[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 5]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR573.6]

[Page 871-872]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                            OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 573--DEFECT AND NONCOMPLIANCE RESPONSIBILITY AND REPORTS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 573.6  Defect and noncompliance information report.

    (a) Each manufacturer shall furnish a report to the NHTSA for each 
defect in his vehicles or in his items of original or replacement 
equipment that he or the Administrator determines to be related to motor 
vehicle safety, and for each noncompliance with a motor vehicle safety 
standard in such vehicles or items of equipment which either he or the 
Administrator determines to exist.
    (b) Each report shall be submitted not more than 5 working days 
after a defect in a vehicle or item of equipment has been determined to 
be safety related, or a noncompliance with a motor vehicle safety 
standard has been determined to exist. Information required by paragraph 
(c) of this section that is not available within that period shall be 
submitted as it becomes available. Each manufacturer submitting new 
information relative to a previously submitted report shall refer to the 
notification campaign number when a number has been assigned by the 
NHTSA.
    (c) Each manufacturer shall include in each report the information 
specified below.
    (1) The manufacturer's name: The full corporate or individual name 
of the fabricating manufacturer and any brand name or trademark owner of 
the vehicle or item of equipment shall be spelled out, except that such 
abbreviations as ``Co.'' or ``Inc.'', and their foreign equivalents, and 
the first and middle initials of individuals, may be used. In the case 
of a defect or noncompliance decided to exist in an imported vehicle or 
item of equipment, the agency designated by the fabricating manufacturer 
pursuant to 49 U.S.C. section 30164(a) shall be also stated. If the 
fabricating manufacturer is a corporation that is controlled by another 
corporation that assumes responsibility for compliance with all 
requirements of this part the name of the controlling corporation may be 
used.
    (2) Identification of the vehicles or items of motor vehicle 
equipment potentially containing the defect or noncompliance, including 
a description of the manufacturer's basis for its determination of the 
recall population and a description of how the vehicles or items of 
equipment to be recalled differ from similar vehicles or items of 
equipment that the manufacturer has not included in the recall.
    (i) In the case of passenger cars, the identification shall be by 
the make, line, model year, the inclusive dates (month and year) of 
manufacture, and any other information necessary to describe the 
vehicles.
    (ii) In the case of vehicles other than passenger cars, the 
identification shall be by body style or type, inclusive dates (month 
and year) of manufacture and any other information necessary to describe 
the vehicles, such as GVWR or class for trucks, displacement (cc) for 
motorcycles, and number of passengers for buses.
    (iii) In the case of items of motor vehicle equipment, the 
identification shall be by the generic name of the component (tires, 
child seating systems, axles, etc.), part number, size and function if 
applicable, the inclusive dates (month and year) of manufacture if 
available and any other information necessary to describe the items.
    (iv) In the case of motor vehicles or items of motor vehicle 
equipment in which the component that contains the defect or 
noncompliance was manufactured by a different manufacturer from the 
reporting manufacturer, the reporting manufacturer shall identify the 
component and the manufacturer of the component by name, business 
address, and business telephone number. If the reporting manufacturer 
does not know the identity of the manufacturer of the component, it 
shall identify the entity from which it was obtained.
    (v) In the case of items of motor vehicle equipment, the 
manufacturer of the equipment shall identify by name, business address, 
and business telephone number every manufacturer that purchases the 
defective or noncomplying component for use or installation in new motor 
vehicles or new items of motor vehicle equipment.
    (3) The total number of vehicles or items of equipment potentially 
containing the defect or noncompliance, and where available the number 
of vehicles or items of equipment in each group identified pursuant to 
paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

[[Page 872]]

    (4) The percentage of vehicles or items of equipment specified 
pursuant to paragraph (c)(2) of this section estimated to actually 
contain the defect or noncompliance.
    (5) A description of the defect or noncompliance, including both a 
brief summary and a detailed description, with graphic aids as 
necessary, of the nature and physical location (if applicable) of the 
defect or noncompliance.
    (6) In the case of a defect, a chronology of all principal events 
that were the basis for the determination that the defect related to 
motor vehicle safety, including a summary of all warranty claims, field 
or service reports, and other information, with their dates of receipt.
    (7) In the case of a noncompliance, the test results or other data 
on the basis of which the manufacturer determined the existence of the 
noncompliance.
    (8)(i) A description of the manufacturer's program for remedying the 
defect or noncompliance. The manufacturer's program will be available 
for inspection in the public docket, Room 5109, Nassif Building, 400 
Seventh St., SW., Washington, DC 20590.
    (ii) The estimated date on which it will begin sending notifications 
to owners that there is a safety-related defect or noncompliance and 
that a remedy without charge will be available, and the estimated date 
on which it will have completed such notification. If a manufacturer 
subsequently becomes aware that either the beginning or the completion 
date reported to the agency will be delayed by more than two weeks, it 
shall promptly advise the agency of the delay and the reasons therefor, 
and furnish a revised estimate.
    (iii) If a manufacturer intends to file a petition for an exemption 
from the recall requirements of the Act on the basis that a defect or 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety, 
it shall notify NHTSA of that intention in its report to NHTSA of the 
defect or noncompliance under this section. If such a petition is filed 
and subsequently denied, the manufacturer shall provide the information 
required by paragraph (c)(8)(ii) of this section within five Federal 
government business days from the date the petition denial is published 
in the Federal Register.
    (iv) If a manufacturer advises NHTSA that it intends to file such a 
petition for exemption from the notification and remedy requirements on 
the grounds that the defect or noncompliance is inconsequential as it 
relates to motor vehicle safety, and does not do so within the 30-day 
period established by 49 CFR 556.4(c), the manufacturer must submit the 
information required by paragraph (c)(8)(ii) of this section no later 
than the end of that 30-day period.
    (9) A representative copy of all notices, bulletins, and other 
communications that relate directly to the defect or noncompliance and 
are sent to more than one manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or 
purchaser. These copies shall be submitted to the NHTSA not later than 5 
days after they are initially sent to manufacturers, distributors, 
dealers, or purchasers. In the case of any notification sent by the 
manufacturer pursuant to part 577 of this chapter, the copy of the 
notification shall be submitted by certified mail.
    (10) Except as authorized by the Administrator, the manufacturer 
shall submit a copy of its proposed owner notification letter to the 
Office of Defects Investigation (``ODI'') no fewer than five Federal 
government business days before it intends to begin mailing it to 
owners. Submission shall be made by any means which permits the 
manufacturer to verify promptly that the copy of the proposed letter was 
in fact received by ODI and the date it was received by ODI.
    (11) The manufacturer's campaign number, if it is not identical to 
the identification number assigned by NHTSA.

[43 FR 60169, Dec. 26, 1978, as amended at 44 FR 20437, Apr. 5, 1979; 48 
FR 44081, Sept. 27, 1983; 60 FR 17268, Apr. 5, 1995; 61 FR 278, Jan. 4, 
1996. Redesignated at 67 FR 45872, July 10, 2002]