Agency Information Collection Request Under OMB Review; Request for Comments, 21405-21410 [2019-09849]

Agencies

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 93 (Tuesday, May 14, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21405-21410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09849]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2018-0063]


Agency Information Collection Request Under OMB Review; Request 
for Comments

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted 
below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review and comment. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting comments on the following information collection was 
published May 16, 2018. The agency did not receive any comments.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 13, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the burden estimate, including 
suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Office of the Secretary of 
Transportation, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cristina Echemendia, Office of 
Crashworthiness Standards, NRM-130, 202-366-6345, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, Room W43-447, Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Please 
identify the relevant collection of information by referring to its OMB 
Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Before a Federal agency can collect certain 
information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB). In compliance with those requirements, 
this notice announces the following information collection request has 
been forwarded to OMB.
    NHTSA published a Federal Register notice requesting public comment 
on this information collection.\1\ No comments were received.
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    \1\ 83 FR22744 (May 16, 2018).
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    The following describes the collection of information for which 
NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval. It is titled ``Consolidated Child 
Restraint System Registration, Labeling and Defect Notifications.'' 
(OMB Control Number: 2127-0576). NHTSA's information collection for 
child restraint systems expired April 30, 2018; therefore, this request 
is a reinstatement of a previously approved collection of information.
    Title: Consolidated Child Restraint System Registration, Labeling 
and Defect Notifications.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0576.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement of a previously approved collection 
of information.
    Abstract: The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, now 
codified at 49 U.S.C. 30111, authorizes the issuance of Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Moreover, under 49 U.S.C. 30117, the 
Secretary is also authorized to require manufacturers to provide 
information to first purchasers of motor vehicles or motor vehicle 
equipment when the vehicle equipment is purchased, in the form of 
printed matter placed in the vehicle or attached to the motor vehicle 
or motor vehicle equipment. The Secretary is authorized to issue, 
amend, and revoke such rules and regulations as he/she deems necessary.
    Child restraint manufacturers are required to provide an owner's 
registration card for purchasers of child safety seats in accordance 
with title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR), Part 571.213, 
``Child restraint systems.'' The registration card is perforated into 
two-parts (see Figures 1 and 2). The top part contains a message and 
suitable instructions to be retained by the purchaser. The bottom part 
is to be returned to the manufacturer by the purchaser. The bottom part 
includes prepaid return postage, the pre-printed name/address of the 
manufacturer, the pre-printed model and date of manufacture, and spaces 
for the purchaser to fill in his/her name and address. Optionally, 
child restraint manufacturers are permitted to add to the registration 
form: (a) Specified statements informing CRS owners that they may 
register online; (b) the internet address for registering with the 
company; (c) revisions to statements reflecting use of the internet to 
register; and (d) a space for the consumer's email address. For those 
CRS owners with access to the internet, online registration may be a 
preferred method of registering a CRS.
    In addition to the registration card supplied by the manufacturer, 
NHTSA has implemented a CRS registration system to assist those 
individuals who have either lost the registration card that came with 
the CRS or purchased a previously owned CRS. Upon the owner's request, 
NHTSA provides a substitute registration form that can be obtained 
either by mail or from the internet \2\ (see Figure 3). When the 
completed registration is returned to the agency, it is then submitted 
to CRS manufacturers. In the absence of a substitute registration 
system, many owners of child passenger safety seats, especially any 
second-hand owners, might not be notified of safety defects and 
noncompliances and would not have the defects and noncompliances 
remedied.
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    \2\ https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/register/childseat/csregfrm.pdf.
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    Child seat owner registration information is retained in the event 
owners need to be contacted for defect recalls or replacement 
campaigns. Chapter 301 of title 49 of the United States Code specifies 
that if either NHTSA or a manufacturer determines that motor vehicles 
or items of motor vehicle equipment contain a defect that relates to 
motor vehicle safety or fails to comply with an applicable Federal

