ID: nht72-3.18

DATE: 05/31/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: GO Industries

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of April 26, 1972, requesting an opinion as to whether "Abcite," a product of the Dupont Company, may be used in campers and "mini-mobile homes."

Whether a particular glazing material may be used in motor vehicles or campers depends upon whether the material meets the requirements of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 205, "Glazing Materials" (49 CFR 571.205), which incorporates, as you indicate, the American National Standards Institute Standard Z26.1-1966. That standard also specifies the locations in motor vehicles where specific materials may be used.

Standard No. 205 does not apply to trailers. While we are not familiar with the phrase "mini-mobile home," we consider mobile homes to be trailers, and the standard does not apply to them. With respect to campers, Standard No. 205 allows the use of any material meeting the requirements of Z26 in any location except for forward-facing windows. Forward-facing camper windows may not be manufactured of item 6 and item 7 material (AS6, AS7), but may be manufactured of any of the other materials (AS1-AS5, AS8-AS11) that meets the requirements of Z26.

Whether Abcite conforms to the requirements for glazing allowed to be used in campers is a determination that should be made in the first instance by its manufacturer, Dupont. If the manufacturer determines that such use is within the requirements of Standard No. 205, he is required by section 114 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act to certify that the material conforms to the requirements of the standard. He is also required by the marking requirements in Section 6 of Z26.1-1966 to indicate on the material its AS designation. Any material that is so certified can be used in the camper locations listed on the standard as appropriate for that designated type.

ID: nht72-3.19

DATE: 01/13/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Lawrence R. Schneider; NHTSA

TO: Libbey-Owens-Ford Company

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: You have requested that Libbey-Owens-Ford Company be exempted from the requirements of Part 566. Your request is denied for the reasons set forth below.

You state that Libbey-Owens-Ford is a manufacturer of automotive safety glass which has been assigned a DOT number under the "certification alternative" of Standard No. 203. You draw an analogy to the exemption of tire manufacturers from the manufacturer identification regulation, based on your (Illegible Word) under other NHTSA regulations to submit (Illegible Words) meets the requirements of Part 566.

However, the analogy is incorrect in that manufacturers of glassing materials are not specifically required by Standard 205 to submit the data required by Part 566. If manufacturers meet the certification requirements of $ 114 of the Act, no admittal of information is required. If they do choose the certification alternative, as Libbey-Owens-Ford has done, it is still not clear that the requirements of Part 566 will be met.

By contract, under Part 574 submittal of information is (Illegible Word) for all covered tire manufacturers. Moreover, that regulation in its "Identification mark" occasion requires submittal of specific information which has been found to meet the requirements of Part 566.

The purpose of Part 566 is to establish a centrally organized system to collect information regarding the manufacturer's corporate status, mailing address, and items manufactured. Such a system has been found necessary for efficient enforcement of the Act as well as distribution of information to manufacturers. These purposes cannot be accomplished if individual manufacturers in particular industries are greater exemption from coverage.

ID: nht72-3.2

DATE: 04/28/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Douglas W. Toms; NHTSA

TO: National Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association, Inc.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of April 5, 1972, concerning the amendment to Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 117, published March 23, 1972 (Docket 1-8; Notice 7, 37 F.R. 5950). In your letter you protest against the labeling requirements of the standard. It is not clear from your letter, however, whether you are referring to both the requirements for affixed labels (S6.3.1), or for permanent labeling (S6.3.2), or both, and as a consequence we have treated your comments as referring to the labeling requirements in general.

You state in your letter that retreaders, particularly small retreaders, cannot meet the labeling requirements "on any reasonable and practical basis." You state further that you have demonstrated how the labeling requirements will force retreaders to hire additional personnel, increase production time, and consequently increase the retreaders' cost per tire. You also claim that the labeling issue is a "fairly simple problem" whose solution can be easily found within the statutes.

Congress, in enacting section 201 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, made it clear that motor vehicle tires should be permanently labeled with specific items of information dealing with their safe use. The labeling requirements of Standard No. 117 are based on this statutory mandate and do recognize and allow for difficulties retreaders might have in meeting all of the requirements for labeling set forth in section 201. For example, Standard No. 117, in not requiring that the generic name of the cord material or the actual number of plies be included in the labeling information for retreaded tires, recognizes that this information will not be available for some casings which are allowed to be used.

