Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for Comment; Reporting of Information and Documents About Potential Defects, 60095-60102 [2021-23248]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 207 / Friday, October 29, 2021 / Notices
www.regulations.gov under docket
number MARAD–2019–0011.
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Summary of the License Application
SPOT is proposing to construct, own,
and operate a deepwater port terminal
in the Gulf of Mexico to export
domestically produced crude oil. Use of
the deepwater port would include the
loading of various grades of crude oil at
flow rates of up to 85,000 barrels per
hour (bph). The SPOT deepwater port
would allow for up to two (2) Very
Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) or other
crude oil carriers to moor at single point
mooring (SPM) buoys and connect with
the deepwater port via floating
connecting crude oil hoses and a
floating vapor recovery hose. The
maximum frequency of loading VLCCs
or other crude oil carriers would be 2
million barrels per day, 365 days per
year.
The proposed SPOT Deepwater Port
(DWP) would be located in Federal
waters of the Gulf of Mexico, in
Galveston Area Outer Continental Shelf
lease blocks 463 and A–59,
approximately 27.2 to 30.8 nautical
miles off the coast of Brazoria County,
Texas, in water depths of approximately
115 feet. Onshore components of the
proposed Project would be located in
both Brazoria and Harris counties.
The overall project would consist of
both onshore and offshore components.
The onshore components would consist
of:
• Modifications to the existing
Enterprise Crude Houston (ECHO)
Terminal, including four electric motordriven mainline crude oil pumps, four
electric motor-driven booster crude oil
pumps, and one measurement skid to
support delivery of crude oil to the
proposed Oyster Creek Terminal;
• One 50.1-mile, 36-inch-diameter
ECHO to Oyster Creek Pipeline;
• One pipeline interconnection from
the existing Rancho II 36-inch-diameter
pipeline to the ECHO to Oyster Creek
Pipeline (Rancho II Junction);
• A new Oyster Creek Terminal on
approximately 140 acres of land,
including six electric motor-driven
mainline crude oil pumps with the
capacity to push crude oil to the
offshore pipelines at a rate of up to
85,000 bph, four electric motor-driven
booster crude oil pumps, seven
aboveground storage tanks (each with a
capacity of 685,000 barrels [600,000
barrels of working storage]) for a total
onshore storage capacity of
approximately 4.8 million barrels (4.2
million barrels working storage) of
crude oil, metering equipment, two
permanent and one portable vapor
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combustion units, and a firewater
system;
• Two collocated 12.2-mile, 36-inchdiameter Oyster Creek to Shore
Pipelines; and
• Ancillary facilities for the onshore
pipelines, including ten mainline
valves, of which six would be along the
ECHO to Oyster Creek Pipeline and four
along the Oyster Creek to Shore
Pipelines, pig launchers for the ECHO to
Oyster Creek Pipeline, and pig
launchers and receivers for the Oyster
Creek to Shore Pipelines.
The offshore and marine components
would consist of:
• Two collocated, bi-directional, 46.9mile, 36-inch-diameter crude oil
offshore pipelines for crude oil delivery
from the Oyster Creek Terminal to the
platform;
• One fixed offshore platform with
eight piles, four decks, and three vapor
combustion units;
• Two SPM buoys to concurrently
moor two VLCCs or other crude oil
carriers with capacities between 120,000
and 320,000 deadweight tonnage for
loading up to 365 days per year,
including floating crude oil and vapor
recovery hoses;
• Four pipeline end manifolds
(PLEMs)—two per SPM buoy—to
provide the interconnection between the
SPOT DWP and the SPM buoys;
• Four 0.66-nautical mile, 30-inchdiameter pipelines (two per PLEM) to
deliver crude oil from the platform to
the PLEMs;
• Four 0.66-nautical mile, 16-inch
diameter vapor recovery pipelines (two
per PLEM) to connect the VLCC or other
crude oil carrier to the three vapor
combustion units on the platform.
• Three service vessel moorings,
located in the southwest corner of
Galveston Area lease block 463; and
• An anchorage area in Galveston
Area lease block A–59, which would not
contain any infrastructure.
The purpose of this notice is to
announce the availability of the SDEIS
that was prepared to ensure meaningful
engagement of identified LEP persons in
the environmental impact review
process. Additionally, MARAD and
USCG announce a virtual public
meeting for the SDEIS.
Privacy Act
Regardless of the method used for
submitting comments or materials, all
submissions will be posted, without
change, to the https://
www.regulations.gov website and will
include any personal information you
provide. Therefore, submitting this
information to the docket makes it
public. You may wish to read the
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Privacy and Security Notice and the
User Notice that are available at https://
www.federalregister.gov/documents/
2005/03/24/05–5823/establishment-ofa-new-system-of-records-notice-for-thefederal-docket-management-system. The
Privacy Act notice regarding the Federal
Docket Management System is available
in the March 24, 2005 issue of the
Federal Register (70 FR 15086).
(Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq., 49 CFR
1.93(h)).
By Order of the Acting Maritime
Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021–23016 Filed 10–28–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–81–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
[Docket Number NHTSA–2020–0101]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Notice and Request for
Comment; Reporting of Information
and Documents About Potential
Defects
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for public
comments on a reinstatement with
modification of a previously approved
collection of information.
AGENCY:
In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), this notice announces that the
Information Collection Request (ICR)
summarized below will be submitted to
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval. The ICR
describes the nature of the information
collection and its expected burden. The
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) invites public
comments about our intention to request
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approval for an extension of a
currently approved information
collection for reporting of information
and documents about potential defects.
A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day
comment period soliciting comments on
the following information collection
was published on December 29, 2020.
No comments were received.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before November 29, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection, including
suggestions for reducing burden, should
SUMMARY:
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be submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget at
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
To find this particular information
collection, select ‘‘Currently under
Review—Open for Public Comment’’ or
use the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
additional information or access to
background documents, contact, Jeff
Quandt, Trends Analysis Division
(NEF–108), Room W48–312, National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
1200 New Jersey Ave., Washington, DC
20590. Telephone: (202) 366–5207.
Please identify the relevant collection of
information by referring to its OMB
Control Number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), a Federal
agency must receive approval from the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) before it collects certain
information from the public, and a
person is not required to respond to a
collection of information by a Federal
agency unless the collection displays a
valid OMB control number. In
compliance with these requirements,
this notice announces that the following
information collection request will be
submitted OMB.
A Federal Register notice with a 60day comment period soliciting public
comments on the following information
collection was published on December
29, 2020 (85 FR 85848). No comments
were received.
Title: Reporting of Information and
Documents about Potential Defects.
OMB Control Number: 2127–0616.
Form Number: 2020–28766.
Type of Request: Reinstatement with
modification of a previously approved
information collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Length of Approval Requested: 3 years
from date of approval.
Summary of the Collection of
Information: This notice requests
comment on NHTSA’s intention to seek
approval from OMB to reinstate with
modification a previously approved
collection of information, OMB No.
2127–0616, covering requirements in 49
CFR 579, Reporting of Information and
Communications about Potential
Defects. part 579 implements, and
addresses with more specificity,
requirements from the Transportation
Recall Enhancement, Accountability,
and Documentation (TREAD) Act (Pub.
L. 106–414), which was enacted on
November 1, 2000, and are codified at
49 U.S.C. 30166.
The purpose of part 579 is to enhance
motor vehicle safety by specifying
information and documents that
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manufacturers of motor vehicles and
motor vehicle equipment must provide
to NHTSA with respect to possible
safety-related defects and noncompliances in their products,
including the reporting of safety recalls
and other safety campaigns the
manufacturers conduct outside the
United States. Under Part 579, there are
three categories of reporting
requirements: (1) Requirements at
§ 579.5 to submit notices, bulletins,
customer satisfaction campaigns,
consumer advisories, and other
communications (found in Subpart A of
Part 579); (2) requirements at § 579.11 to
submit information related to safety
recalls and other safety campaigns in
foreign countries (found in Subpart B of
part 579); and (3) requirements at
§§ 579.21–28 to submit Early Warning
Information (found in Subpart C of part
579). The Early Warning Reporting
(EWR) requirements (49 U.S.C.
30166(m); 49 CFR part 579, subpart C)
specify that manufacturers of motor
vehicles and motor vehicle equipment
must submit to NHTSA information,
periodically or upon NHTSA’s request,
that includes specified claims for deaths
and serious injuries, property damage
data, communications from customers
and others, and other information that
assists NHTSA in identifying potential
safety-related defects. The intent of this
information collection is to provide
early warning of such potential safetyrelated defects to NHTSA.
Description of the Need for the
Information and Proposed Use of the
Information: The information required
under 49 U.S.C. 30166 and 49 CFR part
579 is used by NHTSA to promptly
identify potential safety-related defects
in motor vehicles and motor vehicle
equipment in the United States. When
a trend in incidents arising from a
potentially safety-related defect is
discovered, NHTSA relies on this
information, along with other agency
data, to determine whether to open a
defect investigation.
