Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard; Air Brake Systems

This document extends for six months a requirement that trailers with antilock brake systems be equipped with an external antilock malfunction indicator lamp. This requirement, which is included in the Federal motor vehicle safety standard that governs vehicles equipped with air brakes, is currently scheduled to sunset on March 1, 2009. As a result of this interim final rule, the sunset date is September 1, 2009. We are taking this action in connection with our consideration of a petition for rulemaking from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) requesting that the requirement be made permanent. In a separate document, we are proposing a further extension of the requirement, to March 1, 2011. This interim final rule prevents the occurrence of a potential time gap for the vehicles that are subject to the requirement, should the agency ultimately decide to further extend the time period.