Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; School Bus Body Joint Strength

On November 5, 1998, NHTSA published a final rule that amended Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 221, School Bus Body Joint Strength, with an effective date of May 5, 2000 for those amendments. The amendments extended the applicability of that standard to small school buses, narrowed the exclusion of maintenance access panels from the joint strength requirements, and made other changes to the standard. We delayed the effective date on two occasions, so that we would have time to analyze petitions for reconsideration. First, in a final rule published on March 6, 2000, we delayed the effective date to May 5, 2001, and corrected a typographical error. Second, in a final rule published on April 20, 2001, we delayed the effective date to June 1, 2002. We have now completed our analysis of the petitions, and are taking the following actions: making it clearer that the standard applies to small, curved and complex joints; excluding joints that are forward of the passenger component; and making various other changes to the standard. For purposes of clarity, we are withdrawing the earlier amendments, and are republishing them today as modified by the changes we decided to make in response to the petitions for reconsideration. The amendments will become effective on January 1, 2003.