The NHTSA considers the labeling requirements of Standard No. 117 to be both reasonable and practical, and believes they can be met by the overwhelming majority of retreaders, if not all, in an economical manner. Each item of information is now available to the retreader should the need to relabel arise. By using the procedures and technology developed for compliance with the Tire Identification and Recordkeeping regulations (49 CFR Part 574), by combining labeling information on the same label where appropriate, and by careful sorting of casings before retreading, the NHTSA believes that even the smallest retreader can meet these requirements. While the requirements will no doubt cause some changes in existing production techniques, with a possible slowing initially of the production process, there is no reason to believe that these changes, once instituted, will result in significant permanent increases in the costs and time needed for the production of retreaded tires.

Finally, you cite figures showing what you claim is an abnormally high number of retreaded tire manufacturers who have gone out of business in the past year, and ask, "How many more will be lost before we get reasonable and practical and understandable regulations?" We understand your concern for retreading companies that have gone out of business. But since Standard No. 117 has not yet become effective, these closings are obviously not the result of NHTSA regulations.

ID: nht72-3.20

DATE: 12/01/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Trailer Coach Association

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in further reply to your letter of August 17, 1972. We indicated in a letter to you of September 8, 1972, that we would respond to your letter when action on petitions for reconsideration of the June 21, 1972, amendment to Standard No. 205 had been completed. Notice of our action has now been published 137 F.R. 24035, November 11, 1972) and a copy is enclosed.

Based upon the November 11, 1972, notice, your conclusions regarding the requirements for certification and marketing by prime glazing material manufacturers (paragraph 3.2 of your letter) are for the most part correct. These manufacturers must mark glazing materials in accordance with Section 6 of ANS (Illegible Word). They must also certify. The certification must be made by the addition of the symbol DOT and assigned code number only when the glazing is designed as a component of any specific motor vehicle or camper. In other cases certification may be accomplished by any method meeting the requirements of section 114 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (13 U.S.C. 1403). It may not be accomplished, however, by affixing the DOT and code number.

Your conclusions regarding certification and marking requirements for persons who cut glazing material from larger sheets (paragraph 3.1 of your letter) are not entirely correct. It is true that such persons must also certify, and that the method for certification may be any that satisfies the requirements of section 114 of the Act. Affixing a label to the material is one such method. You are incorrect, however, in your conclusion that the material need not contain the markings of the prime manufacturer. Section 6 of ANS %26 requires glazing cut from larger pieces to contain the markings of the manufacturer of the larger piece. As clarified in the notice of November 11, 1972, this requirement is still applicable.

ID: nht72-3.21

DATE: 07/24/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Argo Plastic Company

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of June 27, 1972, requesting Federal "approval" for plastic glazing material you manufacture. You enclose copies of certificates showing approval by the State of California.

The NHTSA does not provide approvals for glazing materials subject to its requirements. Those requirements are found in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 205, "Glazing Materials," and apply to glazing materials for use in motor vehicles manufactured for sale to the United States. (This includes the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone, and American (Illegible Word), and not 37 States as you mentioned.)

Under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (18 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) manufacturers must use due care to ensure that products they manufacture conform to applicable standards (15 U.S.C. 1397 (a)(2)). The manufacturer must certify conformity as specified in section 114 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 1403), and in the case of Standard No. 205, as specified in the standard. The NHTSA does not approve manufacturers' products or their certification, but monitors compliance with the standards by purchasing materials on the open market, and testing them to the requirements of the standard. The failure of materials to conform can result in the imposition of civil penalties against the manufacturer, and other sanctions (15 U.S.C. 1398, 1399).

A copy of Standard No. 205 and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act are enclosed for your information.

Enclosures

ID: nht72-3.22

DATE: 11/15/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Philips Industries Inc.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of October 5, 1972, concerning the manufacture of storm windows for use in recreational vehicles. You refer to our letter to Mr. Bob Sanders of your company (our records show the date of the letter to be July 5) in which we outlined the requirements for glazing materials used in various locations in recreational vehicles, and ask whether storm windows used in these locations must meet the same requirements.

The answer is yes. Storm windows for use in motor vehicles must meet the same requirements as other glazing materials, according to their location in the vehicle.

I have enclosed a copy of our Response to Petitions for reconsideration concerning the latest amendment to Standard No. 205.

