Motor vehicle safety standards: Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment— Light emitting diodes and miniature halogen bulbs,

[Federal Register: August 3, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 148)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 41222]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr03au98-22]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA 98-3967; Notice 2]

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

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Extension of comment period for a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).

SUMMARY: This document extends the comment period on an NPRM concerning a petition from Reitter & Schefenacker GmbH & Co. KG. to amend the agency's lighting standard. The petition asks that the standard be amended to relieve design restrictions that may inadvertently prevent the implementation of certain new-technology light sources in motor vehicle signal lamps. In the NPRM, the agency sought comments on adding requirements reflecting Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) specifications for measurement of photometrics in taillamps and in certain stop and turn signal lamps with more than one lighted section. In response to a petition from the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA), the agency is extending the comment period from August 10, 1998 to October 9, 1998. The reason for the extension is to give commenters sufficient time to review new information that has come to light since the NPRM was published.

DATES: Comments on Docket No. NHTSA 98-3967; Notice 1 must be received by October 9, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to the docket number and notice number, and be submitted to: Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590 (Docket hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Flanigan, Office of Safety Performance Standards (202-366-4918).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 24, 1998, NHTSA published in the Federal Register (63 FR 34350) an NPRM concerning a petition from Reitter & Schefenacker GmbH & Co. KG. The petitioner requested the agency amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, ``Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment,'' to relieve design restrictions that may inadvertently prevent the implementation of certain new-technology light sources in motor vehicle lamps. The petition was submitted to relieve design restrictions that may inadvertently prevent the implementation of certain new-technology light sources. These new lamp technologies include light-emitting diodes (LEDs), miniature halogen bulbs, and other light sources with a limited luminous flux. Because the requirements contained in FMVSS No. 108 for signal lamps are based on SAE Standards and Recommended Practices that were developed many years before LEDs, when incandescent bulbs were the only light sources in use at that time, the standard does not take into account the characteristics of these new-technology light sources.

On July 23, 1998, AAMA petitioned for an extension of the comment period. AAMA noted that new information has recently been published which should be thoroughly considered before offering comment on the NPRM. Namely, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute published a report in June 1998 entitled ``Photometric Requirements for Signal Lamps Using Innovative Light Sources: Updating Requirements Based on Lighted Sections'' (UMTRI-98-19). The opportunity to examine the views expressed in this report should be given to those who will comment on the NPRM.

After considering the arguments raised by AAMA, NHTSA has decided that it is in the public interest to grant the petitioner's request.

(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117, and 30166; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50)

Issued on: July 29, 1998. L. Robert Shelton, Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 98-20630Filed7-31-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910-59-P