Interpretation ID: aiam2353
Executive Director - Vehicle Emissions & Safety
Jeep Corporation
14250 Plymouth Road
Detroit
MI 48232;
Dear Mr. Brown: This is in response to Jeep Corporation's March 9, 1976, petition fo rulemaking as supplemented by its letter of April 1, 1976. The petition requested an amendment of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 301-75, *Fuel System Integrity*, that would add the following sentence at the end of S7.1.6(b):; >>>For the purposes of this section, unloaded vehicle weight does no include the weight of work-performing accessories.<<<; The supplement to the petition included a list of 15 examples of suc work-performing accessories. The amendment would require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to remove these accessories before performing compliance testing pursuant to the standard.; In Section 108 of the Motor Vehicle and Schoolbus Safety Amendments o 1974, (15 U.S.C. 1392 note), Congress directed that the fuel system integrity standard take effect in the form in which it had been most recently published. Conditions for amending the standard were specified in Section 108(b) as follows:; >>>*Amendment or Repeal of Standard*.--The Secretary may amend th standard described in subsection (a) in order to correct technical errors in the standard, and may amend or repeal such standard if he determines such amendment or repeal will not diminish the level of motor vehicle safety.<<<; The practical result of the amendment requested by Jeep would be tha certain vehicles would not, as is presently specified, be required to conform to the standard in the form in which they are actually delivered to purchasers and used on the highways. In fact, the presence of work-performing accessories could seriously degrade a vehicle's performance in the standard's barrier crash tests. We therefore cannot conclude that the requested amendment 'will not diminish the level of motor vehicle safety.' Furthermore, the amendment goes beyond the mere correction of technical errors in the standard. Consequently, Jeep's petition must be and is hereby denied.; Despite this denial, however, the NHTSA interprets the term 'unloade vehicle weight' in a manner that provides some of the relief that Jeep has requested. The term is defined in 49 CFR Part 571.3 as follows:; >>>'Unloaded vehicle weight' means the weight of a vehicle with maximu capacity of all fluids necessary for operation of the vehicle, but without cargo or occupants.<<<; The 'weight of a vehicle' includes the weight of those accessories tha are installed on a vehicle before delivery and are not ordinarily removed. Among such accessories are the following:; >>>air bag suspension systems, draw bars, headlamp and radiato protectors, helper-springs, hitches, pintle hooks, power take-offs, push bumpers, step bumpers and side steps, tire carriers, wreckers<<<; The weight of those accessories that are ordinarily removed from vehicle when they are not in use, however, is not included in the 'weight of a vehicle'. Consequently, accessories in this latter group would be removed by the NHTSA prior to testing for conformity to Standard No. 301- 75. Among these are the following:; >>>snow plows, spreaders, tow bars<<< Categorization of winches, the remaining accessory that you hav listed, depends on the nature of the particular winch. One that is generally removed only when its presence interferes with other vehicle functions would be included in the evaluation of 'unloaded vehicle weight'. A portable winch that is ordinarily removed after use, however, would not be included in that evaluation.; Sincerely, Robert L. Carter, Associate Administrator, Motor Vehicl Programs;