Interpretation ID: 2783y
Vice President
Peterson Manufacturing Company
4200 East 135th Street
Grandview, MO 64030
Dear Mr. Scully:
This is in reply to your letter of August l4, l990 (postmarked September l9), asking that we notify the police department of Tuscon, Arizona, that reflex reflectors are not required to have SAE markings "in order to be perfectly legal reflectors." You also state that another agency of the Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Motor Carrier Safety, "still retain(s) these marking requirements in their publication" and appeal for "a uniform set of regulations between the two government agencies involved."
Because this matter has not been brought to our attention by the police department of Tuscon, we are responding directly to you so that you may furnish copies to whomever you deem it most advisable.
We confirm your understanding that 49 CFR 571.108, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. l08, Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment, does not require that reflex reflectors bear SAE markings. Although they must meet the requirements of SAE Standard J594f, Reflex Reflectors, January 1977, there is no requirement that they bear SAE markings according to SAE Recommended Practice J759c, Lighting Identification Code, January l975.
Although the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Motor Carrier Safety (OMCS) has amended most of its vehicle lighting regulations to conform to Standard No. l08, up until now that agency has required, under 49 CFR 393.26(c), that reflectors bear (among other markings), the letters "SAE-A". However, OMCS has informed us that it will amend its regulation to conform to Standard No. l08 as early as convenient, and in the meantime will notify its field office that the marking requirement is no longer to be enforced. Therefore, failure to mark reflectors with the letters "SAE-A" may be inconsistent with current OMCS requirements, but it is not a failure to comply with Standard No. l08.
Further, to the extent that Arizona law itself may require marking of reflectors with the letters "SAE-A", that provision is inconsistent with Standard No. l08 and is subject to the preemption provisions of l5 U.S.C. 1392(d). Under the preemption provisions, no State or political subdivision thereof may enact or continue in effect a standard covering the same aspect of performance as a Federal motor vehicle safety standard, unless it is identical to the Federal standard. Thus, any State or local requirement for SAE markings on reflex reflectors is one that is not identical to Standard No. 108, and subject to the preemption provisions.
Other than the reference to OMCS regulations, we do not know under what authority the Tuscon police are acting. Certainly, a local official cannot enforce a Federal standard per se. If Arizona law requires vehicles in interstate commerce to comply with regulations of the OMCS, and the Tuscon police are attempting to enforce State law, we conclude that the State law is subject to the preemption provisions discussed above, and that such enforcement action has been precluded under Federal law.
I hope that this responds to your concerns.
Sincerely,
Paul Jackson Rice Chief Counsel
ref:l08 d:12/27/90