Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance |
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Topics: Toyota Camry, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Sienna, Toyota Tundra, Toyota Tacoma
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Claude H. Harris
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
March 11, 2014
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13733-13735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05186]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2014-0028; Notice 1]
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.,
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: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.,
on behalf of Toyota Motor Corporation and certain Toyota manufacturing
entities (collectively referred to as ``Toyota'') have determined that
specific model year (MY) 2013-2014 Toyota vehicles do not fully comply
with paragraph S4 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No.
302, Flammability of Interior Materials. Toyota has filed an
appropriate report dated January 29, 2014 as amended on February 20,
2014 pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance
Responsibility and Reports.
DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is April 10, 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 http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online
[[Page 13734]]
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 http://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 http://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. Toyota's Petition: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h)
(see implementing rule at 49 CFR part 556), Toyota 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 Toyota'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 206,271 MY 2012-
14 Camry, Avalon, Corolla, Sienna, Tundra, and Tacoma model Toyota
vehicles. Refer to the amended report that Toyota filed pursuant to 49
CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports that
Toyota included as attachment to its petition for identification of the
associated Toyota manufacturing entities as well as the vehicles
involved.
III. Noncompliance: Toyota explains that the noncompliance is that
the front and rear seat cushions and front and rear seat backs in the
subject vehicles fail to fully meet the requirements of paragraph S4 of
FMVSS No. 302 because seat cushion and seat back components, when
tested separately, failed to meet the burn rate requirements of
paragraph S4.3. Toyota identified the noncompliant components as seat
heater assemblies. Toyota also states that all other components of the
seat required to meet FMVSS No. 302 are in compliance with the
standard.
IV. Rule Text: Paragraph S4 of FMVSS No. 302 requires in pertinent
part:
S4.1 The portions described in S4.2 of the following components
of vehicle occupant compartments shall meet the requirements of
S4.3: seat cushions, seat backs, seat belts, headlining, convertible
tops, arm rests, all trim panels including door, front, rear, and
side panels, compartment shelves, head restraints, floor coverings,
sun visors, curtains, shades, wheel housing covers, engine
compartment covers, mattress covers, and any other interior
materials, including padding and crash-deployed elements, that are
designed to absorb energy on contact by occupants in the event of a
crash . . .
S4.2 Any portion of a single or composite material which is
within 13 mm of the occupant compartment air space shall meet the
requirements of S4.3.
S4.2.1 Any material that does not adhere to other material(s) at
every point of contact shall meet the requirements of S4.3 when
tested separately . . .
S4.3 (a)When tested in accordance with S5, material described in
S4.1 and S4.2 shall not burn, nor transmit a flame front across its
surface, at a rate of more than 102 mm per minute. The requirement
concerning transmission of a flame front shall not apply to a
surface created by cutting a test specimen for purposes of testing
pursuant to S5.
(b) If a material stops burning before it has burned for 60
seconds from the start of timing, and has not burned more than 51 mm
from the point where the timing was started, it shall be considered
to meet the burn-rate requirement of S4.3(a).
V. Summary of Toyota's Analyses: Toyota stated its belief that the
subject noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for
the following reasons:
1. Toyota believes that its testing shows that the seat heater
assemblies comply with FMVSS No. 302 when tested as a ``composite'' as
installed in the vehicle, i.e., along with the surrounding FMVSS No.
302 compliant seat cover, plus pad, and foam pad.
2. Toyota believes that its testing and design review of the seat
heater assemblies indicates that the chance of fire or flame induced by
a malfunctioning seat heater is essentially zero.
3. Toyota believes that the purpose of FMVSS No. 302 is to ``. . .
reduce the deaths and injuries to motor vehicle occupants caused by
vehicle fires, especially those originating in the interior of the
vehicle from sources such as matches or cigarettes.'' \1\ The
noncompliant seat heater assemblies would normally not be exposed to
open flame or an ignition source (like matches or cigarettes) in its
installed application, because it is installed within and surrounded by
complying materials that meet FMVSS No. 302.
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\1\ Paragraph S2 of FMVSS No. 302 Flammability of Interior
Materials.
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4. The seat heater assembly is a very small portion of the overall
mass of the soft material portions comprising the entire seat assembly
(i.e. less than 1%), and is significantly less in relation to the
entire vehicle interior surface area that could potentially be exposed
to flame. Therefore, Toyota believes that it would have an
insignificant adverse effect on interior material burn rate and the
potential for occupant injury due to interior fire.
5. Toyota is not aware of any data suggesting that fires have
occurred in the field due to the installation of the non-complying seat
heater assemblies.
6. Toyota also expressed its belief that in similar situations
NHTSA has granted petitions for inconsequential noncompliance relating
to FMVSS No. 302 requirements.
Toyota has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected the
noncompliance so that all future production vehicles will comply with
FMVSS No. 302.
In summation, Toyota believes that the described noncompliance of
the subject vehicles is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and
that its petition, to exempt Toyota 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 vehicles that Toyota no
longer controlled at the time it
[[Page 13735]]
determined that the noncompliance existed. However, any decision on
this petition does not relieve Toyota 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 Toyota 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.
Claude H. Harris,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2014-05186 Filed 3-10-14; 8:45 am]
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