SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Overview: Goodyear has determined that certain Cooper Discoverer SRX 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 August 19, 2021, and amended it on August 24, 2021, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. Goodyear additionally petitioned NHTSA on August 20, 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 Goodyear'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 730 Cooper Discoverer SRX, size 255/55R20 110H XL, replacement passenger car tires, manufactured between March 28, 2021, and April 24, 2021, are potentially involved.

III. Noncompliance: Goodyear explains that the noncompliance is that the Tire Information Number (TIN) on the subject tires exceeds the number of characters allowed and therefore, does not fully comply with part 574.5(g)(3), as required by S5.5.1 of FMVSS No. 139. Specifically, the 4-symbol curing press ID (C13R) was transposed with the 4-symbol numeric date code resulting in a TIN that appears to contain 15 characters, thus containing three more characters than permitted in 49 CFR 574.5 for TINs that utilize the two-symbol plant code.

IV. Rule Requirements: Section 49 CFR 574.5(a) and paragraph S5.5.1(b) of FMVSS No. 139 include the requirements relevant to this petition.

• For tires manufactured on or after September 1, 2009, each tire must be labeled with the tire identification number required by49 CFR part 574 on the intended outboard 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 by49 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 sidewall.

V. Summary of Goodyear's Petition: The following views and arguments presented in this section, “V. Summary of Goodyear's Petition,” are the views and arguments provided by Goodyear. They have not been evaluated by the Agency and do not reflect the views of the Agency. Goodyear describes the subject noncompliance and contends that the noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.

In support of its petition, Goodyear submits the following reasoning:

According to Goodyear, the subject tires “meet or exceed” the applicable FMVSS performance requirements and the noncompliance does not affect “the performance of the tires or the safe operation of the vehicles on which they are installed.”

Additionally, in the event of a field action, the noncompliant TIN marking could be included in the notification letter sent to the consumer.

Goodyear cites the following previously granted inconsequentiality petitions which it says pertain to noncompliances that are similar to the subject noncompliance:

• Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire, LLC, Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance;71 FR 4396 (January 26, 2006).
• Cooper Tire & Rubber Company; Grant of Application for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance;63 FR 29060, (May 27, 1998).

Goodyear 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 Goodyear no longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. However, ( printed page 27833) 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 Goodyear 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)