Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Compressed Natural Gas Fuel Container Integrity

This final rule amends the visual inspection labeling requirement in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 304, "Compressed natural gas fuel container integrity," by modifying the periodic inspection interval for compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel containers installed on vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds). The inspection interval for these vehicles is modified from the currently-specified interval, "at least every 36 months or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first," to "at least every 12 months." For commercial operators of CNG heavy vehicles that often travel 100,000 miles per year or more, this change will eliminate the need to perform unnecessary multiple visual inspections of their vehicles' CNG fuel containers per year. NHTSA believes this final rule is equally protective of safety as the cadence of inspection required by the current rule. This rulemaking commenced in response to petitions for rulemaking from the American Trucking Associations and Natural Gas Vehicles for America.