Interpretation ID: aiam2480
Chairman
Truck & Bus Safety Subcommittees
Department of Transportation
Washington
DC 20590;
Dear Mr. Jones: This responds to your September 1, 1977, request for clarification o the legal issues that face truck manufacturers who, at the request of owners, replace brake components used in satisfaction of the early performance levels of Standard No. 121, *Air Brake Systems*, with brake components that are used in satisfaction of the existing reduced performance levels of the standard. Your concern is that some manufacturers may be reluctant to undertake such replacement if it involves testing and recertification of the vehicle to Standard No. 121.; The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (the Act) (15 U.S.C S 1381 et seq.) prohibits the manufacture, offer for sale, sale, introduction in interstate commerce or importation of a motor vehicle that does not comply with all applicable standards in effect on the date of its manufacture (S 108(a)(1)(A)). This prohibition does not apply (except for importation) after the first purchase of the vehicle in good faith for purposes other than resale (15 U.S.C. S 108(b)(1)). Section 114 of the Act requires that the manufacturer certify compliance of a vehicle to applicable standards at the time of delivery to the distributor or dealer. There is no basis under these or any other statutory provisions for the manufacturers' belief that recertification of a used vehicle is required, however it may be modified.; The manufacturers you mention may be concerned about their liabilit under S 108(a)(2)(A) which prohibits, except in the process of repair, a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or repair business from knowingly rendering inoperative in whole or part, any device or element of design installed in a motor vehicle in compliance with an applicable standard. As you know, it is the published opinion of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that a commercial facility does not 'knowingly render inoperative' a device or element of design by replacing components installed in satisfaction of a safety standard with other components that are used in newer vehicles of the same type in satisfaction of the same standard, even if the standard for the newer vehicles impose a less stringent level of performance (42 FR 26279, May 23, 1977). The manufacturers may believe that they have a statutory obligation to prove that the substituted parts, as installed in each vehicle, in fact provide performance equal to that required by the existing standard.; It is, of course, a factual matter in each case whether the modifie used vehicle does in fact provide the performance for new vehicles specified by Standard No. 121. I would like to point out, however, that (1) the Act requires certification of vehicles only upon initial delivery to the distributor or dealer, (2) the normal deterioration of brake components on vehicles-in-use would make it virtually impossible to determine as a factual matter whether the substitution of smaller, new components in fact degrade performance of the vehicle, and (3) the prohibition of S 108(a)(2)(A) requires intent to degrade the system on the part of the manufacturer before the modification would constitute a violation.; In view of these factors, I am surprised that manufacturers believ they need to conduct road testing to ensure they do not violate S 108(a)(2)(A). My understanding is that truck models do not change radically from year-to-year, and that the certification testing following Notice 7 was conducted on vehicles similar to those built in the January 1975 to March 1976 period. I would expect that the results of those tests could be used as a basis for deciding whether the modified vehicles provide the specified level of performance.; Sincerely, Joan Claybrook