W.F. Mickey Body Company, Inc., Receipt of Application for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 157 (Monday, August 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44575-44576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21185]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-99-6009]


W.F. Mickey Body Company, Inc., Receipt of Application for 
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    W.F. Mickey Body Company, Inc. (Mickey Body), a manufacturer of 
trailers (beverage bodies, van bodies, and vending bodies), is a 
corporation organized under the laws of the State of North Carolina 
with its principal place of business located in High Point, North 
Carolina. Mickey Body has determined that its tire and rim label 
information, on some units, is not in full compliance with 49 CFR 
571.120, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 120, ``Tire 
Selection and Rims for Vehicles Other Than Passenger Cars,'' and has 
filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect and 
Noncompliance Reports.'' Mickey Body has also applied to be exempted 
from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 
301--``Motor Vehicle Safety'' on the basis that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    This notice of receipt of an application is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
other

[[Page 44576]]

exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the application.
    Paragraph S5.3 of FMVSS No. 120 states that each vehicle shall show 
the information specified on the tire information label in both English 
and metric units. The standard also shows an example of the prescribed 
format.
    From March 1996 to March 1999, Mickey Body manufactured 
approximately 2,464 beverage trailers, 4,222 beverage bodies, 5,822 van 
bodies, and 472 vending bodies that do not meet the requirements stated 
in the standard. The certification label affixed to these Mickey Body's 
units pursuant to Part 567 failed to comply with S5.3 of FMVSS No. 120 
because of the omission of metric measurements, and Mickey Body did not 
separately provide the metric measurements on another label, an 
alternative allowed by FMVSS No. 120. The use of metric measurements is 
required by FMVSS No. 120, pursuant to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standards: Metric Conversion, 50 FR 13639, published on March 14, 1995, 
and effective on March 14, 1996.
    Mickey Body supports its application for inconsequential 
noncompliance with the following statements:
    1. NHTSA has previously granted an exemption for inconsequential 
noncompliance [to Dorsey Trailers, Inc.] under circumstances virtually 
identical to [Mickey Body's] present case.
    2. The omission of the metric data from Mickey Body's certification 
label is highly unlikely to have any effect whatsoever on motor vehicle 
safety.
    3. Mickey Body currently includes a certification label that 
expresses the GVWR, GAWR and tire pressure in both English and metric 
units.
    4. Mickey Body is not aware of any accident that was allegedly 
caused by the omission of metric measurements from a certification 
label.
    5. Mickey Body did not receive reasonable notice of what is 
required by [paragraph S5.3 of FMVSS No. 120] and, therefore, the 
imposition of notification and remedy requirements are a violation of 
Mickey Body's due process rights under the Fifth Amendment of the 
[United States] Constitution.
    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments on the application described above. Comments should refer to 
the docket number and be submitted to: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, 
S.W., Washington, D.C., 20590. It is requested that two copies be 
submitted.
    All comments received before the close of business on the closing 
date indicated below will be considered. The application and supporting 
materials, and all comments received after the closing date, will also 
be filed and will be considered to the extent possible. When the 
application is granted or denied, the notice will be published in the 
Federal Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
    Comment closing date: September 15, 1999.

(49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 
501.8)

    Issued on: August 10, 1999.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 99-21185 Filed 8-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P