National Highway Traffic Safety Administration May 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document denies the petition of SS II of America, Inc. (SS II) for a temporary exemption from the air bag requirements of FMVSS No. 208 for the SS II Shelby Series II from September 1, 2006 through July 31, 2008. The basis for the application was that compliance would cause substantial economic hardship to a manufacturer that has tried in good faith to comply with the standard.\1\ We have determined that it would not be in the public interest or consistent with the Safety Act to grant an economic hardship exemption to permit this vehicle to be sold without air bags.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 2006 Harley Davidson FX, FL, and XL motorcycles 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 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 receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 1986 and 1987 Volkswagen Transporter multipurpose passenger vehicles 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 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.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 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 February 14, 2007 (72 FR 7114).

This document responds to a petition for reconsideration of our 2003 final rule establishing a braking-in-a-curve performance requirement for single unit trucks and buses. The braking-in-a-curve requirement has applied to air-braked truck tractors since 1997 and we determined that the requirement should also apply to single-unit trucks and buses. The requirement ensures that a vehicle's antilock brake system (ABS) maintains adequate stability and control during a hard stop on a curved, slippery road surface. A petition for reconsideration was received from the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA), which seeks to exclude vehicles built in two or more stages and altered vehicles from the braking-in-a-curve requirement if such vehicles are manufactured or altered by a final stage manufacturer or alterer that builds no more than 250 affected vehicles per year. The agency is denying the petitioner's request for the reasons discussed in this document.

This document grants in full the petition of Mazda Motor Corporation, (Mazda) for an exemption in accordance with Sec. 543.9(c)(2) of 49 CFR Part 543, Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard, for the Mazda 5 vehicle line beginning with model year (MY) 2009. 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.

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 the proposed collection of information. This document describes a proposed collection of information under regulations in 49 CFR parts 591, 592, and 593 that pertain to the importation of motor vehicles and items of motor vehicle equipment that are subject to the Federal motor vehicle safety, bumper, and theft prevention standards.

This document grants in full the petition of Volkswagen of America, Inc. (VW) in accordance with Sec. 543.9(c)(2) of 49 CFR part 543, Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard, for the Volkswagen New Beetle vehicle line beginning with model year (MY) 2008. 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. VW requested confidential treatment for the information and attachments it submitted in support of its petition. The agency will address VW's request for confidential treatment by separate letter.

This document completes the agency's response to petitions for reconsideration of the December 2004 final rule upgrading our head restraints standard. We are partially granting and partially denying the petitions. We are making two changes related to the backset requirement. First, to address concerns about variability in measurements, we are specifying that backset is determined by taking the arithmetic average of three measurements, rather than using a single measurement. Second, we are slightly relaxing the backset requirement by specifying that the 55 mm backset limit applies with the seat back at the vehicle manufacturer's specified design angle rather than at 25 degrees. This decision reflects consideration of interrelated issues and data concerning the 55 mm backset limit, consumer comfort, and seat back angle. In addition, we are making a number of other amendments. We are making changes related to non-use positions of rear seat head restraints, requirements for gaps between the head restraint and seat back, and the backset and height retention (lock) tests, as well as a number of changes in other areas. For the front seat requirements, we are providing one additional year of leadtime and also establishing a one-year phase-in with an 80 percent requirement. The agency previously delayed the compliance date for voluntarily installed rear outboard head restraints by two years. In this document, we are also establishing a one-year 80 percent phase-in for those requirements. Finally, we respond to a petition for rulemaking concerning requirements included in the upgraded head restraints rule. Today's amendments will not affect the costs of the December 2004 final rule. However, the agency estimates that the change in seat back angle to provide greater flexibility with respect to backset will result in a 20 percent reduction in the number of whiplash injuries prevented by upgraded front seat head restraints, compared to the benefits estimated in the December 2004 final rule. Whiplash injuries are Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 1 injuries. The agency has separately been leading efforts to develop a Global Technical Regulation (GTR) on head restraints, under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe 1998 Global Agreement. Some issues raised by petitioners for reconsideration, including ones related to backset and testing of dynamic systems, are also being discussed in the context of the GTR. While it is necessary for us to issue today's decision in order to respond to the outstanding petitions for reconsideration, we note that if agreement is achieved on the GTR, we will consider making changes in these and other areas.