Interpretation ID: aiam4374
Bureau of Patrol
Pennsylvania State Police
1800 Elmerton Avenue
Harrisburg
PA 17110;
Dear Mr. Crytzer: This responds to your letter to our office and a telephone call betwee Trooper Monko of your department and Deirdre Hom of my staff, concerning how the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and our regulations affect a certain modification of a school bus. I apologize for the delay in our response.; You explained in your letter and enclosures that the vehicle i question is a school bus with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) less than 10,000 pounds. The vehicle is being *leased* by the Governor Mifflin school district from a local dealer, Wolfington Body Company, who bought the vehicle from the school bus manufacturer, Collins Industries. Your letter said that Collins delivered the vehicle to Wolfington with an extra side door 'in place.' The side door was provided for purposes of installing a wheelchair lift. You stated that Wolfington could have installed a wheelchair lift, if it had wished to do so, however, in the case at hand, Wolfington sealed the door and installed rear seats provided by Collins in the bus.; You first ask whether the school bus dealer (Wolfington) is prohibite by Federal law from sealing the side door and installing the rear seats. The answer is no. However, Federal law does impose limitations on the modifications that may be made. Section 108(a)(2)(A) of the Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(2)(A) states:; >>>No manufacturer, distributor, dealer or motor vehicle repai business shall knowingly render inoperative, in whole or in part, any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard . . . .<<<; Section 108(a)(2)(A) prohibits Wolfington from either removing disconnecting or degrading the performance of safety equipment or designs installed in compliance with applicable Federal safety standards. Thus, the school bus dealer cannot seal the door if the door had been installed on the vehicle to meet the requirements for emergency exits found in Standard No. 217, *Bus Window Retention and Release*. In the case you describe, the school bus was provided with a rear emergency door which presumably satisfies Standard No. 217's requirements for emergency exits. If the school bus is able to meet the requirements of the standard notwithstanding the sealed side door, then there is no 'rendering inoperative' of the vehicle's compliance with the school bus emergency exit requirements.; Nevertheless, Wolfington must ensure that no other safety design o item of equipment installed pursuant to applicable Federal safety standards was rendered inoperative by its modifications. For instance, the performance of the fuel system must be maintained to the level required by Standard No. 301, *Fuel System Integrity*. Similarly, Wolfington must ensure that the seats previously certified to Standard No. 222, *School Bus Seating and Crash protection*, maintained their levels of performance.; Trooper Monko requested information on the Federal requirement applying to Collins and Wolfington, if Collins had delivered the school bus with the door sealed to Wolfington, the purchaser, and Wolfington had installed the lift and removed the rearmost seats. Wolfington is subject to the 'render inoperative' provisions of S108(a)(2)(A) of the Safety Act in this situation, just as it is in the situation discussed earlier. Thus, Wolfington must ensure that its modifications do not negatively affect the compliance of safety equipment and designs with Federal safety standards. Notably, the fuel system and seats on the school bus must continue to meet the applicable safety standards.; We note that a different set of our regulations would apply i Wolfington had obtained a new school bus from Collins to *resell* it to a school district. These regulations apply to the alteration of *new* vehicles, and impose certification responsibilities on dealers modifying new vehicles. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are interested in those regulations.; Sincerely, Erika Z. Jones, Chief Counsel