NHTSA won't appeal tire monitoring rule reversal
WASHINGTON-The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration won't appeal a court order reversing the agency's final rule mandating onboard tire pressure monitoring systems on vehicles, according to an agency source.
A New York federal appeals court, which remanded the case back to a lower court Aug. 7, agreed with Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety that the NHTSA rule on tire-pressure monitoring was "arbitrary and capricious" and insufficient to protect motorists from severe tire underinflation. The original NHTSA proposal favored the direct-monitoring systems the consumer groups advocate, but the Office of Management and Budget refused to sign off on the standard unless NHTSA rewrote it to promote the use of indirect-monitoring systems used in tandem with anti-lock brakes.
Dealers seek changes in N.Y. scrap tire law
FARMINGDALE, N.Y-New York tire dealers are unhappy with the state's new scrap tire law and trying with the help of the Tire Industry Association to create an alternative for the state legislature to consider.
The new law, which went into effect Sept. 12, forces New York tire retailers to include the new $2.50-per-tire disposal fee in the price of the tire without listing it separately, thus putting them at an apparent price disadvantage with tire dealers in neighboring states. Also, according to TIA and the New York Tire Dealers Association, the 25 cents per tire that dealers are allowed to keep from the fee doesn't begin to cover the costs of recycling a scrap tire.
A spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers Association said his organization will work with TIA and the tire dealers to draft a proposal for an alternative program, but added it might not be ready in time for introduction in the current legislative session.