Interpretation ID: CNGLABEL.CRS
Mr. Stan Gornick
Manager, Engineering Quality
Western Star Trucks
2076 Enterprise Way
Kelowna, British Columbia
Canada V1Y 6H8
Dear Mr. Gornick:
This is in response to your letter of September 3, 1996, to Coleman Sachs of my staff, raising a question regarding the certification of compressed natural gas ("CNG") powered buses under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's ("NHTSA's") vehicle certification regulations at 49 CFR Part 567. As described in your letter, Western Star Trucks has a sister company, Orion Bus Industries, Inc. ("Orion"), which manufactures transit buses. Orion currently has an order for fifteen CNG powered buses. While inspecting the CNG containers that have been supplied to it for this order, Orion noted that the containers were missing labels required under paragraph S7.4 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard ("FMVSS") 304, Compressed Natural Gas Fuel Container Integrity, 49 CFR 571.304. After bringing this matter to the attention of the container supplier, Orion was informed that the containers were manufactured before March 27, 1995, the date on which the requirements of FMVSS 304, including the labeling requirement, went into effect. You have asked whether Orion can install these containers in the transit buses, and still certify that those vehicles comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards in effect on their date of manufacture.
Paragraph S6.1 of FMVSS 304 provides, in relevant part, that "[e]ach . . . bus that uses CNG as a motor fuel shall be equipped with a CNG fuel container that meets the requirements of S7 through S7.4." Paragraphs S7 through S7.3 prescribe three separate tests to establish that a CNG fuel container complies with the standard. As previously noted, paragraph S7.4 establishes a labeling requirement for CNG fuel containers. The information to be inserted on this label must include the month and year of the container's manufacture and the symbol DOT, which, as stated in paragraph S7.4(d), constitutes certification by the container's manufacturer that the container complies with all requirements of the standard. In light of these provisions, a bus that uses CNG as a motor fuel could not be certified as complying with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards if it is manufactured with a CNG container that lacks the label required under paragraph S7.4 of FMVSS 304.
Following his receipt of your letter, Mr. Sachs informed you by telephone that Orion could use the containers in question, regardless of their date of manufacture, if they were manufactured in conformity with the requirements that were ultimately adopted as FMVSS 304, are certified to comply with that standard, and are labeled as required in paragraph S7.4. Citing an interpretation letter dated March 2, 1995, that this Office sent to Mr. Steve Anthony, you questioned whether a manufacturer could label a CNG container as complying with the standard if the container were manufactured before March 27, 1995, the standard's effective date. The pertinent language in the letter to Mr. Anthony reflects his acknowledgment that "it would be impermissible for a manufacturer to include the symbol DOT on CNG containers manufactured prior to March 27, 1995."
This language should be read in the context of the letter in which it appeared. That letter was sent prior to the effective date of the standard and was focused on the issue of whether a CNG container could be certified as complying with FMVSS 304 before the standard went into effect. The letter concluded that this was prohibited, based on language in the preamble of the final rule establishing FMVSS 304, which characterized a certification as "a statement that a vehicle or item of equipment meets all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that are then in effect." (See letter to
Mr. Anthony, quoting 59 FR 49010, 49020, September 26, 1994). Nevertheless, now that the standard has taken effect, this prohibition no longer applies.
The preamble of the final rule establishing FMVSS 304 describes that standard as being modeled after existing industry standards. (See preamble at pages 49012-49020). If the CNG containers in question were manufactured in compliance with the requirements that were ultimately adopted as FMVSS 304, the manufacturer of those containers may now certify them as complying with the standard. If the containers are labeled in accordance with paragraph S7.4 of the standard to reflect this certification, their installation would not preclude Orion from certifying the buses on which they are installed as complying with all applicable standards in effect on their date of manufacture.If you have any further questions concerning vehicle certification, feel free to contact Mr. Sachs at 202-366-5238.
Sincerely,
John Womack
Acting Chief Counsel
ref:567
d:10/30/96