Affected Public: Manufacturers of
motor vehicles and motor vehicle
equipment.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
NHTSA receives Part 579 submissions
from approximately 337 manufacturers
per year. Therefore, we estimate that
there will be a total of 337 respondents
to this information collection per year.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: When this approved information
collection was last renewed in June
2017, NHTSA estimated the annual
burden associated with this collection to
be 49,243 burden hours. NHTSA is
updating these estimates to better align
with the current volume of submissions
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and to include reporting requirements
for common green tires and follow-up
sequences (per § 579.28(l)), which were
inadvertently omitted from the previous
information collection request. NHTSA
now estimates that the annual burden
hours associated with this collection are
53,810 hours.
NHTSA estimated the burdens
associated with this collection by
calculating the burden associated with
submitting information under each
subpart of Part 579. In addition to these
burdens, NHTSA also estimates that
manufacturers will incur computer
maintenance burden hours, which are
estimated on a per manufacturer basis.
Requirements Under Part 579, Subpart
A
The first component of this collection
request covers the requirements found
in Part 579 Subpart A, § 579.5, Notices,
bulletins, customer satisfaction
campaigns, consumer advisories, and
other communications. Section 579.5
requires manufactures to furnish (1) a
copy of all notices, bulletins, and other
communications sent to more than one
manufacturer, distributor, dealer, lessor,
lessee, owner, or purchaser, in the
United States, regarding any defect in its
vehicles or items of equipment
(including any failure or malfunction
beyond normal deterioration in use, or
any failure of performance, or any flaw
or unintended deviation from design
specifications), whether or not such
defect is safety-related and (2) a copy of
each communication relating to a
customer satisfaction campaign,
consumer advisory, recall, or other
safety activity involving the repair or
replacement of motor vehicles or
equipment, that the manufacturer issued
to, or made available to, more than one
dealer, distributor, lessor, lessee, other
manufacturer, owner, or purchaser, in
the United States. Manufacturers are
required to submit these documents
monthly. Section 579.5 does not require
manufacturers to create these
documents. Instead, only copies of these
documents must be submitted to
NHTSA, and manufacturers must index
these communications and email them
to NHTSA within 5 working days after
the end of the month in which they
were issued. Therefore, the burden
hours are only those associated with
collecting the documents and
submitting copies to NHTSA.
NHTSA estimates that it receives
approximately 24,884 notices a year. We
estimate that it takes about 5 minutes to
collect, index, and send each notice to
NHTSA. Therefore, we estimate that it
takes 2,074 hours for manufacturers to
submit notices as required under
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Section 579.5 (24,884 notices × 5
minutes = 124,420 minutes or 2,074
hours).
To calculate the labor cost associated
with submitting Section 579.5 notices,
bulletins, customer satisfaction
campaigns, consumer advisories and
other communications that are sent to
more than one dealer or owner, NHTSA
looked at wage estimates for the type of
personnel submitting the documents.
While some manufacturers employ
clerical staff to collect and submit the
documents, others use technical
computer support staff to complete the
task. Because we do not know what
percent of the work is completed by
clerical or technical computer support
staff, NHTSA estimates the total labor
costs associated with these burden
hours by looking at the average wage for
the higher paid technical computer
support staff. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) estimates that the
average hourly wage for Computer
Support Specialists (BLS Occupation
code 15–1230) in the Motor Vehicle
Manufacturing Industry is $31.39.1 The
Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that
private industry workers’ wages
represent 70.2% of total labor
compensation costs.2 Therefore, NHTSA
60097
estimates the hourly labor costs to be
$44.72 for Computer Support
Specialists. The labor cost per
submission is estimated to be $3.73
($44.72 × 5 minutes). NHTSA estimates
the total labor cost associated with the
2,074 burden hours for § 579.5
submissions to be $92,817.32 ($3.73 ×
24,884 submissions). Table 1 provides a
summary of the burden estimates using
the average annual submission count for
monthly reports submitted pursuant to
§ 579.5 and the estimated burden hours
and labor costs associated with those
submissions.
TABLE 1—BURDEN ESTIMATES FOR § 579.5 SUBMISSIONS
Average annual § 579.5 submissions
Estimated
burden per
submission
Average
hourly labor
cost
Labor cost per
submission
Total burden
hours
Total labor costs
24,884 ............................................................................
5 minutes
$44.72
$3.73
2,074
$92,817.32 or
$92,817
The second component of this
information collection request covers
the requirements found in Part 579
Subpart B, ‘‘Reporting of Safety Recalls
and Other Safety Campaigns in Foreign
Countries.’’ Pursuant to § 579.11,
whenever a manufacturer determines to
conduct a safety recall or other safety
campaign in a foreign country, or
whenever a foreign government has
determined that a safety recall or other
safety campaign must be conducted,
covering a motor vehicle, item of motor
vehicle equipment, or tire that is
identical or substantially similar to a
vehicle, item of equipment, or tire sold
or offered for sale in the United States,
the manufacturer must report to NHTSA
not later than 5 working days after the
manufacturer makes such determination
or receives written notification of the
foreign government’s determination.
Section 579.11(e) also requires each
manufacturer of motor vehicles to
submit, not later than November 1 of
each year, a document that identifies
foreign products and their domestic
counterparts.
In order to provide the information
required for foreign safety campaigns,
manufacturers must (1) determine
whether vehicles or equipment that are
covered by a foreign safety recall or
other safety campaign are identical or
substantially similar to vehicles or
equipment sold in the United States, (2)
prepare and submit reports of these
campaigns to the agency, and (3) where
a determination or notice has been made
in a language other than English,
translate the determination or notice
into English before transmitting it to the
agency.
NHTSA estimates that there is no
burden associated with determining
whether an individual safety recall
covers a foreign motor vehicle or item
of motor vehicle equipment that is
identical or substantially similar to
those sold in the United States because
manufacturers can simply consult the
list that they are required to submit each
year. Therefore, the only burden
associated with making the
determination of whether a foreign
safety recall or other safety campaign is
required to be reported to NHTSA is the
burden associated with creating the
annual list. NHTSA continues to
estimate that it takes approximately 9
hours per manufacturer to develop and
submit the list. The 9 hours are
comprised of 8 attorney hours and 1
hour for IT work. NHTSA receives these
lists from 101 manufacturers, on
average, resulting in 909 burden hours
(101 vehicle manufacturers × 8 hours for
attorney support = 808 hours) + (101
vehicle manufacturers × 1 hour for IT
support = 101 hours).
NHTSA estimates that preparing and
submitting each foreign defect report
(foreign recall campaign) requires 1
hour of clerical staff and that translation
of determinations into English requires
2 hours of technical staff (note: This
assumes that all foreign campaign
reports require translation, which is
unlikely). Between 2016 and 2018,
NHTSA received a yearly average of 227
foreign recall reports. NHTSA estimates
that in each of the next three years,
NHTSA will receive, on average, 227
foreign recall reports. NHTSA estimates
that each report will take 3 hours (1
hour to prepare by a clerical employee
and 2 hours for translation). Therefore,
NHTSA estimates that the burden hours
associated with submitting these reports
will be 681 hours (3 hours per report ×
227 reports).
1 May 2019 National Industry-Specific
Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates,
NAICS 336100—Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/
current/naics4_336100.htm#15-0000. Last Accessed
June 17, 2020.
2 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://
www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm. Last
Accessed July 30, 2020.
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Requirements Under Part 579, Subpart
B (Foreign Reporting)
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Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total
annual burden hours for reporting
foreign safety campaigns and
substantially similar vehicles/
equipment is 1,590 hours (909 hours for
submitting annual lists + 681 hours for
submitting foreign recall and safety
campaign reports). This is an increase of
444 burden hours from our previous
estimate (1,590 hours for current
estimate—1,146 hours for previous
estimate). Table 2 provides a summary
of the estimated burden hours for Part
579 Subpart B submissions.
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TABLE 2—BURDEN HOUR ESTIMATES FOR FOREIGN REPORTING
Annual
number of
submissions
Submission type
Total burden
hours
Burden hours per report
Foreign Recall/Safety-Related Campaign Report ........
Annual List ....................................................................
227
101
1 hour clerical + 2 hours translation = 3 hours ............
8 hours attorney + 1 hour IT = 9 hours .......................
681
909
Total .......................................................................
........................
.......................................................................................
1,590
To calculate the labor cost associated
with Part 579 foreign reporting
submissions, NHTSA looked at wage
estimates for the type of personnel
submitting the documents. As stated
above, NHTSA estimates that submitting
annual lists under § 579.11(e) will
involve 8 hours of attorney time and 1
hour of IT work. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) estimates that the
average hourly wage for Lawyers (BLS
Occupation code 23–1000) in the Motor
Vehicle Manufacturing Industry is
$95.85 3 and the average hourly wage for
Computer Support Specialists (BLS
Occupation code 15–1230) in the Motor
Vehicle Manufacturing Industry is
$31.39.4 The Bureau of Labor Statistics
estimates that private industry workers,
wages represent 70.2% of total labor
compensation costs.5 Therefore, NHTSA
estimates the hourly labor costs to be
$136.54 for Lawyers and $44.72 for
Computer Support Specialists. NHTSA
estimates the total labor cost associated
with submitting one annual list to be
$1,137.04 ($136.54 per hour × 8 attorney
hours + $44.72 per hour × 1 IT hour)
and $114,841.04 or $114,841 for all 101
annual lists NHTSA estimates will be
submitted annually.
