Interpretation ID: ES004934

Mr. Gerald Plante
Manager, NHTSA Compliance
Fuji Heavy Industries USA, Inc.
Subaru Plaza
P.O. Box 6000
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-6000

Dear Mr. Plante:

This is in response to your recent e-mail to Mr. George Feygin, in which you requested clarification of the June 3, 2004, final rule responding to petitions for reconsideration, which amended Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110, Tire Selection and Rims for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) or Less (69 FR 31306). Paragraph S4.3(h) of that standard allows a vehicle manufacturer to place an optional bar code or vehicle identification number (VIN) on the righthand edge of the vehicle placard and tire information label. Specifically, you asked whether it would be permissible under paragraph S4.3(h) to continue the use of certain two-letter codes on the vehicle placard to track and coordinate the correct application of specific placards with specific vehicle types on or after September 1, 2005, the effective date of the rule.

By way of background, the June 3, 2004, final rule is related to an earlier final rule published on November 18, 2002, which sought to improve the information readily available to consumers about tires (69 FR 69600). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has stated that it believes that overcrowding the vehicle placard and tire inflation pressure label with information considered non-critical for regular maintenance would discourage the use of tire inflation pressure information in those key locations, so the agency decided upon a general prohibition against the addition of "other information" to these sources (69 FR 31306, 31311).

As you are probably aware, the agency is in the process of responding to petitions for reconsideration of the June 3, 2004, final rule, and we expect to issue our response shortly. Our review suggests that the issue raised in your recent e-mail is already before the agency in the context of a petition for reconsideration submitted by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Alliance) (Docket No. NHTSA-2004-17917-4). The Alliances petition seeks to amend paragraph S4.3(h) to permit inclusion of an optional part number on the righthand edge of the vehicle placard and tire information label. We view the two-letter code described in your correspondence as a variation of the part number issue discussed in the Alliances petition, and we will address the issue you raise in our response to the petitions for reconsideration.

Beyond the code marking issue, please note that the Fuji label provided with your correspondence does not follow the format specified in paragraph S4.3 and Figure 1 of the June 3, 2004 final rule for FMVSS No. 110. Specifically, paragraph S4.3 provides in relevant part, " This information shall be in the English language and conform in color and format, , as shown in the example set forth in Figure 1 in this standard."

Should you have any remaining or additional questions once the response to the petitions for reconsideration is published, please feel free to submit them to the agency. If you have further questions in the interim, you may contact Mr. Eric Stas of my staff at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Glassman Chief Counsel

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