments provided by
Toyo. They do not reflect the views of the Agency. Toyo describes the
subject noncompliance and contends that the noncompliance is
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
In support of its petition, Toyo submitted the following reasoning:
Toyo explains that the noncompliance occurred as production
transitioned from producing the load range `E' tire to production of
the load range `F' tire.
Toyo states that ``the affected tire mold was immediately corrected
after this issue was discovered and all future production will have the
correct load range letter shown on the non-serial sidewall.''
Toyo explains that ``the 35X12.50R20LT tire size, Load Range E
tires have a maximum load carrying capacity of 1,450 kg (3,195 lbs.) at
450 kPa (65 PSI); Load Range F tires have a maximum load carrying
capacity of 1,650 kg (3,640 lbs.) at 550 kPa (80 PSI). Therefore, Toyo
believes that in the event that ``a consumer were to rely on the
incorrect load range designation on the non-serial sidewall, there
would be no associated risk of overloading.''
Toyo says that NHTSA has granted prior inconsequentiality petitions
for noncompliances that are similar to the one described in the subject
petition and cited sections from the following notices granting those
petitions:
<bullet> Guizhou Tyre Corporation; Grant of Petition for Decision
of Inconsequential Noncompliance. 78 FR 12828, February 25, 2013.
<bullet> Yokohama Tire Corporation, Grant of Petition for Decision
of Inconsequential Noncompliance. 84 FR. 64403, November 21, 2019.
<bullet> Tireco, Inc., Ruling on Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance. 81 FR 58550, August 25, 2016.
Toyo says that the subject tires ``meet all other performance and
regulatory requirements of FMVSS No. 119.'' Furthermore, Toyo says that
it ``has not received any complaints, claims, or warranty adjustments
related to this noncompliance.''
Toyo concludes that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as
it relates to motor vehicle safety as these tires have a higher load
carrying capacity than the incorrect marking indicates, therefore, the
marking will not cause an operator to overload the tires. Thus, Toyo
believes 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.
[[Page 90351]]
VI. NHTSA's Analysis
In determining inconsequentiality of a noncompliance, NHTSA focuses
on the safety risk to individuals who experience the type of event
against which a recall would otherwise protect.\1\ In general, NHTSA
does not consider the absence of complaints or injuries when
determining if a noncompliance is inconsequential to safety. The
absence of complaints does not mean vehicle occupants have not
experienced a safety issue, nor does it mean that there will not be
safety issues in the future.\2\ Further, because each inconsequential
noncompliance petition must be evaluated on its own facts and
determinations are highly fact-dependent, NHTSA does not consider prior
determinations as binding precedent. Petitioners are reminded that they
have the burden of persuading NHTSA that the noncompliance is
inconsequential to safety.
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\1\ See Gen. Motors, LLC; Grant of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance, 78 FR 35355 (June 12, 2013) (finding
noncompliance had no effect on occupant safety because it had no
effect on the proper operation of the occupant classification system
and the correct deployment of an air bag); Osram Sylvania Prods.
Inc.; Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential
Noncompliance, 78 FR 46000 (July 30, 2013) (finding occupant using
noncompliant light source would not be exposed to significantly
greater risk than occupant using similar compliant light source).
\2\ See Morgan 3 Wheeler Limited; Denial of Petition for
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 81 FR 21663, 21666 (Apr.
12, 2016); see also United States v. Gen. Motors Corp., 565 F.2d
754, 759 (D.C. Cir. 1977) (finding defect poses an unreasonable risk
when it ``results in hazards as potentially dangerous as sudden
engine fire, and where there is no dispute that at least some such
hazards, in this case fires, can definitely be expected to occur in
the future'').
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NHTSA has evaluated the merits of the petition submitted by Toyo
and is granting Toyo's request for relief from notification and remedy
of the affected tires based on the following.
1. Based on a review of Toyo's submission, the agency has no basis
to believe that the subject tires do not meet all performance and
marking requirements of FMVSS No. 119 with the exception of the
incorrect load markings.
2. NHTSA agrees that the incorrect marking will not cause the
operator to overload the tires because the marked load carrying
capacity is lower than the actual load carrying capacity of the tire.
VII. NHTSA's Decision
In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA finds that Toyo has met
its burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS No. 119 noncompliance
in the affected tires is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
Accordingly, Toyo's petition is hereby granted, and Toyo is
consequently exempted from the obligation of providing notification of,
and a free remedy for, that 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 Toyo no longer controlled at the
time it determined that the noncompliance existed. However, the
granting of this petition does not relieve tire 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 Toyo 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)
Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2024-26539 Filed 11-14-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 15, 2024.
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