ID: nht72-3.23

DATE: 07/28/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Resources Applications, Designs & Control, Incorporated

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of July 21, 1972 requesting a determination as to the applicability of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 206, Door Locks and Door Retention Components, to (Illegible Words) equipment manufactured for installation on truck tractors.

An amendment to Standard No. 206 was issued in January 1972 (37 F.R. 284), which stated that the requirements of the Standard are applicable to any side door leading directly into a passenger compartment containing one or more seating accommodations.

From the information and photographs you provided, it appears that although the (Illegible Words) equipment is a passenger compartment, it is designed as a completely separate unit not containing any seating accommodations, and would therefore be exempt from the requirements of Standard No. 206.

It should be noted, however, that is not sleeper berth equipment is installed in such a way that it is (Illegible Word) to the truck cab and can be (Illegible Word) by the driver from within the cab, than any side doors on the sleeper berth equipment would be side door leading into a passenger compartment (the cab) containing seating accommodation and they would have to meet the requirements of the Standard.

For your information, I am enclosing a copy of this (Illegible Words) to Standard No. 206.

ID: nht72-3.24

DATE: 07/25/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: 5-J Manufacturing

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of June 20, 1972, requesting copies of Department of Transportation requirements regarding the manufacture of small boats, truck camper shells, camping trailers, and boat trailers. The NHTSA does have requirements regarding some of these components. All truck campers are required to conform to Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 205, "Glazing Materials," while those campers designed for mounting on incomplete vehicles (as distinguished from those mounted on pick-up trucks) that are manufactured after September 1, 1972, must conform to Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 206, "Door Locks and Door Retention Components." Camping and boat trailers must conform to Standard No. 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment." In addition, manufacturers of these products (campers, trailers, etc.) must certify that their products conform to the standards in the manner set forth in the Certification regulations (49 CFR Parts 567, 568). Information on how to obtain copies of NHTSA requirements is enclosed.

We have referred your request for rules and regulations regarding the manufacture of small boats to the United States Coast Guard, and have requested that they respond directly to you.

ID: nht72-3.25

DATE: 06/30/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Harold Schlintz & Associates

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of June 8, 1972, to Robert L. Carter, as to whether Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 206 is applicable to a White "Freightliner" which was manufactured on or about December 1, 1970.

The White Freightliner, as illustrated in the picture you enclosed, is a truck tractor, and is classified as a "truck" under the motor vehicle safety standards. Standard No. 206 became applicable to trucks on January 1, 1972, and would not therefore apply to this truck. No other standards are applicable to the doors or door latches of this vehicle.

The standards do not apply to a vehicle after its first sale to a consumer (a used vehicle), and we exemption from the standards is necessary.

ID: nht72-3.26

DATE: 07/17/72

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Mercury Fabricators

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of June 20, 1972, in which you ask whether Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Nos. 206 (Door Locks and Door Retention Components) and 302 (Flammability of Interior Materials) apply to aluminum sleeper cabs which you manufacture for what appears to be installation on truck tractors.

Each motor vehicle safety standard is by its terms applicable to specific types of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment. Each vehicle or item of equipment to which a standard applies must conform to the standard until its first purchase by a user. Components which are incorporated into vehicles before their first purchase are considered to be part of the vehicle, and as a practical matter must conform to all standards applicable to it.

Standard No. 302 becomes effective September 1, 1972, and applies to trucks, which includes truck tractors. If a sleeper cab you manufacture is incorporated into a truck before its first purchase by a user, then it must conform to the standard. Moreover, the components to which the standard applies (paragraph S4.1) include mattress covers, and if you determine the standard applies under the criteria we have provided, mattress covers which you furnish must conform to the standard. You indicate you have tested the flammability of the cab utilizing a torch. While you may test for conformity to the standard in any way you choose, whether or not your product conforms to the standard will be determined by NHTSA utilizing the test procedures specified in the standard. Manufacturers who utilize procedures different from those in the standard should take care to correlate the results they obtained to those that would be obtained using the standard's procedures.

Standard No. 206 also applies to trucks, and will become effective for all side doors leading to passenger compartments on September 1, 1972. Consequently, if the sleeper cabs you manufacture are incorporated into trucks before their first purchase the sleeper cabs must conform to Standard No. 206

Enclosures