Custom Glass Solutions Upper Sandusky Corporation, Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Topics:  Guardian Industries

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
January 23, 2015

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3737-3738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01038]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2013-0124; Notice 2]


Custom Glass Solutions Upper Sandusky Corporation, 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: Custom Glass Solutions Upper Sandusky Corporation (Custom 
Glass), a subsidiary of Guardian Industries Corporation, has determined 
that certain laminated glass panes, other than windscreens, do not 
fully comply with paragraph S6 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 
(FMVSS) No. FMVSS 205, Glazing Materials. Custom Glass has filed an 
appropriate report dated September 17, 2013, pursuant to 49 CFR part 
573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

ADDRESSES: For further information on this decision contact Luis 
Figueroa, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), telephone (202) 366-5298, 
facsimile (202) 366-5930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    I. Custom Glass's Petition: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 
30120(h) and the rule implementing those provision at 49 CFR part 556, 
Custom Glass 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.
    Notice of receipt of the petition was published, with a 30-day 
public comment period, on September 25, 2014 in the Federal Register 
(79 FR 57654). 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-2013-0124.''
    II. Glazing Involved: Approximately 160 laminated glass panes, 
other than windscreens, intended for the cabs of approximately twenty 
mining vehicles being manufactured by Atlas Copco in Australia. The 
panes consist of two 4.0 mm tempered panes manufactured by Auto Temp, 
Inc. (ATI) that were bonded together with a 0.76 mm PVB layer by Custom 
Glass and then shipped to Angus Palm, Watertown, South Dakota between 
August 1, 2013 and September 4, 2013.
    III. Noncompliance: Custom Glass explains that the noncompliance is 
that the labeling on the subject laminated glass panes does not fully 
meet the requirements of paragraph S6 of FMVSS No. 205. The panes were 
labeled with the incorrect manufacturer's code mark, incorrect 
manufacturer's trademark, and incorrect manufacturer's model number, 
and were incorrectly marked as Tempered.
    IV. Rule Text: Refer to the entire text of Paragraph S6 of FMVSS 
No. 205 for requirements and contextual restrictions.
    V. Summary of Custom Glass's Analyses: Custom Glass stated its 
belief that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety based on the following reasoning:
    The parts are incorrectly labeled with the manufacturer's code mark 
and manufacturer's trademark belonging to the tempered glazing 
supplier, ATI. The correct manufacturer's code mark, which should have 
been affixed to the parts at issue, is DOT 22. The correct 
manufacturer's model number is M85L2 (which identifies laminated glass 
construction with an 8.5 mm nominal thickness, from which Guardian 
fabricates automotive parts for use anywhere in a motor vehicle except 
windshields). The panes are marked with the correct item-of-glazing 
number.
    Although the subject laminated glass panes are affixed with the 
incorrect manufacturer's code mark, manufacturer's model number and 
manufacturer's trademark, the laminated glass parts were fabricated is 
in full compliance with the technical requirements of FMVSS No. 205 
that currently apply to laminated glass for use anywhere in a motor 
vehicle except windshields (item-of-glazing number ``2,'' i.e., ``AS-
2'')
    Custom Glass also asserts that the subject noncompliance could not 
result in the wrong part being used in an OEM or ARG application given 
that the part would be ordered by its unique part number and not the 
manufacturer's model number (which corresponds to the glass 
construction from which the part is fabricated). The parts are also 
easily traceable back to Custom Glass since they are the only glazing 
supplier for this particular vehicle.
    Custom Glass has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected 
the noncompliance so that all future production vehicles delivered with 
laminated glass will comply with FMVSS No. 205.
    In summation, Custom Glass believes that the described 
noncompliance of the subject laminated glass parts 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 Decision

    NHTSA Analysis: FMVSS No. 205 specifies labeling and performance 
requirements for automotive glazing. Paragraph S6 of FMVSS No. 205 
requires glazing material manufacturers to certify, in accordance with 
49 U.S.C. 30115, each piece of glazing material to which this standard 
applies. A prime glazing material manufacturer certifies its glazing by 
adding to the marks required in Section 7 of ANSI Z26.1 (1996), the 
symbol ``DOT'' and a manufacturer's code mark assigned by the NHTSA's 
Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance. Section 7 of ANSI Z26.1 (1996) 
requires manufacturers to mark automotive glazing with the item of 
glazing number, e.g., ``AS-1'', the manufacturer's distinctive 
designation or trademark, and a model number that will identify the 
type of construction of the glazing material. Section 7 of ANSI Z26.1 
(1996) states that the item of glazing number is to be placed in close 
proximity to other required markings.
    In its petition Custom Glass stated that labeling on the affected 
glazing that did meet all applicable requirements of FMVSS No. 205 and 
ANSI Z26.1 (1996). Specifically, the glazing was marked with the 
incorrect manufacturer's code mark, incorrect manufacturer's trademark, 
and incorrect manufacturer's model number (i.e., M number). The glazing 
was also incorrectly marked ``Tempered'' as opposed to

[[Page 3738]]

``Laminated''. The noncompliance is limited to laminated glass panes, 
other than windscreens, to be used in the cabs of approximately twenty 
mining vehicles manufactured by Atlas Copco in Australia.
    NHTSA believes that the subject labeling errors are inconsequential 
to motor vehicle safety because; the marking of glazing as ``Tempered'' 
or ``Laminated'' is not required by FMVSS No. 205, the probability of 
anyone in the United States obtaining the subject incorrectly marked 
glazing as replacement glazing is very unlikely since the affected 
glazing is specifically designed for use in mining vehicles 
manufactured by Atlas Copco in Australia. In addition, there is no 
concern that the wrong model number on the subject glazing would result 
in an incorrect replacement part being used because replacement parts 
are ordered by referring to the glazing part number or by identifying 
the vehicle for which the replacement glazing is intended. Custom Glass 
is the only glazing supplier for the vehicles and any replacement 
glazing acquired from Custom Glass in the future is expected to be 
marked correctly, and the subject glazing appears to comply with all 
other applicable requirements of FMVSS No. 205.
    NHTSA Decision: In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has 
decided that Custom Glass has met its burden of persuasion that the 
FMVSS No. 205 noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. 
Accordingly, Custom Glass's petition is hereby granted and Custom Glass 
is exempted from the obligation of providing notification of, and a 
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 laminated glass parts that Custom Glass 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 motor laminated glass parts 
under their control after Custom Glass 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. 2015-01038 Filed 1-22-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P