NHTSA estimates that submitting
each foreign recall or safety campaign
report involves 1 hour of clerical work
and 2 hours of translation work. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
estimates that the average hourly wage
for Office Clerks (BLS Occupation code
43–9061) in the Motor Vehicle
Manufacturing Industry is $20.74 6 and
the average hourly wage for Interpreters
and Translators (BLS Occupation code
27–3091) is $27.40.7 The Bureau of
Labor Statistics estimates that private
industry workers’ wages represent
70.2% of total labor compensation
costs.8 Therefore, NHTSA estimates the
hourly labor costs to be $29.54 for Office
Clerks and $39.03 for Interpreters and
Translators. NHTSA estimates the total
labor cost associated with submitting
one foreign recall or safety campaign
report to be $107.60 ($29.54 per hour ×
1 Clerical hour + $39.03 per hour × 2
Translator hours) and $24,425.20 or
$24,425 for all 227 foreign recall or
safety campaign reports NHTSA
estimates will be submitted annually.
Table 3 provides a summary of the
labor costs associated with the foreign
reporting requirements in Part 579,
Subpart B. NHTSA estimates that the
total labor costs associated with the
annual list requirement and the
requirement to report foreign recalls and
safety campaigns is $139,266 ($114,841
+ $24,425).
TABLE 3—ANNUAL LABOR COST ESTIMATES FOR FOREIGN REPORTING
Hours per
submission
Submission type and labor category
Labor cost per
submission
Number of
submissions
Total labor cost
Annual List-Lawyer ..........................................................
Annual List-Computer Specialist .....................................
8
1
$136.54
44.72
$1,092.32
44.72
101
101
Totals for Annual List ...............................................
9
........................
1,137.04
........................
—Foreign Recall/Safety-Related Campaign Report-Clerical.
—Foreign Recall/Safety-Related Campaign ReportTranslator.
1
29.54
29.54
227
114,841.04 or
114,841
6,705.58
2
39.03
78.06
227
17,719.62
3
........................
107.60
........................
24,425.20 or
24,425
........................
........................
........................
........................
139,266.24 or
139,266
Totals for Foreign Recall/Safety Campaign Report
Total Labor Costs for Part 579 Subpart B Requirements.
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Hourly labor
cost
3 May 2019 National Industry-Specific
Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
NAICS 336100—Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/
current/naics4_336100.htm#23-0000. Last accessed
July 31, 2020.
4 https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_
336100.htm#15-0000. Last accessed July 31, 2020.
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5 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://
www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm. Last
accessed July 31, 2020.
6 May 2019 National Industry-Specific
Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
NAICS 336100—Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/
current/naics4_336100.htm#43-0000. Last Accessed
June 17, 2020.
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$110,324.32
4,516.72
7 May 2019 National Occupational Employment
and Wage Estimates United States, U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/
oes_nat.htm. Last Accessed June 17, 2020.
8 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://
www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm. Last
Accessed July 31, 2020.
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Requirements Under Part 579, Subpart
C (Reporting of Early Warning
Information (EWR))
The third component of this
information collection covers the
requirements found in Part 579 Subpart
C, ‘‘Reporting of Early Warning
Information.’’ Besides production
information, there are five major
categories requiring reporting of
incidents or claims in Subpart C, with
the specific requirements and
applicability of those categories varying
by vehicle and equipment type and, in
some circumstances, manufacturer
volume. Sections 579.21–27 require
manufacturers to submit the following:
(1) Production information; (2) reports
on incidents involving death or injury
in the United States that are identified
in claims or notices alleging that the
death or injury was caused by a possible
defect; (3) reports on incidents
identified in a claim against a
manufacturer that involve one or more
deaths in a foreign country and involve
a vehicle or item of equipment that is
identical or substantially similar to a
vehicle or item of equipment that is
offered for sale in the United States; (4)
separate reports on the number of
property damage claims, consumer
complaints, warranty claims, and field
reports that involve a specified system
or event; (5) copies of field reports; and,
for manufacturers of tires, (6) a list of
common green tires (applicable to only
tire manufacturers). Section 579.28(l)
allows NHTSA to request additional
related information to help identify a
defect related to motor vehicle safety.
The regulation specifies the time frame
for reporting for each category. Foreign
recalls of substantially similar vehicles
and manufacturer communications are
required to be submitted monthly,
substantially similar vehicle listings are
required annually, and all other report
types are required to be submitted on a
quarterly basis.
Quarterly Reporting
Manufacturers are required to report
specific information to NHTSA on a
quarterly basis (e.g., 4 times per
calendar year). Manufacturers are
required to submit production
information,9 non-dealer field reports,
aggregate submissions, and death and
injury submissions on a quarterly basis.
Estimates of the burden hours and
reporting costs are based on:
• The number of manufacturers
reporting;
• The frequency of required reports;
• The number of hours required per
report; and
• The cost of personnel to report.
The number of hours for reporting
ranges from 1 hour for trailer
manufacturers to 8 hours for light
vehicle manufacturers (Table 4).
Quarterly reporting burden hours are
calculated by multiplying hours used to
report for a given category by the
number of manufacturers for the
category and by the four times per year
quarterly reporting. Using these
methods and the average number of
manufacturers who report annually, we
estimate the annual burden hours for
quarterly reporting of production
information at 5,216 hours as detailed
below in Table 4.
NHTSA assumes that 50 percent of
the total burden hours are utilized by
technical personnel while clerical staff
consumes the remaining 50 percent. In
other words, the hourly wage rate for
each quarterly report is split evenly
between technical and clerical
personnel and a weighted hourly rate is
developed from this assumption.
Therefore, using the BLS total hourly
compensation rates discussed above of
$44.72 for a Computer Support
Specialist and $29.54 for an Office
Clerk, the weighted hourly rate is $37.13
(Technical Mean Hourly Wage of $44.72
× 0.5 + Clerical Mean Hourly Wage of
$29.54 × 0.5). The estimated reporting
costs are calculated as follows:
(M × Tp × $37.13 = quarterly cost of
reporting) × 4 = annual cost of
reporting*
*M = Manufacturers reporting data in the
category; Tp = Reporting time for the
category; $37.13 = Reporting labor cost
compensation rate; 4 = Quarterly reports
per year
For example, the estimated reporting
cost for light vehicles is $42,773.76 (36
manufacturers × 8 hours × $37.13
compensation rate × 4 quarters), and the
total annual labor costs associated with
quarterly reporting are estimated to be
$193,670. Table 4 includes the
estimated burden hours and reporting
costs for production information, nondealer field reports, aggregate
submissions, and death and injury
submissions, as well as the quarterly
and annual labor costs associated with
reporting.
TABLE 4—ESTIMATED MANUFACTURER ANNUAL BURDEN HOURS AND LABOR COSTS FOR QUARTERLY REPORTING
Avg. No. of
manufacturers
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Vehicle/equipment category
Quarterly
hours to
report per
manufacturer
Blended hourly
comp. rate
Quarterly labor
costs per
manufacturer
Annual burden
hours for
reporting
Annual labor costs
Light Vehicles .............................................
Medium-Heavy Vehicles ............................
Trailers .......................................................
Motorcycles ................................................
Emergency Vehicles ..................................
Buses .........................................................
Tires ...........................................................
Child Restraints ..........................................
Vehicle Equipment .....................................
36
39
96
15
8
33
32
42
36
8
5
1
2
5
5
5
1
8
$37.13
37.13
37.13
37.13
37.13
37.13
37.13
37.13
37.13
$297.04
185.65
37.13
74.26
185.65
185.65
185.65
37.13
297.04
1,152
780
384
120
160
660
640
168
1,152
$42,773.76
28,961.40
14,257.92
4,455.60
5,940.80
24,505.80
23,763.20
6,237.84
42,773.76
Totals ..................................................
....................
40
........................
........................
5,216
193,670.08 or
193,670
9 Low volume and equipment manufacturers are
not required to submit production information.
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Early Warning Reporting (EWR) Field
Data Submissions 10
Table 5 provides an average annual
submission count for each category
submitted per the requirements of 49
CFR part 579, subpart C: reports on
incidents identified in claims or notices
involving death or injury in the United
States; reports on incidents involving
one or more deaths in a foreign country
identified in claims involving a vehicle
or item of equipment that is identical or
substantially similar to a vehicle or item
of equipment that is offered for sale in
the United States; separate reports on
the number of property damage claims,
consumer complaints, warranty claims,
and field reports that involve a specified
system or event; copies of field reports;
and, for manufacturers of tires; a list of
common green tires; and additional
follow-up information per 579.28(l)
related to injury and fatality claims or
comprehensive inquiries. Each reporting
category has specific requirements and
types of reports that need to be
submitted and we state ‘‘N/A’’ where
there is no requirement for that
reporting category.
