Interpretation ID: nht76-3.6

DATE: 11/10/76

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank A. Berndt; NHTSA

TO: Southern California Recreational Vehicle Products, Inc.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your September 15, 1976, letter concerning the effect of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 301-75, Fuel System Integrity, on manufacturers of replacement and auxiliary fuel tanks.

You are correct in your understanding that this standard applies to completed vehicles, rather than fuel tanks or other fuel system components. Therefore, for example, an auxiliary fuel tank that you manufacture is not itself subject to any performance requirements. However, a person who mounts such an auxiliary fuel tank on a new motor vehicle before the vehicle's first purchase in good faith for purposes other than resale is a vehicle alterer under National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulations. He is required by 49 CFR 567.7 (copy enclosed) to affix a label to the vehicle certifying that, as altered, the vehicle conforms to all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards -- including Standard No. 301-75.

In addition, the mounting of an auxiliary or replacement fuel tank on a motor vehicle after the vehicle's first purchase in good faith for purposes other than resale is affected by Section 108(a)(2)(A) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, as amended (15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(2)(A)). That section specifies in relevant part that

No manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business shall knowingly render inoperative, in whole or 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. . . . (Emphasis added.)

Therefore, such a mounting of an auxiliary or replacement fuel tank must be performed in such a way that the vehicle's compliance with Standard No. 301-75 is not knowingly compromised.

SINCERELY,

September 15, 1976

Travis Armstrong, Director Office of Standards Enforcement National Hiway Traffic Safety Administration

We have a manufacturing plant in which our principal products are replacement and auxiliary fuel tanks for light trucks, vans and various recreational vehicles.

We have conformed to all our state emission control requirements for which we are fully accredited. We feel our products comply with all existing regulations. However, some of our customers have interpreted Federal Safety Standard FMVSS 301-75 to include our products thereby requiring test certification.

We have been advised by a Safety Engineer at the Automobile Club of Southern California that there were no standards for fuel tanks and that 301-75 does not apply to manufacturers of parts and other accessories for the aftermarket. He further advised us to write to you for confirmation of this fact.

We would, therefore, appreciate a reply clarafying the standard and to whom it applies.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PRODUCTS, INC.

Charles G. Atkinson President

CC: BOBBY A. BOAZ -- OFC. OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS