Interpretation ID: aiam0983
Administrative Engineer
Oshkosh Truck Corporation
P.O. Box 560
Oshkosh
WI 54901;
Dear Mr. Murley: This is in response to your letter of January 31, 1973, in which yo asked us to confirm your 'understanding that FMVSS No. 121 will not apply to fire-fighting vehicles until 1 September 1976, two years from the effective date.' In general, you suggest that 'we would expect to comply with FMVSS for firefighting vehicles within two years after the effective date or two years from the date of publication of the FMVSS, whichever date occurs later'.; You have misread the relevant language of 49 CFR S 571.8. That sectio provides that the effective date of a standard as applied to firefighting vehicles is 'either 2 years after the date on which such standard or amendment is published in the Rules and Regulations section of the *Federal Register*, or the effective date specified in the notice, whichever is later', except as otherwise specified in the standard with reference to those vehicles. The alternatives are thus (a) 2 years after the publication date, or (b) the effective date, whichever is later -- *not* 2 years after the effective date, as you have read it.; Your reading would not be reasonable, since the effective date canno be before the publication date, there would be no point to the alternative phrasing.; Yours truly, Richard B. Dyson, Assistant Chief Counsel