TABLE 5—ANNUAL AVERAGE OF EWR SUBMISSIONS BY MANUFACTURERS
[2016—2018]
Category of
claims
Incidents Involving Injury or
Fatality in U.S.
Incidents Involving Fatality in
Foreign Country ...................
Reports on Number of Claims
Involving Specific System or
Event ..............
Mfr. Field Reports ...............
Common Green
Tire Reporting
Average Number
of Follow-Up
Sequences per
579.28(l) .........
Totals: ........
Light
vehicles
Heavy, med
vehicles
Trailers
Motorcycles
Emergency
vehicles
Buses
Child
restraints
Tires
Equipment
mfr.
Totals
11,124
39
30
133
8
33
58
453
9
11,887
146
6
5
2
0
1
3
167
0
330
10,261
666
91
40
0
0
1,154
NA
NA
12,212
66,722
16,639
20
1,301
0
0
NA
3,727
NA
88,409
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
112
NA
NA
112
148
10
3
5
1
1
3
17
2
190
88,401
17,360
149
1,481
9
35
1,330
4,364
11
113,140
The above updated submission totals
represent an 12% increase from the
previously approved information
collection. Submission totals for each
category have risen with an average of
11,887 injury and fatality claims in the
United States (previously 9,804 claims),
330 foreign death claims (previously
101 claims), 12,212 claims involving
specific system or event (previously
11,481 claims), 88,409 manufacturer
field reports (previously 79,297 field
reports), 112 common green tire reports,
and 190 injury and fatality or
comprehensive inquiry follow-up
sequences per 579.28(l), totaling
113,140 submissions on average
(previously estimated at 100,683
submissions).
The agency estimates that an average
of 5 minutes is required for a
manufacturer to process each report,
except for foreign death claims and
follow-up responses. We estimate
foreign death claims and follow-up
responses per § 579.28(l) require an
average of 15 minutes to process.
Multiplying the total average number of
minutes by the number of submissions
NHTSA receives in each reporting
category yields the burden hour
estimates found below in Table 6. Our
previous estimates of Early Warning
associated burden hours totaled 8,407,
and we now update that total to 9,515
burden hours, a 13.2% increase,
associated with the above noted claim
categories.
TABLE 6—ANNUAL MANUFACTURER BURDEN HOUR ESTIMATES FOR EWR SUBMISSIONS
Annual
average of
EWR
submissions
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Category of claims
Average time to
process each report
(min)
Estimated
annual burden
hours
Incidents Involving Injury or Fatality in U.S. .....................................................................
Incidents Involving Fatality in Foreign Country ................................................................
Reports on Number of Claims Involving Specific System or Event .................................
Mfr. Field Reports .............................................................................................................
Common Green Tire Reporting ........................................................................................
Average Number of Follow-Up Sequences per 579.28(l) ................................................
11,887
330
12,212
88,409
112
190
5 ...............................
15 .............................
5 ...............................
5 ...............................
5 ...............................
15 .............................
990.58
82.50
1,017.67
7,367.42
9.33
47.5
Totals .........................................................................................................................
113,140
Submissions
...................................
9,515
10 Field data includes incidents identified in
claims or notices involving deaths or injuries and
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Thus, the total estimated annual
manufacturer burden hours for Sections
579.21–28 (EWR submissions and
quarterly reporting) are 14,731 hours
(5,216 (Table 4) + 9,515 (Table 6).
We have also constructed various
estimates of the average five minutes of
labor among the various occupations
depending on the type of claim that was
reviewed. Table 7 shows the estimated
time allocations that it will take an
individual to review each type of claim
(in minutes) and the weighted hourly
rate for individuals involved.
TABLE 7—ESTIMATED MANUFACTURER TIME ALLOCATION BY CLAIM TYPE AND WEIGHTED HOURLY RATE
Estimated time (in minutes) to review a claim
Claim type
Lawyer
(rate:
$136.54 11)
Incidents Involving Injury or Fatality in U.S. .............................
Incidents Involving Fatality in Foreign Country .........................
Reports on Number of Claims Involving Specific System or
Event ......................................................................................
Mfr. Field Reports .....................................................................
Green Tire Events .....................................................................
Average Number of Follow-Up Sequences per 579.28(l) ........
Engineer
(rate
$63.03 12)
IT
(rate:
$66.82 13)
Technical
(rate:
$44.72 14)
Weighted
hourly rate
Total time
3
3
0
10
0
0
0
0
2
2
5
15
$93.74
73.27
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
10
0
0
0
0
3
3
0
0
2
2
5
2
5
5
5
15
38.65
38.65
29.54
73.27
K × T × W = Costs for claim type *
The total labor costs for claims
documents were obtained using the
following formula:
Clerical
(rate:
$29.54 15)
Table 8 shows the annual labor costs
of reporting EWR information to
NHTSA.
* K = Claims submitted by industry; T =
Estimated time spent on a claim; W =
Weighted Hourly Rate.
TABLE 8—ESTIMATED EWR ANNUAL LABOR COSTS BY CATEGORY
Annual
average of
EWR
submissions
Category of claims
Incidents Involving Injury or Fatality in U.S. ..................
Incidents Involving Fatality in Foreign Country .............
Reports on Number of Claims Involving Specific System or Event ...............................................................
Mfr. Field Reports ..........................................................
Common Green Tire Reporting .....................................
Average Number of Follow-Up Sequences per
579.28(l) .....................................................................
Totals ......................................................................
Estimated
labor cost per
submission
Weighted
hourly rate
Estimated annual
labor cost
11,887
330
5
15
$93.74
73.27
$7.81
18.32
$92,857.28
6,044.78
12,212
88,409
112
5
5
5
38.65
38.65
29.54
3.22
3.22
2.46
39,332.82
284,750.65
275.71
190
15
73.27
18.32
3,480.33
113,140
........................
........................
........................
426,741.56 or
426,742
In addition to the burden associated
with submitting documents under each
subpart of Part 579, NHTSA also
estimates that manufacturers will incur
computer maintenance burden hours
associated with the information
collection requirements. The estimated
manufacturer burden hours associated
with aggregate data submissions for
consumer complaints, warranty claims,
and dealer field reports are included in
reporting and computer maintenance
hours. The burden hours for computer
maintenance are calculated by
multiplying the hours of computer use
(for a given category) by the number of
manufacturers reporting in a category.
NHTSA estimates that light vehicle
manufacturers will spend
approximately 347 hours per year on
computer maintenance and that other
vehicle manufacturers will spend about
25% as much time as light vehicle
manufacturers on computer
maintenance. Therefore, NHTSA
estimates that medium-heavy truck,
trailer, motorcycle manufacturers,
emergency vehicle, and bus
manufacturers will each spend
approximately 86.5 hours on computer
maintenance each year. NHTSA
estimates that tire manufacturers and
child restraint manufacturers will also
spend 86.5 hours on computer
maintenance per year. Therefore,
NHTSA estimates the total burden for
computer maintenance to be 35,415
hours per year (based on there being an
estimated 36 light vehicle
manufacturers, 39 medium-heavy
vehicle manufacturers, 96 trailer
11 May 2019 National Industry-Specific Wage
Estimates,—Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Lawyers (Code 23–1000),
$95.85, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_
336100.htm#23-0000, divided by 70.2% for
compensation rate, https://www.bls.gov/
news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
12 May 2019 National Industry-Specific Wage
Estimates—Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Engineers (Code 17–
2000), $44.25, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/
naics4_336100.htm#17-0000, divided by 70.2% for
compensation rate, https://www.bls.gov/
news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
13 May 2019 National Occupational Employment
and Wage Estimates, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Computer and Information Analysts (Code 15–
1210), $46.91, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_
nat.htm#15-0000, divided by 70.2% for
compensation rate, https://www.bls.gov/
news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
14 May 2019 National Industry-Specific Wage
Estimates—Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Computer Support
Analyst (Code 15–1230), $31.39. https://
www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#150000, divided by 70.2% for compensation rate,
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
15 May 2019 National Industry-Specific Wage
Estimates—Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office Clerks (Code 43–
9061), $20.74, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/
naics4_336100.htm#43-0000, divided by 70.2% for
compensation rate, https://www.bls.gov/
news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
Computer Maintenance Burden
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Average time
to process
each report
(min)
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manufacturers, 15 motorcycle
manufacturers, 8 emergency vehicle
manufacturers, 33 bus manufacturers,
32 tire manufacturers, and 42 child
restraint manufactures).
