Interpretation ID: nht94-1.7

TYPE: Interpretation-NHTSA

DATE: January 3, 1994

FROM: John Womack -- Acting Chief Counsel, NHTSA; Signature by Kenneth Weinstein

TO: Thomas D. Price -- President, Strait-Stop, ABAS Marketing, Inc.

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 10/8/93 from Thomas D. Price to Marvin Shaw (OCC 9197)

TEXT:

This responds to your letter concerning this agency's notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to require medium and heavy vehicles to be equipped with an antilock braking system (58 FR 50739, September 28, 1993). You noted that the proposed definition for "antilock brake system" incorporates the terminology "rate of angular wheel rotation," and requested a definition of this terminology. You also suggested that there is ambiguity as to the precise meaning of the word "performance," apparently with respec t to the way that word is used in the preamble. Accordingly, you requested a definition of that word as well.

By way of background information, the purpose of publishing NPRM's is to provide all interested persons an opportunity to comment on regulations being considered by the agency. If any interested person believes that the proposed regulatory text and/or t he agency's explanation in a preamble concerning a proposed regulation are unclear, the appropriate place to make that argument is in a comment on the NPRM. If a person believes that a portion of the proposed regulation should be clarified in a particul ar manner, that recommendation also should be included in a comment. Similarly, if a person believes the agency's explanation for the proposed rule is unclear, the person can identify in comments the portion of the explanation at issue and explain the i mplications his or her concern has on the agency's decision concerning a possible final rule.

Since the questions and views in your letter are in the nature of comments on the pending NPRM, we are placing a copy of your letter in the public docket for that NPRM. I want to assure you that your comments will be considered at the same time all the other public comments are considered. Only after considering the comments will NHTSA reach a decision on whether to issue a final rule.

NHTSA does not issue separate letters or documents responding to individual public comments in a rulemaking. Instead, after carefully considering all comments, NHTSA provides its responses in the next relevant rulemaking notice, e.g., a final rule or a notice terminating the rulemaking.

While we cannot provide specific responses to your questions, we note that pages 50742 and 50743 of the NPRM provide an extensive discussion about how the agency derived its definition for antilock braking system. This discussion explains that the defin itions were derived in large part from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Recommended Practice J656, "Automotive Brake Definitions and Nomenclature" (1988), and the Economic Commission for Europe's Regulation 13 (1988). We have enclosed for your information a copy of that SAE Recommended Practice, which uses the terminology "rate of angular rotation of the wheel(s)."

With respect to your question about the meaning of "performance," we note generally that each of this agency's safety standards specifies those requirements that are deemed necessary to obtain the desired safety performance from a particular vehicle syst em or item of equipment. Any design that will satisfy the requirements may be used for the system or item of equipment.

I hope this information is helpful.