Topic:  Cooper Tires

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 94 (Monday, May 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29779-29781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10438]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0047; Notice 1]


Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Receipt of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

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

ACTION: Receipt of petition.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (Cooper Tire), has determined 
that certain Cooper CS5 Grant Touring and Cooper Evolution Tour 
replacement passenger car tires do not fully comply with Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for 
Light Vehicles. Cooper Tire filed a noncompliance report dated April 
28, 2021, and subsequently, Cooper Tire petitioned NHTSA on May 12, 
2021, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential 
as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This notice announces receipt of 
Cooper Tire's petition.

DATES: Send comments on or before June 15, 2022.

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 in the title of this notice and 
submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590.

[[Page 29780]]

     Hand Delivery: Deliver comments by hand to the 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 for Federal holidays.
     Electronically: Submit comments electronically by logging 
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website 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 comments you have submitted by mail 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.
    All comments and supporting materials received before the close of 
business on the closing date indicated above will be filed in the 
docket and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the fullest extent possible.
    When the petition is granted or denied, notice of the decision will 
also be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority 
indicated at the end of this notice.
    All comments, background documentation, and supporting materials 
submitted to the 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 docket. The docket ID number for this petition is shown 
in the heading of this notice.
    DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement is available for review in a 
Federal Register notice published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayton Lindley, General Engineer, 
NHTSA, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, (325) 655-0547.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Overview

    Cooper Tire has determined that certain Cooper CS5 Grand Touring 
and Cooper Evolution Tour replacement passenger car tires do not fully 
comply with the requirements of paragraph S5.5.1(b) of FMVSS No. 139, 
New Pneumatic Radial Tires for Light Vehicles (49 CFR 571.139). Cooper 
Tire filed a noncompliance report dated April 28, 2021, pursuant to 49 
CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. 
Cooper Tire subsequently petitioned NHTSA on May 12, 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.
    This notice of receipt of Cooper Tire'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. Tires Involved

    Approximately 294 Cooper CS5 Grand Touring, size 225/50R18, and 
Cooper Evolution Tour, size 225/60R16, replacement passenger car tires, 
manufactured between February 14, 2021, and March 27, 2021, are 
potentially involved.

III. Noncompliance

    Cooper Tire explains that the noncompliance is that the subject 
tires were molded with an upside down and backwards serial week and 
year on the outboard sidewall as required by paragraph S5.5.1(b) of 
FMVSS No. 139.

IV. Rule Requirements

    Paragraph S5.5.1(b) of FMVSS No. 139 includes the requirements 
relevant to this petition.
     Each tire must be labeled with the tire identification 
number required by 49 CFR part 574, which includes the date code, on 
the intended outboard sidewall of the tire.

V. Summary of Cooper Tire's Petition

    The following views and arguments presented in this section, ``V. 
Summary of Cooper Tire's Petition,'' are the views and arguments 
provided by Cooper Tire. They have not been evaluated by the Agency and 
do not reflect the views of the Agency. Cooper Tire describes the 
subject noncompliance and contends that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
    In support of its petition, Cooper Tire submitted the following 
reasoning:
    1. The tires subject to this petition, on their outboard side only, 
were molded with an upside down and backwards DOT serial week and year. 
The serial number stampings should read: DOT U9 X3 1 LP 0721 and UP 78 
1CW 1221. The outboard side, which includes the date code, was molded 
with the date code information oriented incorrectly upside down and 
backwards, which resulted in the characters being out of proper 
sequence.
    2. Cooper contends that the 294 tires subject to this petition meet 
and/or exceed all performance requirements and all other labeling 
markings as required by FMVSS No. 139.
    3. Furthermore, Cooper Tire says that is not aware of any crashes, 
injuries, customer complaints, or field reports associated with the 
subject tires involved in this petition.
    4. Cooper Tire believes that the upside down and backward date code 
will not cause confusion for the consumer or dealer that is selecting 
and mounting the tire, as the error is quite obvious, and there is no 
logical reading or interpretation of the date code in its upside down 
and backward position. Cooper Tire also believes that consumers and 
dealers will easily be able to see the issue and correctly identify the 
date code.
    5. Cooper believes the following NHTSA statements, taken from 
another petition, apply to its petition: ``The purpose of the date code 
is to identify a tire so that, if necessary, the appropriate action can 
be taken in the interest of public safety--such as a safety recall 
notice.'' See Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 64 FR 29080 (May 28, 1999); 
see also Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, 68 FR 16115 (April 2, 2003). 
Furthermore, Cooper feels the following NHTSA statement applies to its 
petition, ``[t]he agency believes that the true measure of 
inconsequentiality to motor vehicle safety in this case is the effect 
of the noncompliance on the ability of the tire manufacturer to 
identify the tires in the event of recall.'' See Bridgestone/Firestone, 
Inc., 66 FR 45076 (Aug. 27, 2001).
    6. Cooper also stated that NHTSA has granted petitions and found 
that TIN noncompliance is inconsequential to safety in cases where the 
TIN is out of sequence or mislabeled. See, Bridgestone/Firestone North 
America Tire, LLC, 71 FR 4396 (Jan. 26, 2006) (granting petition where 
date code was missing because manufacturer could still identify and 
recall the tires); Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, 68 FR 16115 (April 2, 
2003) (granting petition where

[[Page 29781]]

tires were labeled with wrong plant code, because ``the tires have a 
unique DOT identification''); Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 66 FR 45076 
(Aug. 27, 2001) (granting petition where the date code was labeled 
incorrectly, because ``the information included on the tire 
identification label and the manufacturer's tire production records is 
sufficient to ensure that these tires can be identified in the event of 
a recall''); Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 64 FR 29080 (May 28, 1999) 
(granting petition where the wrong year was marked in date code on the 
tires); Cooper Tire & Rubber Company; 63 FR 29059 (May 27, 1998) 
(granting petition where date code was missing where tires had a unique 
TIN for recall purposes); Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 60 FR 57617 
(Nov. 16, 1995) (granting petition where date code was out of 
sequence); Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company, 59 FR 64232 (Dec. 13, 1994) 
(granting petition where week and year were mislabeled on tires).
    Cooper Tire concludes 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 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 tires that Cooper Tire no 
longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance 
existed. However, any decision on 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 Tire 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. 2022-10438 Filed 5-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P