To calculate the labor cost associated
with computer maintenance hours,
NHTSA looked at wage estimates for the
type of personnel submitting the
documents. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) estimates that the
average hourly wage for Computer
Support Specialists (BLS Occupation
code 15–1230) in the Motor Vehicle
Manufacturing Industry is $31.39.16 The
Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that
private industry workers’ wages
represent 70.2% of total labor
compensation costs.17 Therefore,
NHTSA estimates the hourly labor costs
to be $44.72 for Computer Support
Specialists. For the estimated total of
35,415 annual computer maintenance
burden hours, NHTSA estimates the
associated labor costs will be
approximately $1,583,736. Table 9
shows the annual estimated burden
hours for computer maintenance by
vehicle/equipment category and the
estimated labor costs associated with
those burden hours.
TABLE 9—ESTIMATED MANUFACTURER ANNUAL BURDEN HOURS FOR COMPUTER MAINTENANCE FOR REPORTING
Avg. No. of
manufacturers
Vehicle/equipment category
Hours for
computer
maintenance
per
manufacturer
Average
hourly labor
cost
Total labor costs
Light Vehicles ...........................................................
Medium-Heavy Vehicles ..........................................
Trailers .....................................................................
Motorcycles ..............................................................
Emergency Vehicles ................................................
Buses .......................................................................
Tires .........................................................................
Child Restraints ........................................................
36
39
96
15
8
33
32
42
347
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
$44.72
44.72
44.72
44.72
44.72
44.72
44.72
44.72
12,492
3,373.5
8,304
1,297.5
692
2,854.5
2,768
3,633
$558,642.24
150,862.92
371,352.88
58,024.20
30,946.24
127,653.24
123,784.96
162,467.76
Totals ................................................................
........................
........................
........................
35,414.5; 35,415
1,583,736.44;
1,583,736
hours is due to increases in the number
of submissions and modifying this
request to include reporting for common
green tires and additional information
requested by NHTSA per Section
579.28(l) that were left out of the
previous information collection request.
The wage estimates have been adjusted
to reflect the latest available rates from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost:
NHTSA estimates the collection
requires no additional costs to the
respondents beyond the labor costs
associated with the burden hours to
collect and submit the reports to
TABLE 9—TOTAL MANUFACTURER
BURDEN HOURS FOR THIS COLLECTION NHTSA and the labor hours and
associated labor costs for computer
maintenance.
Annual
burden
Reporting type
Public Comments Invited: You are
hours
asked to comment on any aspects of this
Subpart A: Manufacturer
information collection, including (a)
Communications § 579.5
whether the proposed collection of
(Table 1) ............................
2,074 information is necessary for the proper
Subpart B: Foreign Reporting
performance of the functions of the
(Table 2) ............................
1,590
agency, including whether the
Subpart C: EWR Submisinformation will have practical utility;
sions and Quarterly Reporting (Tables 4 & 6) .......
14,731 (b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
Computer Maintenance ........
35,415 of the burden of the proposed collection
of information, including the validity of
Total ..................................
53,810 the methodology and assumptions used;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility
The burden estimates represent an
and clarity of the information to be
overall increase in burden hours of
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
4,567 hours. The increase in burden
burden of the collection of information
Based on the foregoing, we estimate
the burden hours for industry to comply
with the current Part 579 reporting
requirements (EWR requirements,
foreign campaign requirements and Part
579.5 requirements) to be 53,810 hours
per year. The total annual burden hours
for this information collection
consisting of manufacturer
communications under Section 579.5
(Subpart A), foreign reporting (Subpart
B), EWR submissions and reporting
(Subpart C), and computer maintenance
is outlined in Table 9 below.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Annual burden
hours for
computer
maintenance
16 https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_
336100.htm#15-0000.
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on respondents, including the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as
amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order
1351.29.
Stephen A. Ridella,
Director, Office of Defects Investigation.
[FR Doc. 2021–23248 Filed 10–28–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–59–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA–2017–0163]
Pipeline Safety: Request for Special
Permit; Colorado Interstate Gas
Company, LLC
Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
PHMSA is publishing this
notice to solicit public comments on a
request for special permit received from
the Colorado Interstate Gas Company,
SUMMARY:
www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm. Last
Accessed July 31, 2020.
E:\FR\FM\29OCN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 207 (Friday, October 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60095-60102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23248]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket Number NHTSA-2020-0101]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for
Comment; Reporting of Information and Documents About Potential Defects
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for public comments on a reinstatement with
modification of a previously approved collection of information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA),
this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR)
summarized below will be submitted to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes the nature of
the information collection and its expected burden. The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) invites public comments
about our intention to request Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
approval for an extension of a currently approved information
collection for reporting of information and documents about potential
defects. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period
soliciting comments on the following information collection was
published on December 29, 2020. No comments were received.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 29, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection, including suggestions for reducing burden,
should
[[Page 60096]]
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. To find this particular information collection,
select ``Currently under Review--Open for Public Comment'' or use the
search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access
to background documents, contact, Jeff Quandt, Trends Analysis Division
(NEF-108), Room W48-312, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone:
(202) 366-5207. Please identify the relevant collection of information
by referring to its OMB Control Number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), a
Federal agency must receive approval from the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) before it collects certain information from the public,
and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information
by a Federal agency unless the collection displays a valid OMB control
number. In compliance with these requirements, this notice announces
that the following information collection request will be submitted
OMB.
A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting
public comments on the following information collection was published
on December 29, 2020 (85 FR 85848). No comments were received.
Title: Reporting of Information and Documents about Potential
Defects.
OMB Control Number: 2127-0616.
Form Number: 2020-28766.
Type of Request: Reinstatement with modification of a previously
approved information collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Length of Approval Requested: 3 years from date of approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information: This notice requests
comment on NHTSA's intention to seek approval from OMB to reinstate
with modification a previously approved collection of information, OMB
No. 2127-0616, covering requirements in 49 CFR 579, Reporting of
Information and Communications about Potential Defects. part 579
implements, and addresses with more specificity, requirements from the
Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation
(TREAD) Act (Pub. L. 106-414), which was enacted on November 1, 2000,
and are codified at 49 U.S.C. 30166.
The purpose of part 579 is to enhance motor vehicle safety by
specifying information and documents that manufacturers of motor
vehicles and motor vehicle equipment must provide to NHTSA with respect
to possible safety-related defects and non-compliances in their
products, including the reporting of safety recalls and other safety
campaigns the manufacturers conduct outside the United States. Under
Part 579, there are three categories of reporting requirements: (1)
Requirements at Sec. 579.5 to submit notices, bulletins, customer
satisfaction campaigns, consumer advisories, and other communications
(found in Subpart A of Part 579); (2) requirements at Sec. 579.11 to
submit information related to safety recalls and other safety campaigns
in foreign countries (found in Subpart B of part 579); and (3)
requirements at Sec. Sec. 579.21-28 to submit Early Warning
Information (found in Subpart C of part 579). The Early Warning
Reporting (EWR) requirements (49 U.S.C. 30166(m); 49 CFR part 579,
subpart C) specify that manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor
vehicle equipment must submit to NHTSA information, periodically or
upon NHTSA's request, that includes specified claims for deaths and
serious injuries, property damage data, communications from customers
and others, and other information that assists NHTSA in identifying
potential safety-related defects. The intent of this information
collection is to provide early warning of such potential safety-related
defects to NHTSA.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information: The information required under 49 U.S.C. 30166 and 49 CFR
part 579 is used by NHTSA to promptly identify potential safety-related
defects in motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment in the United
States. When a trend in incidents arising from a potentially safety-
related defect is discovered, NHTSA relies on this information, along
with other agency data, to determine whether to open a defect
investigation.
Affected Public: Manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle
equipment.
Estimated Number of Respondents: NHTSA receives Part 579
submissions from approximately 337 manufacturers per year. Therefore,
we estimate that there will be a total of 337 respondents to this
information collection per year.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: When this approved information
collection was last renewed in June 2017, NHTSA estimated the annual
burden associated with this collection to be 49,243 burden hours. NHTSA
is updating these estimates to better align with the current volume of
submissions and to include reporting requirements for common green
tires and follow-up sequences (per Sec. 579.28(l)), which were
inadvertently omitted from the previous information collection request.
NHTSA now estimates that the annual burden hours associated with this
collection are 53,810 hours.
NHTSA estimated the burdens associated with this collection by
calculating the burden associated with submitting information under
each subpart of Part 579. In addition to these burdens, NHTSA also
estimates that manufacturers will incur computer maintenance burden
hours, which are estimated on a per manufacturer basis.
Requirements Under Part 579, Subpart A
The first component of this collection request covers the
requirements found in Part 579 Subpart A, Sec. 579.5, Notices,
bulletins, customer satisfaction campaigns, consumer advisories, and
other communications. Section 579.5 requires manufactures to furnish
(1) a copy of all notices, bulletins, and other communications sent to
more than one manufacturer, distributor, dealer, lessor, lessee, owner,
or purchaser, in the United States, regarding any defect in its
vehicles or items of equipment (including any failure or malfunction
beyond normal deterioration in use, or any failure of performance, or
any flaw or unintended deviation from design specifications), whether
or not such defect is safety-related and (2) a copy of each
communication relating to a customer satisfaction campaign, consumer
advisory, recall, or other safety activity involving the repair or
replacement of motor vehicles or equipment, that the manufacturer
issued to, or made available to, more than one dealer, distributor,
lessor, lessee, other manufacturer, owner, or purchaser, in the United
States. Manufacturers are required to submit these documents monthly.