[[Page 21406]]

motor vehicle safety standard, the manufacturer must notify owners and 
purchasers of the defect or noncompliance and must provide a remedy 
without charge. In title 49 of the CFR, part 577, defect and 
noncompliance notification for equipment items, including child 
restraint systems, must be sent by first class mail to the most recent 
purchaser known to the manufacturer.
    Child restraint manufacturers are also required to provide a 
printed instructions brochure with step-by-step information on how the 
restraint is to be used. Without proper use, the effectiveness of these 
systems is greatly diminished. Each child restraint system must also 
have a permanent label. A permanently attached label gives ``quick 
look'' information on whether the restraint meets the safety 
requirements, recommended installation and use, and warnings against 
misuse. CRSs equipped with internal harnesses to restrain the child and 
with components to attach to a child restraint anchorage system are 
also required to be labeled with a child weight limit for using the 
lower anchors to attach the child restraint to the vehicle. The child 
weight limit depends on the weight of the CRS.
    Affected Public: Child restraint manufacturers, individuals, and 
households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 29 CRS manufacturers and 
approximately 2,569,399 Individuals and/or Households.
    Frequency: Every certified child restraint system registered and 
some child restraint systems produced.
    Number of Responses: 2,569,399 total annual registration responses 
\3\ and 5,075,000 total annual labeling responses.
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    \3\ This is the number of registrations filled out by consumers 
and the information collection by the CRS manufacturers of those 
received registrations.
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 99,330 hours.
    The total estimated hour burden will increase from the 40,497 hours 
to 99,330 burden hours (58,833 burden hours increase). The increase in 
burden is due to the inclusion of the burden hours to consumers for 
filling out the registration form and due to an increase in CRS sales.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $2,351,374.
    The total burden hours for this collection consist of: (1) The 
hours spent by consumers filling out the registration form, (2) the 
hours spent collecting registration information, and (3) the hours 
spent determining the maximum allowable child weight for lower anchor 
use and adding the information to the existing label and instruction 
manual.
    NHTSA estimates 14,500,000 CRSs are currently sold each year by 29 
CRS manufacturers. Of the CRSs sold each year, NHTSA estimates 
2,147,504 are registered using registration cards and 421,895 are 
registered online. A consumer spends approximately 60 seconds filling 
out the registration form. The estimated annual number of burden hours 
for consumers to fill out the registration form is 42,823 hours (= 
2,569,399 x (60 seconds/3,600 seconds/hour)). Manufacturers must spend 
about 90 seconds to enter the information from each returned 
registration card; while, online registrations are considered to have 
no burden for the manufacturer, as the information is entered by the 
purchaser. Therefore, the estimated annual number of burden hours for 
CRS registration information collection is 53,688 hours (= 2,147,504 x 
(90 seconds/3,600 seconds/hour)).
    About 10,150,000 of the CRSs sold each year are equipped with 
internal harnesses. About half of the CRSs equipped with internal 
harnesses sold annually (5,075,000 = 10,150,000 x 0.5) would require a 
label with the maximum allowable child weight for using the lower 
anchors. Manufacturers must spend about two seconds to determine the 
maximum allowable child weight for lower anchor use and to add the 
information to the existing label and instruction manual. Therefore, 
the total annual burden hours for the information on the maximum 
allowable child weight in the existing label and instruction manual is 
2,819 hours (= 5,075,000 x (2 seconds/3,600 seconds/hour)).
    The estimated total annual number of burden hours is 99,330 (= 
42,823 + 53,688 + 2,819) hours. The total estimated hour burden 
increased from 40,497 hours in the 2015 information collection notice 
to 99,330 burden hours (a 58,833 burden hour increase). The increase in 
burden is due to the inclusion of the burden hours to consumers for 
filling the registration form and due to an increase in CRS sales. In 
2015, NHTSA estimated approximately 10,600,000 CRSs are sold each year 
while NHTSA's estimate in 2018 increased to 14,500,000 CRSs.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspects of 
this information collection, including: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Department, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate 
of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

    Authority:  The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35.

    Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 
1.95 and 501.8.
Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
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[FR Doc. 2019-09849 Filed 5-13-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-C