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Interpretation ID: surface_area_AGF

    Mr. Gerald Plante
    Governmental Affairs
    Subaru of America, Inc.
    P.O. Box 6000
    Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-6000


    Dear Mr. Plante:

    This responds to your March 14, 2003, letter and e-mail and phone conversations with George Feygin of my staff concerning certain parts marking requirements found in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations (NHTSAs) Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard, 49 CFR Part 541. The standard requires manufacturers to designate a "target area" on certain vehicle parts upon which identifying numbers are to be marked. You ask whether the surface area used in the "target area" computation is the overall surface area of a part, even if the part is multidimensional, such as an engine. The answer is yes.

    By way of background, the target area designation requirement found in Part 541 was adopted under the Motor Vehicle Theft Law Enforcement Act of 1984. The purpose of the target area requirement was to facilitate quick identification checks by law enforcement personnel, where vehicles or vehicle parts are under suspicion of being stolen. The standard requires vehicle manufacturers to designate "target areas" where identifying numbers would be marked. These designations are then submitted to NHTSA and placed in the public docket. The information tells law enforcement personnel where to look for the identifying numbers and thus expedites the parts markings verification process.

    Section 541.5(e)(1) requires a manufacturer to designate a "target area" on certain original vehicle parts, upon which identifying numbers are to be marked. That section also states: "The target area shall not exceed 50 percent of the surface area on the surface of the part on which the target area is located." Similarly, 541.6(e)(1) requires a manufacturer to designate a separate "target area" on certain replacement parts. That section states: "Such target areas shall not exceed 25 percent of the surface area of the surface on which the replacement part marking will appear." The original and replacement vehicle parts that must be marked are identified in 541.5(a) and 541.6(a), respectively.

    In establishing Part 541, NHTSA originally proposed a target area for each vehicle part identified in 541.5(a) and 541.6(a) to be just 25 cm2. Due to the industry comments on the restrictive nature of a 25 cm2 target area, the final rule issued on October 24, 1985 (50 FR 43166), established the target area requirement for original parts of not more than 50% of the total surface area of a given vehicle part upon which the marking would appear. For replacement parts, the target area requirement was set at not more than 25% of the total surface area of a given vehicle part upon which the marking would appear.

    The preamble to the final rule is silent as to the computation method for the target area. The regulatory text, however, is straightforward.

    In the absence of any contrary guidance from the preamble, our answer is that the surface area used in the target area computation is the overall surface area of a specific vehicle part. We recognize that in the case of a multidimensional vehicle part such as an engine, the overall surface area may be difficult to calculate. We note, however, that the standard only requires that the target area not exceed 50% of the surface area, and does not prohibit designating a smaller portion of a surface area as the target area. Therefore, manufacturers are afforded a fair amount of flexibility in designating target areas. For example, a manufacturer can designate a much smaller target area located at a specific place and on a specific side of the engine. If the designated target area is obviously smaller than 50% of the overall surface area, there is no need for a precise calculation of the overall surface area.

    As per our requirements, manufacturers submit their target area information to NHTSA. This information is publicly available through our Docket Management System at http://dms.dot.gov/. An examination of manufacturers submissions to the docket reveals that the majority of the manufacturers indeed avoid precise calculations of the overall surface areas for a given vehicle part, and instead choose to designate smaller target areas.

    I hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions, please contact Mr. Feygin at this address or by phone at (202) 366-2992.

    Sincerely,

    Jacqueline Glassman
    Chief Counsel

    ref:541
    d.4/11/03