Section 579.5 does not require manufacturers to create these documents.
Instead, only copies of these documents must be submitted to NHTSA, and
manufacturers must index these communications and email them to NHTSA
within 5 working days after the end of the month in which they were
issued. Therefore, the burden hours are only those associated with
collecting the documents and submitting copies to NHTSA.
NHTSA estimates that it receives approximately 24,884 notices a
year. We estimate that it takes about 5 minutes to collect, index, and
send each notice to NHTSA. Therefore, we estimate that it takes 2,074
hours for manufacturers to submit notices as required under
[[Page 60097]]
Section 579.5 (24,884 notices x 5 minutes = 124,420 minutes or 2,074
hours).
To calculate the labor cost associated with submitting Section
579.5 notices, bulletins, customer satisfaction campaigns, consumer
advisories and other communications that are sent to more than one
dealer or owner, NHTSA looked at wage estimates for the type of
personnel submitting the documents. While some manufacturers employ
clerical staff to collect and submit the documents, others use
technical computer support staff to complete the task. Because we do
not know what percent of the work is completed by clerical or technical
computer support staff, NHTSA estimates the total labor costs
associated with these burden hours by looking at the average wage for
the higher paid technical computer support staff. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) estimates that the average hourly wage for Computer
Support Specialists (BLS Occupation code 15-1230) in the Motor Vehicle
Manufacturing Industry is $31.39.\1\ The Bureau of Labor Statistics
estimates that private industry workers' wages represent 70.2% of total
labor compensation costs.\2\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the hourly
labor costs to be $44.72 for Computer Support Specialists. The labor
cost per submission is estimated to be $3.73 ($44.72 x 5 minutes).
NHTSA estimates the total labor cost associated with the 2,074 burden
hours for Sec. 579.5 submissions to be $92,817.32 ($3.73 x 24,884
submissions). Table 1 provides a summary of the burden estimates using
the average annual submission count for monthly reports submitted
pursuant to Sec. 579.5 and the estimated burden hours and labor costs
associated with those submissions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ May 2019 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment
and Wage Estimates, NAICS 336100--Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#15-0000. Last Accessed June 17, 2020.
\2\ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
Last Accessed July 30, 2020.
Table 1--Burden Estimates for Sec. 579.5 Submissions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
Average annual Sec. 579.5 submissions burden per Average hourly Labor cost per Total burden Total labor costs
submission labor cost submission hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24,884.......................................................... 5 minutes $44.72 $3.73 2,074 $92,817.32 or
$92,817
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Requirements Under Part 579, Subpart B (Foreign Reporting)
The second component of this information collection request covers
the requirements found in Part 579 Subpart B, ``Reporting of Safety
Recalls and Other Safety Campaigns in Foreign Countries.'' Pursuant to
Sec. 579.11, whenever a manufacturer determines to conduct a safety
recall or other safety campaign in a foreign country, or whenever a
foreign government has determined that a safety recall or other safety
campaign must be conducted, covering a motor vehicle, item of motor
vehicle equipment, or tire that is identical or substantially similar
to a vehicle, item of equipment, or tire sold or offered for sale in
the United States, the manufacturer must report to NHTSA not later than
5 working days after the manufacturer makes such determination or
receives written notification of the foreign government's
determination. Section 579.11(e) also requires each manufacturer of
motor vehicles to submit, not later than November 1 of each year, a
document that identifies foreign products and their domestic
counterparts.
In order to provide the information required for foreign safety
campaigns, manufacturers must (1) determine whether vehicles or
equipment that are covered by a foreign safety recall or other safety
campaign are identical or substantially similar to vehicles or
equipment sold in the United States, (2) prepare and submit reports of
these campaigns to the agency, and (3) where a determination or notice
has been made in a language other than English, translate the
determination or notice into English before transmitting it to the
agency.
NHTSA estimates that there is no burden associated with determining
whether an individual safety recall covers a foreign motor vehicle or
item of motor vehicle equipment that is identical or substantially
similar to those sold in the United States because manufacturers can
simply consult the list that they are required to submit each year.
Therefore, the only burden associated with making the determination of
whether a foreign safety recall or other safety campaign is required to
be reported to NHTSA is the burden associated with creating the annual
list. NHTSA continues to estimate that it takes approximately 9 hours
per manufacturer to develop and submit the list. The 9 hours are
comprised of 8 attorney hours and 1 hour for IT work. NHTSA receives
these lists from 101 manufacturers, on average, resulting in 909 burden
hours (101 vehicle manufacturers x 8 hours for attorney support = 808
hours) + (101 vehicle manufacturers x 1 hour for IT support = 101
hours).
NHTSA estimates that preparing and submitting each foreign defect
report (foreign recall campaign) requires 1 hour of clerical staff and
that translation of determinations into English requires 2 hours of
technical staff (note: This assumes that all foreign campaign reports
require translation, which is unlikely). Between 2016 and 2018, NHTSA
received a yearly average of 227 foreign recall reports. NHTSA
estimates that in each of the next three years, NHTSA will receive, on
average, 227 foreign recall reports. NHTSA estimates that each report
will take 3 hours (1 hour to prepare by a clerical employee and 2 hours
for translation). Therefore, NHTSA estimates that the burden hours
associated with submitting these reports will be 681 hours (3 hours per
report x 227 reports).
Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total annual burden hours for
reporting foreign safety campaigns and substantially similar vehicles/
equipment is 1,590 hours (909 hours for submitting annual lists + 681
hours for submitting foreign recall and safety campaign reports). This
is an increase of 444 burden hours from our previous estimate (1,590
hours for current estimate--1,146 hours for previous estimate). Table 2
provides a summary of the estimated burden hours for Part 579 Subpart B
submissions.
[[Page 60098]]
Table 2--Burden Hour Estimates for Foreign Reporting
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual number
Submission type of Burden hours per report Total burden
submissions hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Foreign Recall/Safety-Related Campaign 227 1 hour clerical + 2 hours 681
Report. translation = 3 hours.
Annual List................................ 101 8 hours attorney + 1 hour IT = 9 909
hours.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Total.................................. .............. ................................... 1,590
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To calculate the labor cost associated with Part 579 foreign
reporting submissions, NHTSA looked at wage estimates for the type of
personnel submitting the documents. As stated above, NHTSA estimates
that submitting annual lists under Sec. 579.11(e) will involve 8 hours
of attorney time and 1 hour of IT work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) estimates that the average hourly wage for Lawyers (BLS
Occupation code 23-1000) in the Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry is
$95.85 \3\ and the average hourly wage for Computer Support Specialists
(BLS Occupation code 15-1230) in the Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
Industry is $31.39.\4\ The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that
private industry workers, wages represent 70.2% of total labor
compensation costs.\5\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the hourly labor
costs to be $136.54 for Lawyers and $44.72 for Computer Support
Specialists. NHTSA estimates the total labor cost associated with
submitting one annual list to be $1,137.04 ($136.54 per hour x 8
attorney hours + $44.72 per hour x 1 IT hour) and $114,841.04 or
$114,841 for all 101 annual lists NHTSA estimates will be submitted
annually.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ May 2019 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment
and Wage Estimates NAICS 336100--Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#23-0000. Last accessed July 31, 2020.
\4\ https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#15-0000.
Last accessed July 31, 2020.
\5\ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
Last accessed July 31, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NHTSA estimates that submitting each foreign recall or safety
campaign report involves 1 hour of clerical work and 2 hours of
translation work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that
the average hourly wage for Office Clerks (BLS Occupation code 43-9061)
in the Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry is $20.74 \6\ and the
average hourly wage for Interpreters and Translators (BLS Occupation
code 27-3091) is $27.40.\7\ The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates
that private industry workers' wages represent 70.2% of total labor
compensation costs.\8\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the hourly labor
costs to be $29.54 for Office Clerks and $39.03 for Interpreters and
Translators. NHTSA estimates the total labor cost associated with
submitting one foreign recall or safety campaign report to be $107.60
($29.54 per hour x 1 Clerical hour + $39.03 per hour x 2 Translator
hours) and $24,425.20 or $24,425 for all 227 foreign recall or safety
campaign reports NHTSA estimates will be submitted annually.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ May 2019 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment
and Wage Estimates NAICS 336100--Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#43-0000. Last Accessed June 17, 2020.
\7\ May 2019 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
United States, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm. Last Accessed June 17, 2020.
