Interpretation ID: nht79-3.11

DATE: 08/27/79

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank Berndt; NHTSA

TO: Department of Education, State of Mississippi

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This responds to your May 7, 1979, letter asking whether any Federal law (statutes, standards, regulations or guidelines) prohibits a school district in the State of Mississippi from converting the gasoline fuel system in school buses which it owns to a butane or propane powered system. You specified that you would like this question answered both with respect to new school bus chassis equipped with the mandatory fuel integrity system and older school bus chassis not equipped with such a system. As explained below, none of the laws we administer would prohibit converting any school bus, regardless of when it was manufactured.

Under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended in 1974 ("the Act"), 15 U.S.C. et seq., the agency has issued Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 301-75, Fuel System Integrity (49 CFR 571.301-75). This standard specifies performance requirements for the fuel system of certain new motor vehicles. It applies to vehicles which use fuel with a boiling point above 32 degrees F. and which are (1) passenger cars, or (2) multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, or buses with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,000, pounds or less or (3) school buses with a (GVWR) greater than 10,000 pounds.

New vehicles (i.e., vehicles that have not yet been sold and delivered to a purchaser for purposes other than resale) manufactured in accordance with FMVSS 301-75 may be converted to propane or butane systems. Upon the conversion of the vehicles to types of fuel systems not covered by the standard, the vehicles would cease to be subject to the standard.

Similarly, used vehicles manufactured in accordance with the standard as well as used vehicles manufactured before the effective date of the standard may be converted. Section 108(a)(2)(A) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended in 1974 (the Act, 15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(2)(A)) limits tampering with the fuel systems of vehicles manufactured in accordance with FMVSS 301-75. It does not apply at all to vehicles manufactured before the standard's effective date. The section, in essence, prohibits the entities and persons listed below from knowingly removing, disconnecting or reducing performance of equipment or elements of design installed on a vehicle in accordance with applicable motor vehicle safety standards. There is no prohibition against vehicle owners modifying their own vehicles. Specifically, section 108(a)(2)(A) provides:

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 . . . .

There is no liability under section 108(a)(2)(A) in connection with FMVSS 301-75 if one of the listed persons or entities converts a used gasoline powered vehicle into a propane powered vehicle. Modifying safety systems of a vehicle being converted from one vehicle type to another does not violate section 108(a)(2)(A) so long as the modified systems comply with the FMVSS's that would have been applicable to the vehicle had it been originally manufactured as the vehicle type to which it is being converted. For example, in converting a gasoline powered school bus (a vehicle type covered by the standard) to a propane or butane-powered school bus (a vehicle type not covered by the standard), the converter could not violate section 108(a)(2)(A) with respect to FMVSS 301-75 since this standard does not apply to butane or propane powered school buses. FMVSS 301-75 applies only to vehicles that use fuel with a boiling point above 32 degrees F, and propane and butane reach their boiling points at a lower temperature.

This means that a school district in your state would not be prohibited from converting its gasoline-powered buses, regardless of their date of manufacturer, to propane or butane-powered school buses. It also means that if the school district sought to have the conversion done by a motor vehicle repair business or some other person or entity listed in Section 108(a)(2)(A), that person or entity would not be prohibited from performing the work.

Please note, however, that if a propane or butane fuel system is installed in a new vehicle, the installer would be responsible for any safety defects in the manner in which the system is installed. Sections 151 et seq. of the Act provide that if vehicles are found to contain a safety defect, notification of the defect must be given and the defect must be remedied. Defects in the systems themselves would be the responsibility of the manufacturer of the systems, regardless of whether they are installed in new or used vehicles.

I hope that you will find this response helpful and you have not been inconvenienced by our delay in sending it to you.

Sincerely,

ATTACH.

State of Mississippi DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

May 7, 1979

Roger Tilton -- U. S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Dear Mr. Tilton:

Reference is made to your conversation with Mr. Walter Corban, Supervisor of Pupil Transportation, Mississippi State Department of Education, last week regarding the use of butane and propane gas in the operation of school buses in this state. Would you please provide me with answers to the following questions?

1. Are there any laws, standards, regulations, or guidelines at the federal level which would prohibit a school district in this state from converting a new school bus chassis equipped with the mandatory fuel integrity system from gasoline to butane or propane?

2. Are there any laws, standards, regulations, or guidelines at the federal level which would prohibit a school district in this state from converting an older school bus chassis which is not equipped with the mandatory fuel integrity system from gasoline to butane and propane?

Your prompt reply to these questions will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Leonard Cain, Director -- School Building and Transportation