49 U.S.C. § 30123: Tires

In this subsection, “regrooved tire” means a tire with a new tread produced by cutting into the tread of a worn tire. The Secretary may authorize the sale, offer for sale, introduction for sale, or delivery for introduction in interstate commerce, of a regrooved tire or a motor vehicle equipped with regrooved tires if the Secretary decides the tires are designed and made in a way consistent with section 30101 of this title . A person may not sell, offer for sale, introduce for sale, or deliver for introduction in interstate commerce, a regrooved tire or a vehicle equipped with regrooved tires unless authorized by the Secretary. The Secretary shall prescribe through standards a uniform quality grading system for motor vehicle tires to help consumers make an informed choice when purchasing tires. The Secretary also shall cooperate with industry and the Federal Trade Commission to the greatest extent practicable to eliminate deceptive and confusing tire nomenclature and marketing practices. A tire standard or regulation prescribed under this chapter supersedes an order or administrative interpretation of the Commission. The Secretary shall require a motor vehicle to be equipped with tires that meet maximum load standards when the vehicle is loaded with a reasonable amount of luggage and the total number of passengers the vehicle is designed to carry. The vehicle shall be equipped with those tires by the manufacturer or by the first purchaser when the vehicle is first bought in good faith other than for resale. updates the standards pertaining to tire pressure monitoring systems to ensure that a tire pressure monitoring system that is installed in a new motor vehicle after the effective date of such updated standards cannot be overridden, reset, or recalibrated in such a way that the system will no longer detect when the inflation pressure in one or more of the vehicle’s tires has fallen to or below a significantly underinflated pressure level; and does not contain any provision that has the effect of prohibiting the availability of direct or indirect tire pressure monitoring systems that meet the requirements of the standards updated pursuant to paragraph (1). the repositioning of tire sensor locations on vehicles with split inflation pressure recommendations; tire rotation; or replacement tires or wheels of a different size than the original equipment tires or wheels; and to address the accommodations described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1), ensures that a tire pressure monitoring system that is reset or recalibrated according to the manufacturer’s instructions would illuminate the low tire pressure warning telltale when a tire is significantly underinflated until the tire is no longer significantly underinflated. below the level at which the low tire pressure warning telltale must illuminate, consistent with the TPMS detection requirements contained in S4.2(a) of section 571.138 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, or any corresponding similar or successor regulation or ruling (as determined by the Secretary); and in the case of a replacement wheel or tire, below the recommended cold inflation pressure of the wheel or tire manufacturer.”