Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment

Topics:  NHTSA, Motorcycle Industry Council, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

Christopher J. Bonanti (Federal Register)
April 26, 2011

[Federal Register: April 26, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 80)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 23254-23255]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26ap11-23]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA-2011-0052]

 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Lamps, Reflective 
Devices, and Associated Equipment

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

ACTION: Granting petition for rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This notice grants the petition for rulemaking submitted by 
the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) requesting that the agency amend 
the license plate holder requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 108 to allow motorcycles to mount license plates 
at an upward angle of up to 30 degrees.\1\ Based on the information 
received in MIC's petition and the petitions for reconsideration of the 
December 4, 2007 final rule reorganizing FMVSS No. 108,\2\ the agency 
believes that MIC's petition merits further consideration through the 
rulemaking process.
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    \1\ Motorcycle Industry Council Petition for Rulemaking, March 
14, 2005 (Docket No. NHTSA-2005-20286-0009)
    \2\ 72 FR 68234 (December 4, 2007).
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    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to 
initiate the rulemaking process on this issue with a notice of proposed 
rulemaking later this year. The determination of whether to issue a 
rule will be made in the course of the rulemaking proceeding, in 
accordance with statutory criteria.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical issues: Markus Price, 
Office of Crash Avoidance Standards (NVS-121), NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue, SE., West Building, Washington, DC 20590 (Telephone: (202) 366-
0098) (Fax: (202) 366-7002).
    For legal issues: Jesse Chang, Office of the Chief Counsel (NCC-
112), NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building, Washington, DC 
20590 (Telephone: (202) 366-2992) (Fax: (202) 366-3820).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On March 14, 2005, MIC submitted to the agency a petition for 
rulemaking requesting that the agency include an additional subpart to 
FMVSS No. 108. Specifically, MIC requested the addition of a subpart to 
be designated as S5.1.1.30, which would read as follows:

    ``S5.1.1.30 On a motorcycle where the upper edge of the license 
plate is not more than 1.2 m (47.25 in.) from the ground, the plate 
bearing the license numbers shall face between 30 degrees upward and 
15 degrees downward from the vertical plane.''

    MIC submitted this petition for rulemaking with the understanding 
that the current FMVSS No. 108 requires license plates to be mounted at 
 15 degrees of perpendicular to the plane on which the 
vehicle stands. In their petition, MIC took note that ``although the 
lighting standard doesn't directly speak to license plate mounting, the 
requirement at issue is contained in SAE J587 October 1981, which is 
incorporated into FMVSS No. 108 in Table III for license plate lamps.'' 
Petitioner notes that the requirements of the October 1981 Standard 
J587 are different from the European Community (ECE) regulations. By 
including the proposed subpart, petitioner hopes to harmonize the 
current motorcycle license plate requirements with the requirements in 
the ECE regulations.
    Petitioner stated that this harmonization would not adversely 
affect safety or law enforcement efforts but would serve to reduce 
unnecessary design and manufacturing complexities for its member 
companies. Further, petitioner believes that by allowing a 30 degree 
upward angle, the manufacturers will be afforded greater flexibility in 
design without any detriment to real world reflective illumination of 
the license plates. As additional support for

[[Page 23255]]

their request, MIC mentions that SAE Standard J587 was updated in 1997 
to also allow for the 30 degree upward angle permitted by the ECE 
regulations.
    In addition to the MIC petition for rulemaking of March 14, 2005, 
the agency has received petitions for reconsideration of the December 
4, 2007 final rule that reorganized FMVSS No. 108. These petitions for 
reconsideration were also concerned with license plate holders and the 
mounting requirements. In that final rule, the agency included the 
license plate mounting requirements of SAE Standard J587 (October 1981) 
directly into the regulatory text. Petitioners objected on the grounds 
that the license plate mounting requirements of the 1981 SAE standard 
were never incorporated into FMVSS No. 108 and thus should not be 
included in an administrative rewrite of FMVSS No. 108 where the agency 
has stated no intent to substantively change the standard. A more 
detailed discussion of these petitions is available in today's Federal 
Register where the agency has issued a notice denying, in part, the 
petitions for reconsideration of the December 4, 2007 final rule.

Conclusion

    Having received this petition for rulemaking and the aforementioned 
petitions for reconsideration of the December 4, 2007 final rule 
reorganizing FMVSS No. 108, the agency has decided that MIC's petition 
merits further consideration through the rulemaking process and hereby 
grants its petition for rulemaking. The agency plans to initiate the 
rulemaking process later this year through the publication of a notice 
of proposed rulemaking. This agency also announces in a separate notice 
published in today's Federal Register that it is denying the 
aforementioned petitions for reconsideration as the agency has decided 
to resolve this issue through rulemaking. However, due to the special 
circumstances and confusion surrounding the license plate mounting 
requirements among the relevant stakeholders, the agency announces 
through this notice that it will not enforce the 15 degree license 
plate holder mounting requirement during the pendency of rulemaking on 
the issue of that requirement.
    The granting of the petition from MIC, however, does not indicate 
that a final rule will be issued as requested by MIC. The determination 
of whether to issue a rule and the content of the rule is made after 
the study of the requested action and the various alternatives in the 
course of the rulemaking proceeding, in accordance with statutory 
criteria.

    Issued on: April 21, 2011.
Christopher J. Bonanti,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2011-10025 Filed 4-25-11; 8:45 am]
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