ODI WAS PETITIONED TO REOPEN ITS INVESTIGATION OF TREAD SEPARATION IN FIRESTONE STEELTEX TIRES (PE00-040) ON THE BASIS THAT IT WAS CLOSED PREMATURELY; THAT EVIDENCE STRONGLY INDICATES THE PRESENCE OF A DEFECT TREND; AND THAT ALL STEELTEX TIRES CONTAIN A DEFECT THAT COULD LEAD TO TREAD SEPARATION WHILE DRIVING.ODI?S ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT IT IS UNLIKELY THAT NHTSA WOULD ISSUE AN ORDER FOR THE NOTIFICATION AND REMEDY OF A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT IN THE SUBJECT STEELTEX TIRES AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE INVESTIGATION REQUESTED IN THE PETITION.THE STATISTICS CONCERNING THE PERFORMANCE OF THESE TIRES HAVE CHANGED LITTLE SINCE THE CLOSING OF PE00-040 AND NO SPECIFIC DEFECT TREND HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED.FURTHER EXPENDITURE OF ODI RESOURCES ON THIS MATTER IS NOT JUSTIFIED AT THIS TIME.ODI WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PERFORMANCE OF THESE TIRES FOR ANY SIGNS THAT A DEFECT TREND MAY BE DEVELOPING.