49 C.F.R. § 575.106
(d) Definitions.
(2) As used in this section:
Brand name owner means a person, other than a tire manufacturer, who owns or has the right to control the brand name of a tire or a person who licenses another to purchase tires from a tire manufacturer bearing the licensor's brand name.
CT means a pneumatic tire with an inverted flange tire and rim system in which the rim is designed with rim flanges pointed radially inward and the tire is designed to fit on the underside of the rim in a manner that encloses the rim flanges inside the air cavity of the tire.
Dealer means a person selling and distributing new motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment primarily to purchasers that in good faith purchase the vehicle or equipment other than for resale.
Distributor means a person primarily selling and distributing motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment for resale.
Lab alignment tires or LATs means the reference tires which the reference lab will test to be used to align other rolling resistance machines with the reference lab in accordance with the machine alignment procedure in ISO 28580 (incorporated by reference, see § 575.3), section 10.
Light truck (LT) tire means a tire designated by its manufacturer as primarily intended for use on lightweight trucks or multipurpose passenger vehicles.
Manufacturer means a person manufacturing or assembling motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment, or importing motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment for resale. This term includes any parent corporation, any subsidiary or affiliate, and any subsidiary or affiliate of a parent corporation of such a person.
Passenger car tire means a tire intended for use on passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and trucks, that have a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,000 pounds or less.
Reference lab means the laboratory or laboratories that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration designates and which maintains and operates a rolling resistance test machine to test LATs for rolling resistance so that other testing laboratories may correlate the results from its rolling resistance test machine in accordance with the machine alignment procedure in ISO 28580 (incorporated by reference, see § 575.3), section 10.
Replacement passenger car tire means any passenger car tire offered for sale to consumers, other than a passenger car tire sold as original equipment on a new vehicle.
Size designation means the alpha-numeric designation assigned by a manufacturer that identifies a tire's size. This can include identifications of tire class, nominal width, aspect ratio, tire construction, and wheel diameter.
Stock keeping unit or SKU means the alpha-numeric designation assigned by a manufacturer to uniquely identify a tire product. This term is sometimes referred to as a product code, a product identifier, or a part number.
Tire line means the entire name used by a tire manufacturer to designate a tire product including all prefixes and suffixes as they appear on the sidewall of a tire.
Tire retailer means a dealer or distributor of new replacement passenger car tires sold for use on passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and trucks, that have a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,000 pounds or less.
(e) Requirements—(1) Information—(i) Requirements for tire manufacturers. Subject to paragraph (e)(1)(iii) of this section, each manufacturer of tires, or in the case of tires marketed under a brand name, each brand name owner shall provide rating information for each tire of which it is the manufacturer or brand name owner in the manner set forth in paragraphs (e)(1)(i)(A) through (C) of this section. The ratings for each tire shall be only those specified in paragraph (e)(2) of this section. For the purposes of this section, each tire of a different SKU is to be rated separately. Each tire shall be able to achieve the level of performance represented by each rating.
(C) Reporting requirements. The information collection requirements contained in this section have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and are awaiting an assigned OMB Control Number.
(1) Subject to paragraph (e)(1)(iii) of this section, manufacturers of tires or, in the case of tires marketed under a brand name, brand name owners of tires subject to this section shall submit to NHTSA, either directly or through an agent, the following data for each rated replacement passenger car tire:
(i) Manufacturer or Brand name owner.
(ii) Tire line.
(iii) SKU.
(iv) Tire size.
(v) Rolling resistance rating, as determined in paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section.
(vi) Wet traction rating, as determined in paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this section.
(vii) Treadwear rating, as determined in paragraph (e)(2)(iii) of this section.
(2) Format of data submitted. The information required under paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(1) of this section may be submitted to NHTSA by mail, by facsimile, or by email. Submissions by mail must be addressed to the Associate Administrator for Rulemaking, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Attention: Consumer Standards Division (NVS-131), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Submissions by facsimile must be addressed to the Associate Administrator for Rulemaking and transmitted to (202) 366-7002. Submissions by email must be sent to TFE.Reports@dot.gov.
(3) Exempted tires.
(i) Each manufacturer of tires or, in the case of tires marketed under a brand name, brand name owner of tires subject to this section shall submit to NHTSA all tire lines, size designations, and stock keeping units for deep tread, winter-type snow tires and limited production tires that it manufactures which are exempt from this section (§ 575.106) under paragraph (c) of this section.
(ii) Where a manufacturer or brand name owner is required to report ratings under this section, the information required in paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(3)(i) of this section may be submitted with the ratings information reported in accordance with paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(1) of this section.
(iii) Where a tire manufacturer or, in the case of tires marketed under a brand name, brand name owner only manufactures tires that are exempt from this section under paragraph (c) of this section, that manufacturer or brand name owner shall submit a statement listing the information specified in paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(3)(i) of this section and certifying that none of the tires it manufactures are required to be rated under this section.
(4) New ratings information.
(i) Whenever a tire manufacturer or, in the case of tires marketed under a brand name, a brand name owner introduces a new tire for sale, the tire manufacturer or brand name owner shall submit either the information required under paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(1) of this section or the information required under paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(3) of this section for the tire to NHTSA on or before the date 30 calendar days before the tire is first introduced for sale.
(ii) Whenever a tire manufacturer or, in the case of tires marketed under a brand name, a brand name owner makes a design change to a tire that would result in new or different information required under either paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(1) or paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(3) of this section for the tire, the tire manufacturer or brand name owner shall submit the new or different information to NHTSA on or before the date 30 calendar days before the redesigned tire is first introduced for sale.
(iii) Whenever a tire manufacturer or, in the case of tires marketed under a brand name, a brand name owner receives information that would determine new or different information required under either paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(1) or paragraph (e)(1)(i)(C)(3) of this section for a tire, the tire manufacturer or brand name owner shall submit the new or different information to NHTSA on or before the date 120 calendar days after the receipt of the new information by the tire 26manufacturer or brand name owner.
(5) Voluntary submission of data. Manufacturers of tires or, in the case of tires marketed under a brand name, brand name owners of tires not subject to this section may submit to NHTSA data meeting the requirements of paragraphs (e)(1) and (2) of this section for any tire they wish to have included in the database of information available to consumers on NHTSA's Web site.
(f) Fuel efficiency rating conditions and procedures—(1) Conditions.
(v) Break-in procedure for bias ply tires. Before starting the rolling resistance testing under the test procedure specified in paragraph (f)(2) of this section on a bias ply replacement passenger car tire, the tire shall be broken in by running it for one (1) hour with the speed, loading, and inflation pressure as specified in paragraphs (f)(1)(v)(A), (f)(1)(v)(B), and (f)(1)(v)(C) of this section. After the one hour break-in, allow the tire to cool for two (2) hours and re-adjust to the required ISO 28580 (incorporated by reference, see § 575.3) test inflation pressure, and verify 10 minutes after the adjustment is made. After break-in, the bias ply tire should follow the 30 minute warm-up procedure of ISO 28580 (incorporated by reference, see § 575.3).
(g) Traction rating conditions and procedures.
(1) Conditions. Test conditions are as specified in § 575.104(f)(1), subject to the changes in paragraphs (g)(1)(i) through (g)(1)(iii) of this section to additionally measure the peak coefficient of friction.
(2) Procedure.
[75 FR 15944, Mar. 30, 2010, as amended at 76 FR 79121, Dec. 21, 2011]