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

This document announces decisions by NHTSA that certain motor vehicles not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards are eligible for importation into the United States because they are substantially similar to vehicles originally manufactured for importation into and/or sale in the United States and certified by their manufacturers as complying with the safety standards, and they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards or because they have safety features that comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply with, all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards.

This notice announces the availability of a research report on child restraint labels. The research was conducted in July of 2003. This notice also announces that NHTSA does not plan to conduct further rulemaking on child restraint labels at this time.

Our requirements for advanced air bags are being phased in during two stages, the first of which extends over a three-year period from September 1, 2003 to August 31, 2006. The phase-in provides special requirements for limited line manufacturers. These manufacturers are excluded from the first two years of the phase-in but must achieve 100 percent compliance for the third year, i.e., the production year beginning September 1, 2005. To address problems faced by Porsche, we are issuing this interim final rule revising the phase- in for limited line manufacturers so that 95 percent of a manufacturer's vehicles must comply with the advanced air bag requirements during this one-year period instead of 100 percent.

This document responds to petitions for reconsideration of the October 1, 2004 final rule (69 FR 58843), which was in response to the initial petitions for reconsideration of the December 27, 2002 final rule (67 FR 79416) that established two new Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSSs); FMVSS No. 403, Platform lift systems for motor vehicles, and FMVSS No. 404, Platform lift installations in motor vehicles. The purpose of these standards is to prevent injuries and fatalities during lift operation. In the October 2004 final rule the agency clarified the applicability of the standards as well as amended the definitions of certain operational functions, the requirements for lift lighting on public lifts, the interlock requirements, compliance procedures for lifts that manually deploy/stow, the environmental resistance requirements, the edge guard requirements, the wheelchair test device specifications, and the location requirements for public lift controls. The agency received petitions for reconsideration of the October 2004 final rule from a school bus manufacturer, a lift interlock/control manufacturer, a vehicle association, a school bus technical council and a dealer's association. The agency is denying the petitioners' request to require interlocks be designed to prevent ``malicious'' release and to place responsibility for lighting requirements under FMVSS No. 403. The request to amend the lighting intensity requirements under FMVSS No. 404 will be addressed in a separate notice as a petition for rulemaking.

NHTSA received a letter asking us to extend the comment period for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) for occupant crash protection. The agency has proposed to amend FMVSS No. 208, Occupant crash protection, by establishing a test procedure applicable to vehicles equipped with a child restraint anchorage system, commonly referred to as a ``LATCH'' system, in a front passenger seating position and that comply with advanced air bag requirements through the use of a suppression system. The proposed procedures specify a repeatable, reproducible, and realistic method of attaching child restraints to the LATCH system for the suppression test. To provide interested persons additional time to prepare comments, we are extending the end of the comment period from July 18, 2005, to August 17, 2005. This 30-day extension will allow vehicle manufacturers the appropriate opportunity to review a technical report cited in the NPRM in support of the agency's proposal, and provide more meaningful comments.

Today's NPRM proposes specifications and qualification requirements for the new test dummy that is representative of a 10- year-old child. NHTSA plans to use the new 10-year-old child test dummy to test child restraints under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213 and in other applications. The dummy has the capability to be placed in a slouched posture, which allows the evaluation of vehicle belt systems under real world occupant conditions.

This document grants in full the petition of General Motors Corporation (GM) for an exemption of a high-theft line, the Chevrolet Cobalt, 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.

On July 12, 1996, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a final rule that rescinded Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 126, Truck-camper loading, and combined its provisions with 49 CFR 575.103, Truck-camper loading. When combining these two regulations, NHTSA inadvertently changed a cross reference so that it refers to only one of five information requirements, instead of all five as it had previously. This document corrects that error.

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 one collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

This document responds to petitions for reconsideration of the June 23, 2004 dealer notification rule that amended several provisions of agency regulations on notifications by manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment to dealers and distributors when they or NHTSA decide that vehicles or equipment contain a defect related to motor vehicle safety or do not comply with a Federal motor vehicle safety standard.