General Motors, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 32813-32814 [2014-13182]

Agencies

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 109 (Friday, June 6, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32813-32814]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-13182]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2013-0143; Notice 1]


General Motors, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Receipt of Petition.

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SUMMARY: General Motors, LLC (GM) has determined that certain model 
year (MY) 2010-2014 GM Cadillac SRX multipurpose passenger vehicles 
(MPVs), do not fully comply with paragraph S4.4 of Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) FMVSS No. 110, Tire selection and rims 
and motor home/recreation vehicle trailer load carrying capacity 
information for motor vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 
pounds) or less and paragraph S4.4 of FMVSS No. 109, New pneumatic and 
certain specialty tires. GM has filed an appropriate report dated 
November 27, 2013, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and 
Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is July 7, 2014.

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 at the beginning of this notice and be 
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 Deliver: 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 your comments 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.
    Documents submitted to a 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. DOT's complete Privacy Act 
Statement is available for review in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000, (65 FR 19477-78).
    The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received 
before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will 
be filed and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the extent possible. When the petition is granted or 
denied, notice of the decision will be published in the Federal 
Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. GM's Petition

    Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) (see implementing rule 
at 49 CFR part 556), GM submitted a petition for an exemption from the 
notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the 
basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle 
safety.
    This notice of receipt of GM's 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

    Affected are approximately 51,704 MY 2010-2014 GM Cadillac SRX 
manufactured between June 18, 2009, and October 31, 2013.

III. Noncompliance

    GM explains that the noncompliances are due to both an error in the 
spare rim marking, and that the tire and rim matching information is 
not contained in The European Tyre and Rim Technical Organization 
(ETRTO) publication. The dimensions of the rims are consistent with the 
dimensions listed by ETRTO, and should have been marked ``E'' as 
required by FMVSS No. 110, S4.4.2(a). Due to the rim marking error, the 
rims were marked ``T,'' indicating The Tire and Rim Association, Inc. 
(T&RA), as a consequence some of the actual dimensions of the rims are 
inconsistent with the published nominal dimensions in the T&RA Year 
Book. In addition, the combination of T135/70R18 temporary spare tires 
and 18x4.5B rims is not listed in ETRTO, which is a noncompliance with 
FMVSS No. 109, S4.4.1(b).

IV. Rule Text

Paragraph S4.4.2 of FMVSS No. 110 requires in pertinent part: Each 
rim shall be marked with the information listed in S4.4.2(a) through 
(e) . . .
    (a) designation that indicates the source of the rim's published 
nominal dimensions, as follows:
    (1) ``T'' indicates The Tire and Rim Association.
    (2) ``E'' indicates The European Tyre and Rim Technical 
Organization . . .
Paragraph S4.4.1 of FMVSS No. 109 requires in pertinent part: . . . 
a listing of the rims that may be used with each tire is provided to 
the public . . . in one of the following forms:
    (b) Contained in publications, current at the date of 
manufacture of the tire or any later date, of at least one of the 
following organizations: Tire and Rim Association, The European Tyre 
and Rim Technical Organization, . . .

V. Summary of GM's Analyses

    GM stated its belief that the subject noncompliances are 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for the following reasons:
    1. GM stated that the tire and rim of the affected spare wheels are 
properly matched, and are appropriate for the load-carrying 
characteristics of the subject vehicles. The subject tire/rim assembly 
meets S4.4.1(b) rapid air loss requirement of FMVSS No. 110. The 
subject vehicles also met GM's internal ride and handling guidelines 
with the subject spare tire/rim assembly installed. The incorrect 
association marking has no effect on the performance of the tire/rim 
combination.

[[Page 32814]]

    2. GM believes that all other rim marking information required by 
S4.4.2 of FMVSS No. 110 on the subject rims is correct. The rims are 
marked with S4.4.2(b) rim size designation; S4.4.2(c) the symbol DOT; 
S4.4.2(d) manufacturer identification; and S4.4.2(e) month and year of 
manufacture.
    3. GM believes that the rim is marked with the correct rim size 
information; namely 18x4.5B. The vehicle tire pressure placard contains 
the correct tire size information, and the tire size is marked on the 
tire sidewall. The certification label on the vehicle contains the 
correct spare tire and rim sizes; namely T135/70R18 and 18x4.5B. Thus, 
the rim markings and vehicle labeling, which are used to identify the 
correct replacement rim, provide the correct and complete size of spare 
rim. Therefore, there is very little likelihood of a tire and rim 
mismatch as a result of the incorrect marking of the source of the 
published rim dimensions.
    4. GM believes that very few of these spare wheels will ever need 
to be replaced over the life of the vehicle. Nevertheless, the owner's 
manual provided with these vehicles contains a section ``Wheel 
Replacement''. This section states ``Your dealer will know the kind of 
wheel that is needed. Each new wheel should have the same load-carrying 
capacity, diameter, width, offset, and be mounted the same way as the 
one it replaces.''
    5. GM believes that if a customer needs to replace a spare wheel, 
he/she is likely to go to a GM dealer or a tire/wheel retailer. The 
skilled personnel at these facilities know how to determine the correct 
spare wheel size that they are replacing. For spare wheel replacement, 
they may look at the spare wheel itself, the tire, the tire placard or 
the certification label to determine the replacement size. The spare 
wheel does contain the correct size designation 18x4.5B.
    6. GM believes that all other applicable requirements of FMVSS Nos. 
109 and 110 have been met.
    GM also stated its belief that NHTSA has previously granted 
inconsequential treatment for FMVSS No. 110 rim marking noncompliance.
    GM informed NHTSA that it is not aware of any crashes, injuries or 
customer complaints associated with this condition.
    GM also informed NHTSA that it has corrected the noncompliance for 
all future production.
    In summation, GM believes that the described noncompliance of the 
subject vehicles is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and that 
its petition, to exempt from providing recall notification of 
noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and remedying the recall 
noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120 should be granted.
    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 noncompliant vehicles that GM 
no longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance 
existed. However, any decision on this petition does not relieve motor 
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 motor vehicles under their control after 
GM 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,
Acting Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2014-13182 Filed 6-5-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P