Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 52966-52967 [2017-24691]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Notices
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[FR Doc. 2017–24735 Filed 11–14–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
[Docket No. NHTSA–2017–0027; Notice 2]
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Grant
of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Grant of petition.
AGENCY:
Cooper Tire & Rubber
Company (Cooper), has determined that
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:58 Nov 14, 2017
Jkt 244001
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: https://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.’’
PO 00000
Frm 00094
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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
E:\FR\FM\15NON1.SGM
15NON1
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2017 / Notices
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.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:58 Nov 14, 2017
Jkt 244001
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
PO 00000
Frm 00095
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
52967
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)
Bureau of the Fiscal Service,
Treasury.
ACTION: Notice of appointments to the
Combined Performance Review Board.
AGENCY:
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
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\15NON1.SGM
15NON1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52966-52967]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24691]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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: https://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
[[Page 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