\8\ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
Last Accessed July 31, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 3 provides a summary of the labor costs associated with the
foreign reporting requirements in Part 579, Subpart B. NHTSA estimates
that the total labor costs associated with the annual list requirement
and the requirement to report foreign recalls and safety campaigns is
$139,266 ($114,841 + $24,425).
Table 3--Annual Labor Cost Estimates for Foreign Reporting
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submission type and labor Hours per Hourly labor Labor cost per Number of
category submission cost submission submissions Total labor cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual List-Lawyer............ 8 $136.54 $1,092.32 101 $110,324.32
Annual List-Computer 1 44.72 44.72 101 4,516.72
Specialist.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals for Annual List.... 9 .............. 1,137.04 .............. 114,841.04 or
114,841
--Foreign Recall/Safety- 1 29.54 29.54 227 6,705.58
Related Campaign Report-
Clerical.
--Foreign Recall/Safety- 2 39.03 78.06 227 17,719.62
Related Campaign Report-
Translator.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals for Foreign Recall/ 3 .............. 107.60 .............. 24,425.20 or
Safety Campaign Report. 24,425
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Labor Costs for .............. .............. .............. .............. 139,266.24 or
Part 579 Subpart B 139,266
Requirements.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 60099]]
Requirements Under Part 579, Subpart C (Reporting of Early Warning
Information (EWR))
The third component of this information collection covers the
requirements found in Part 579 Subpart C, ``Reporting of Early Warning
Information.'' Besides production information, there are five major
categories requiring reporting of incidents or claims in Subpart C,
with the specific requirements and applicability of those categories
varying by vehicle and equipment type and, in some circumstances,
manufacturer volume. Sections 579.21-27 require manufacturers to submit
the following: (1) Production information; (2) reports on incidents
involving death or injury in the United States that are identified in
claims or notices alleging that the death or injury was caused by a
possible defect; (3) reports on incidents identified in a claim against
a manufacturer that involve one or more deaths in a foreign country and
involve a vehicle or item of equipment that is identical or
substantially similar to a vehicle or item of equipment that is offered
for sale in the United States; (4) separate reports on the number of
property damage claims, consumer complaints, warranty claims, and field
reports that involve a specified system or event; (5) copies of field
reports; and, for manufacturers of tires, (6) a list of common green
tires (applicable to only tire manufacturers). Section 579.28(l) allows
NHTSA to request additional related information to help identify a
defect related to motor vehicle safety. The regulation specifies the
time frame for reporting for each category. Foreign recalls of
substantially similar vehicles and manufacturer communications are
required to be submitted monthly, substantially similar vehicle
listings are required annually, and all other report types are required
to be submitted on a quarterly basis.
Quarterly Reporting
Manufacturers are required to report specific information to NHTSA
on a quarterly basis (e.g., 4 times per calendar year). Manufacturers
are required to submit production information,\9\ non-dealer field
reports, aggregate submissions, and death and injury submissions on a
quarterly basis. Estimates of the burden hours and reporting costs are
based on:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ Low volume and equipment manufacturers are not required to
submit production information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The number of manufacturers reporting;
The frequency of required reports;
The number of hours required per report; and
The cost of personnel to report.
The number of hours for reporting ranges from 1 hour for trailer
manufacturers to 8 hours for light vehicle manufacturers (Table 4).
Quarterly reporting burden hours are calculated by multiplying hours
used to report for a given category by the number of manufacturers for
the category and by the four times per year quarterly reporting. Using
these methods and the average number of manufacturers who report
annually, we estimate the annual burden hours for quarterly reporting
of production information at 5,216 hours as detailed below in Table 4.
NHTSA assumes that 50 percent of the total burden hours are
utilized by technical personnel while clerical staff consumes the
remaining 50 percent. In other words, the hourly wage rate for each
quarterly report is split evenly between technical and clerical
personnel and a weighted hourly rate is developed from this assumption.
Therefore, using the BLS total hourly compensation rates discussed
above of $44.72 for a Computer Support Specialist and $29.54 for an
Office Clerk, the weighted hourly rate is $37.13 (Technical Mean Hourly
Wage of $44.72 x 0.5 + Clerical Mean Hourly Wage of $29.54 x 0.5). The
estimated reporting costs are calculated as follows:
(M x Tp x $37.13 = quarterly cost of reporting) x 4 = annual
cost of reporting*
*M = Manufacturers reporting data in the category; Tp =
Reporting time for the category; $37.13 = Reporting labor cost
compensation rate; 4 = Quarterly reports per year
For example, the estimated reporting cost for light vehicles is
$42,773.76 (36 manufacturers x 8 hours x $37.13 compensation rate x 4
quarters), and the total annual labor costs associated with quarterly
reporting are estimated to be $193,670. Table 4 includes the estimated
burden hours and reporting costs for production information, non-dealer
field reports, aggregate submissions, and death and injury submissions,
as well as the quarterly and annual labor costs associated with
reporting.
Table 4--Estimated Manufacturer Annual Burden Hours and Labor Costs for Quarterly Reporting
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quarterly Quarterly
Avg. No. of hours to Blended hourly labor costs Annual burden Annual labor
Vehicle/equipment category manufacturers report per comp. rate per hours for costs
manufacturer manufacturer reporting
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light Vehicles.......................................... 36 8 $37.13 $297.04 1,152 $42,773.76
Medium-Heavy Vehicles................................... 39 5 37.13 185.65 780 28,961.40
Trailers................................................ 96 1 37.13 37.13 384 14,257.92
Motorcycles............................................. 15 2 37.13 74.26 120 4,455.60
Emergency Vehicles...................................... 8 5 37.13 185.65 160 5,940.80
Buses................................................... 33 5 37.13 185.65 660 24,505.80
Tires................................................... 32 5 37.13 185.65 640 23,763.20
Child Restraints........................................ 42 1 37.13 37.13 168 6,237.84
Vehicle Equipment....................................... 36 8 37.13 297.04 1,152 42,773.76
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............................................. ............. 40 .............. .............. 5,216 193,670.08 or
193,670
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 60100]]
Early Warning Reporting (EWR) Field Data Submissions \10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ Field data includes incidents identified in claims or
notices involving deaths or injuries and consumer complaint, field
report, property damage claim and warranty claim data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 5 provides an average annual submission count for each
category submitted per the requirements of 49 CFR part 579, subpart C:
reports on incidents identified in claims or notices involving death or
injury in the United States; reports on incidents involving one or more
deaths in a foreign country identified in claims involving a vehicle or
item of equipment that is identical or substantially similar to a
vehicle or item of equipment that is offered for sale in the United
States; separate reports on the number of property damage claims,
consumer complaints, warranty claims, and field reports that involve a
specified system or event; copies of field reports; and, for
manufacturers of tires; a list of common green tires; and additional
follow-up information per 579.28(l) related to injury and fatality
claims or comprehensive inquiries. Each reporting category has specific
requirements and types of reports that need to be submitted and we
state ``N/A'' where there is no requirement for that reporting
category.
Table 5--Annual Average of EWR Submissions by Manufacturers
[2016--2018]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light Heavy, med Emergency Child Equipment
Category of claims vehicles vehicles Trailers Motorcycles vehicles Buses Tires restraints mfr. Totals
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incidents Involving Injury or Fatality in U.S................. 11,124 39 30 133 8 33 58 453 9 11,887
Incidents Involving Fatality in Foreign Country............... 146 6 5 2 0 1 3 167 0 330
Reports on Number of Claims Involving Specific System or Event 10,261 666 91 40 0 0 1,154 NA NA 12,212
Mfr. Field Reports............................................ 66,722 16,639 20 1,301 0 0 NA 3,727 NA 88,409
Common Green Tire Reporting................................... NA NA NA NA NA NA 112 NA NA 112
Average Number of Follow-Up Sequences per 579.28(l)........... 148 10 3 5 1 1 3 17 2 190
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals:................................................... 88,401 17,360 149 1,481 9 35 1,330 4,364 11 113,140
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above updated submission totals represent an 12% increase from
the previously approved information collection. Submission totals for
each category have risen with an average of 11,887 injury and fatality
claims in the United States (previously 9,804 claims), 330 foreign
death claims (previously 101 claims), 12,212 claims involving specific
system or event (previously 11,481 claims), 88,409 manufacturer field
reports (previously 79,297 field reports), 112 common green tire
reports, and 190 injury and fatality or comprehensive inquiry follow-up
sequences per 579.28(l), totaling 113,140 submissions on average
(previously estimated at 100,683 submissions).
The agency estimates that an average of 5 minutes is required for a
manufacturer to process each report, except for foreign death claims
and follow-up responses. We estimate foreign death claims and follow-up
responses per Sec. 579.28(l) require an average of 15 minutes to
process. Multiplying the total average number of minutes by the number
of submissions NHTSA receives in each reporting category yields the
burden hour estimates found below in Table 6. Our previous estimates of
Early Warning associated burden hours totaled 8,407, and we now update
that total to 9,515 burden hours, a 13.2% increase, associated with the
above noted claim categories.
