Published in the July 2019 issue of North American Government News (formerly Washington Update)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in response to petitions for rulemaking from the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and the Natural Gas Vehicles for America (NGVAmerica). NHTSA is proposing to amend the visual inspection labeling requirement in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 304, "Compressed natural gas fuel container integrity. The NPRM proposes to state CNG fuel containers used on heavy vehicles should be inspected at least once every 12 months. NHTSA is proposing this change because CNG heavy vehicles are typically used in high-mileage commercial fleet operations and following the current mileage-based inspection interval on the label means conducting multiple visual inspections per year. NHTSA has tentatively concluded multiple visual inspections per year based solely on mileage would not improve vehicle safety for these high-mileage CNG heavy vehicles, and could potentially reduce safety. Because the current periodic visual inspection interval is intended for light vehicles and is consistent with the operation of these vehicles, no change is proposed to the periodic visual inspection interval for CNG fuel containers on light vehicles. Comments must be received on or before August 20, 2019. Agency Contact: Ian MacIntire, Office of Crashworthiness Standards 202-493-0248.
PUBLISHED: 6/21/2019; ACTION: NPRM; REFERENCE: 84 FR 29145; REG: 49 CFR Part 571.304.
View full text of this article
Learn more about NTEA member benefits at ntea.com/memberbenefits.