Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. 95-72, Notice 2]

RIN 2127-AF75

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Lamps, Reflective Devices

and Associated Equipment

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Extension of Comment Period for a Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document grants three requests to extend the comment

period on an agency proposal to amend the geometric visibility

requirements of signal lamps and the rear side marker color, both

contained Standard No. 108, Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated

Equipment. The goal of the proposed amendment is to assist

international efforts to harmonize the lighting requirements of

continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States. A

lengthy extension of the comment period is desirable because a large

number of governmental and industry parties require time to achieve

internal consensus on the usefulness of the NHTSA proposal. The comment

closing date is changed from December 26, 1995 to May 16, 1996.

DATES: Comments on docket 95-72, Notice 1 must be received on or before

May 16, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to the Docket No. 95-72, Notice 1 and

be submitted to: Docket Section, room 5109, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20590 (Docket hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rich Van Iderstine, Office of Safety

Performance Safety Standards, NHTSA, telephone (202) 366-5280, FAX

(202) 366- 4329. Please note that written comments should be sent to

the Docket Section rather than faxed to the above contact person.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA's proposal responded to a petition

from the Groupe Travail de Bruxelles 1952 (GTB). GTB is composed of

vehicle and lamp manufacturers from Europe, Japan and the United

States. GTB is an advisory group for the two organizations operating

under the United Nations' Economic Commission for Europe that are

involved in establishing motor vehicle lighting standards: The Meeting

of Experts on Lighting and Light Signaling (GRE) and the Working Party

on the Construction of Motor Vehicles (WP29). GTB requested the

extension of the comment period, and an extension was supported by

similar requests from the American Automobile Manufacturers Association

(AAMA) and the Chairman of GRE, Mr. G.J.M. Meekel.

In its comment period extension request, GTB explained the process

it was pursuing in its quest for harmonization. GTB submitted its

petition to NHTSA concurrently with its proposal to GRE for amendments

of the European regulations. NHTSA proposed some of the suggestions in

the GTB petition but not others. GTB believes that NHTSA's response has

greatly complicated its dealings with several European countries and

Japan. Therefore, according to GTB, arriving at a constructive response

to NHTSA's NPRM will not be a trivial matter. AAMA cited that a special

meeting of GTB to discuss these issues was not scheduled until December

20, 1995 and that any recommendations developed at this meeting could

not be acted upon by GRE until its Spring meeting. Mr. Meekel also

mentioned GRE's early Spring meeting and the desire for discussions

there and submission of comments resulting from that meeting.

It is NHTSA's general policy to deny requests for comment period

extensions based on the timing of formal meetings of interested

associations. Modern communication technology provides many rapid ways

(e.g., fax, teleconferencing, e- mail, etc.) for associations to

communicate with members and reach consensus. However, NHTSA believes

that GTB's desire for an extension is motivated by more than the mere

mechanics of international communication. NHTSA's proposal did not

provide GTB with the easiest path to harmonization. NHTSA understands

the difficulty of finding a signal lamp harmonization solution that

would benefit U.S. and international vehicle manufacturers while

satisfying the concerns of the various regulatory bodies. NHTSA agrees

that this first step toward lighting harmonization may be unusually

time-consuming if it is to be productive.

The agency wants to elevate international harmonization among its

priorities. However, it views a seven month comment period for this

notice as a special circumstance and not a precedent for future

rulemaking actions regarding harmonization.

After reviewing the situation, NHTSA agrees with the petitioners

that additional time is desirable so that GTB may determine the level

of flexibility on the part of European authorities for signal lighting

harmonization. Accordingly, the agency believes that there is good

cause for the extension and that the extension is consistent with the

public interest. Based on the above considerations, the agency has

decided to extend the comment period until May 16, 1996.

Issued on: December 19, 1995.

Barry Felrice,

Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 95-31294 Filed 12-26-95; 8:45 am]

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