Table 6--Annual Manufacturer Burden Hour Estimates for EWR Submissions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Estimated
Category of claims average of EWR Average time to process each annual burden
submissions report (min) hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incidents Involving Injury or Fatality in U.S. 11,887 5............................... 990.58
Incidents Involving Fatality in Foreign 330 15.............................. 82.50
Country.
Reports on Number of Claims Involving Specific 12,212 5............................... 1,017.67
System or Event.
Mfr. Field Reports............................ 88,409 5............................... 7,367.42
Common Green Tire Reporting................... 112 5............................... 9.33
Average Number of Follow-Up Sequences per 190 15.............................. 47.5
579.28(l).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.................................... 113,140 ................................ 9,515
Submissions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 60101]]
Thus, the total estimated annual manufacturer burden hours for
Sections 579.21-28 (EWR submissions and quarterly reporting) are 14,731
hours (5,216 (Table 4) + 9,515 (Table 6).
We have also constructed various estimates of the average five
minutes of labor among the various occupations depending on the type of
claim that was reviewed. Table 7 shows the estimated time allocations
that it will take an individual to review each type of claim (in
minutes) and the weighted hourly rate for individuals involved.
Table 7--Estimated Manufacturer Time Allocation by Claim Type and Weighted Hourly Rate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated time (in minutes) to review a claim
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lawyer Engineer Technical Clerical
Claim type (rate: (rate IT (rate: (rate: (rate: Weighted
$136.54 $63.03 $66.82 $44.72 $29.54 Total time hourly rate
\11\) \12\) \13\) \14\) \15\)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incidents Involving Injury or Fatality in U.S................ 3 0 0 0 2 5 $93.74
Incidents Involving Fatality in Foreign Country.............. 3 10 0 0 2 15 73.27
Reports on Number of Claims Involving Specific System or 0 0 0 3 2 5 38.65
Event.......................................................
Mfr. Field Reports........................................... 0 0 0 3 2 5 38.65
Green Tire Events............................................ 0 0 0 0 5 5 29.54
Average Number of Follow-Up Sequences per 579.28(l).......... 3 10 0 0 2 15 73.27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ May 2019 National Industry-Specific Wage Estimates,--Motor
Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Lawyers
(Code 23-1000), $95.85, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#23-0000, divided by 70.2% for compensation rate,
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
\12\ May 2019 National Industry-Specific Wage Estimates--Motor
Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Engineers
(Code 17-2000), $44.25, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#17-0000, divided by 70.2% for compensation rate,
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
\13\ May 2019 National Occupational Employment and Wage
Estimates, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Computer and Information
Analysts (Code 15-1210), $46.91, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#15-0000, divided by 70.2% for compensation rate, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
\14\ May 2019 National Industry-Specific Wage Estimates--Motor
Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Computer
Support Analyst (Code 15-1230), $31.39. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#15-0000, divided by 70.2% for compensation
rate, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
\15\ May 2019 National Industry-Specific Wage Estimates--Motor
Vehicle Manufacturing, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office
Clerks (Code 43-9061), $20.74, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#43-0000, divided by 70.2% for compensation rate,
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The total labor costs for claims documents were obtained using the
following formula:
K x T x W = Costs for claim type *
* K = Claims submitted by industry; T = Estimated time spent on a
claim; W = Weighted Hourly Rate.
Table 8 shows the annual labor costs of reporting EWR information
to NHTSA.
Table 8--Estimated EWR Annual Labor Costs by Category
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average time
Annual to process Weighted Estimated Estimated annual
Category of claims average of EWR each report hourly rate labor cost per labor cost
submissions (min) submission
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incidents Involving Injury or 11,887 5 $93.74 $7.81 $92,857.28
Fatality in U.S.............
Incidents Involving Fatality 330 15 73.27 18.32 6,044.78
in Foreign Country..........
Reports on Number of Claims 12,212 5 38.65 3.22 39,332.82
Involving Specific System or
Event.......................
Mfr. Field Reports........... 88,409 5 38.65 3.22 284,750.65
Common Green Tire Reporting.. 112 5 29.54 2.46 275.71
Average Number of Follow-Up 190 15 73.27 18.32 3,480.33
Sequences per 579.28(l).....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals................... 113,140 .............. .............. .............. 426,741.56 or
426,742
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Maintenance Burden
In addition to the burden associated with submitting documents
under each subpart of Part 579, NHTSA also estimates that manufacturers
will incur computer maintenance burden hours associated with the
information collection requirements. The estimated manufacturer burden
hours associated with aggregate data submissions for consumer
complaints, warranty claims, and dealer field reports are included in
reporting and computer maintenance hours. The burden hours for computer
maintenance are calculated by multiplying the hours of computer use
(for a given category) by the number of manufacturers reporting in a
category. NHTSA estimates that light vehicle manufacturers will spend
approximately 347 hours per year on computer maintenance and that other
vehicle manufacturers will spend about 25% as much time as light
vehicle manufacturers on computer maintenance. Therefore, NHTSA
estimates that medium-heavy truck, trailer, motorcycle manufacturers,
emergency vehicle, and bus manufacturers will each spend approximately
86.5 hours on computer maintenance each year. NHTSA estimates that tire
manufacturers and child restraint manufacturers will also spend 86.5
hours on computer maintenance per year. Therefore, NHTSA estimates the
total burden for computer maintenance to be 35,415 hours per year
(based on there being an estimated 36 light vehicle manufacturers, 39
medium-heavy vehicle manufacturers, 96 trailer
[[Page 60102]]
manufacturers, 15 motorcycle manufacturers, 8 emergency vehicle
manufacturers, 33 bus manufacturers, 32 tire manufacturers, and 42
child restraint manufactures).
To calculate the labor cost associated with computer maintenance
hours, NHTSA looked at wage estimates for the type of personnel
submitting the documents. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
estimates that the average hourly wage for Computer Support Specialists
(BLS Occupation code 15-1230) in the Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
Industry is $31.39.\16\ The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that
private industry workers' wages represent 70.2% of total labor
compensation costs.\17\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the hourly labor
costs to be $44.72 for Computer Support Specialists. For the estimated
total of 35,415 annual computer maintenance burden hours, NHTSA
estimates the associated labor costs will be approximately $1,583,736.
Table 9 shows the annual estimated burden hours for computer
maintenance by vehicle/equipment category and the estimated labor costs
associated with those burden hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#15-0000.
\17\ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
Last Accessed July 31, 2020.
Table 9--Estimated Manufacturer Annual Burden Hours for Computer Maintenance for Reporting
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hours for
computer Average Annual burden
Vehicle/equipment category Avg. No. of maintenance hourly labor hours for Total labor costs
manufacturers per cost computer
manufacturer maintenance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light Vehicles.................................................... 36 347 $44.72 12,492 $558,642.24
Medium-Heavy Vehicles............................................. 39 86.5 44.72 3,373.5 150,862.92
Trailers.......................................................... 96 86.5 44.72 8,304 371,352.88
Motorcycles....................................................... 15 86.5 44.72 1,297.5 58,024.20
Emergency Vehicles................................................ 8 86.5 44.72 692 30,946.24
Buses............................................................. 33 86.5 44.72 2,854.5 127,653.24
Tires............................................................. 32 86.5 44.72 2,768 123,784.96
Child Restraints.................................................. 42 86.5 44.72 3,633 162,467.76
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals........................................................ .............. .............. .............. 35,414.5; 35,415 1,583,736.44;
1,583,736
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on the foregoing, we estimate the burden hours for industry
to comply with the current Part 579 reporting requirements (EWR
requirements, foreign campaign requirements and Part 579.5
requirements) to be 53,810 hours per year. The total annual burden
hours for this information collection consisting of manufacturer
communications under Section 579.5 (Subpart A), foreign reporting
(Subpart B), EWR submissions and reporting (Subpart C), and computer
maintenance is outlined in Table 9 below.
Table 9--Total Manufacturer Burden Hours for this Collection
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual burden
Reporting type hours
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subpart A: Manufacturer Communications Sec. 579.5 2,074
(Table 1)..............................................
Subpart B: Foreign Reporting (Table 2).................. 1,590
Subpart C: EWR Submissions and Quarterly Reporting 14,731
(Tables 4 & 6).........................................
Computer Maintenance.................................... 35,415
---------------
Total................................................. 53,810
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The burden estimates represent an overall increase in burden hours
of 4,567 hours. The increase in burden hours is due to increases in the
number of submissions and modifying this request to include reporting
for common green tires and additional information requested by NHTSA
per Section 579.28(l) that were left out of the previous information
collection request. The wage estimates have been adjusted to reflect
the latest available rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: NHTSA estimates the collection
requires no additional costs to the respondents beyond the labor costs
associated with the burden hours to collect and submit the reports to
NHTSA and the labor hours and associated labor costs for computer
maintenance.
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 agency, including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (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 appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of
responses.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter
35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.
Stephen A. Ridella,
Director, Office of Defects Investigation.
[FR Doc. 2021-23248 Filed 10-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
