National Highway Traffic Safety Administration October 31, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice addresses the confidentiality of certain information that manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment submit to NHTSA pursuant to the Early Warning Reporting (EWR) rule. The agency is proposing to create class determinations, based on Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), treating certain categories of EWR information as confidential, namely production numbers (excluding light vehicles), consumer complaints, paid warranty claims, and field reports. In addition, for EWR reports on deaths and injuries, NHTSA is proposing to create a class determination based on FOIA Exemption 6 that the last six (6) characters of the vehicle identification number (VIN) are confidential. Finally, the agency is also proposing to clarify its Confidential Business Information rule with regard to confidentiality markings in submissions in electronic media.