National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 2000-2005 Komet Standard, Classic and Eurolite trailers that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) are eligible for importation into the United States because (1) they are substantially similar to vehicles that were originally manufactured for importation into and sale in the United States and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards, and (2) they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

This notice responds to a petition submitted by First Technology Safety Systems (FTSS) asking the agency to reconsider several aspects of a July 16, 2004 final rule that added a new subpart S to 49 CFR part 572. Subpart S specifies a Hybrid III 6-year-old weighted child test dummy. The agency is granting the petition in part and denying it in part.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 2006 Smart Car Passion, Pulse, and Pure (Coupe and Cabriolet) passenger cars, manufactured prior to September 1, 2006, that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) are eligible for importation into the United States because they have safety features that comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply with, all such standards.

This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a petition submitted by Mr. Chris Ruh, Mr. Don Huston, Mr. Robert Guthrie, Mr. Jeff Babiak, Mr. J. A. Massey, Ms. Michele Brown, Ms. Mary Mabry, Mr. Chris Taylor, and Mr. Victor Aguilar (hereinafter, ``Petitioners'') to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), received September 6, 2005, under 49 U.S.C. 30162, requesting that the agency commence a proceeding to determine the existence of a defect related to motor vehicle safety with respect to the cylinder head and spark plug assembly performance of model year (MY) 1997 through 2004 Ford vehicles with Triton V-8 and V-10 engines. After a review of the petition and other information, NHTSA has concluded that further expenditure of the agency's investigative resources on the issues raised by the petition does not appear to be warranted. The agency accordingly has denied the petition. The petition is hereinafter identified as DP05-005.

Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections. This document describes one collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek extension of an existing OMB approval. Comments must be received on or before February 21, 2006.

This document responds to petitions for reconsideration of a final rule published on July 1, 2005, which amended the Federal motor vehicle safety standard that includes starter interlock requirements. The final rule announced an effective date of December 28, 2005. NHTSA received petitions for reconsideration from General Motors (GM) requesting a delay in the effective date in the final rule, and a petition from International Truck and Engine Corporation (ITEC) requesting an amendment that addresses hybrid electric systems on trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating over 4,536 kg (10,000 pounds). In this final rule, NHTSA grants both of these petitions, and is amending the standard accordingly.

The agency is proposing to amend our air brake standard to improve the stopping distance performance of truck tractors. Based on current safety trend data and brake system technologies for truck tractors, we are proposing to reduce the required stopping distance for these vehicles by 20 to 30 percent. We have tentatively concluded that truck tractors are capable of achieving a reduction in stopping distance within this range with existing technologies. We also discuss research and request comment concerning improving the braking performance of other types of heavy vehicles, i.e., trailers, straight trucks, and buses. The agency may address improved braking performance for these other vehicles in a future rulemaking.

This document grants in full the petition of General Motors Corporation, (GM) for an exemption in accordance with Sec. 543.9(c)(2) of 49 CFR part 543, Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard, for the Chevrolet Malibu/Malibu Maxx vehicle line beginning with model year (MY) 2006. This petition is granted because the agency has determined that the antitheft device to be placed on the line as standard equipment is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard.

This document announces a decision by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that certain 1999 Ferrari 456GT and GTA passenger cars that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) are eligible for importation into the United States because they are substantially similar to vehicles originally manufactured for importation into and sale in the United States and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards (the U.S. certified version of the 1999 Ferrari 456GT and GTA passenger cars), and they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

This document corrects the estimated total burden hours published on October 19, 2005 (70 FR 60878) for the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., OMB Control Number 2127-0503.

This Notice amends and updates the list of devices that conform to the Model Specifications for Screening Devices to Measure Alcohol in Bodily Fluids.

Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatements of previously approved collections. This document describes the collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections. This document describes one collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 2005 Lamborghini Murcielago roadster passenger cars that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards are eligible for importation into the United States because (1) they are substantially similar to vehicles that were originally manufactured for importation into and sale in the United States and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards, and (2) they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

This document announces a decision by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that certain 2001 Chevrolet Blazer (plant code ``K'' or ``2'') multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) are eligible for importation into the United States because they are substantially similar to vehicles originally manufactured for sale in the United States and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards (the U.S. certified version of the 2001 Chevrolet Blazer (plant code ``K'' or ``2'') MPV), and they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

This document grants in full the petition of DaimlerChrysler Corporation (DaimlerChrysler) for an exemption of a high-theft line, the Dodge Charger, from the parts-marking requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard. This petition is granted because the agency has determined that the antitheft device to be placed on the line as standard equipment is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard.

This document denies a petition for reconsideration of the agency's newly expanded parts marking requirements. The Anti Car Theft Act of 1992 required NHTSA to conduct a rulemaking to extend the parts marking requirements of that Standard to all passenger cars and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 6,000 pounds or less regardless of theft rate, unless the Attorney General found that such a requirement would not substantially inhibit chop shop operations and motor vehicle thefts. The initial final rule extending the parts marking requirement was published in April of 2004. In May 2005, NHTSA responded to petitions for reconsideration of the April 2004 final rule and established a phase in schedule for the new requirements. We also decided to exclude vehicle lines with annual production of not more than 3,500 vehicles from the parts marking requirements because the benefits of marking these vehicle lines would be trivial or of no value. The agency received a petition for reconsideration of the May 2005 final rule from International Association of Auto Theft Investigators. The petition asked the agency to reconsider the phase-in and small volume exclusion as it applied to large volume vehicle manufacturers. This document denies that petition because it did not provide sufficient information in support of their request to reconsider the May 2005 final rule.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collections and their expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period was published on May 9, 2005 (70 FR 24462).

This document provides an interpretation concerning how our standard for lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment applies to replacement equipment. It represents the continuation of a process that began with the publication of a notice of draft interpretation in July 2003, and included the publication of a notice of interpretation in October 2004. We are providing this interpretation in response to requests that we reconsider the October 2004 notice of interpretation on this subject in several areas. This document also announces termination of a rulemaking announced in that notice of interpretation.

This document extends the comment period on a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on August 31, 2005 (70 FR 51707) that addresses motor home and travel trailer overloading by proposing to amend the Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) on tire selection and rims for motor vehicles other than passenger cars. We also proposed a related amendment to our safety standard for tire selection and rims for light vehicles. The comment due date was October 31, 2005. In a submission dated October 14, 2005, a coalition of trade associations representing vehicle manufacturers and dealers asked NHTSA for an extension of this due date. This document grants that request and extends the comment due date for the NPRM to November 30, 2005.