National Highway Traffic Safety Administration September 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule amends the regulation implementing the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Program, published on July 29, 2009 in the Federal Register, under the CARS Act. The rule adds an exception process for registered dealers who were prevented from submitting an application for reimbursement for a qualifying transaction prior to the announced August 25, 2009 deadline due to problems associated with the CARS electronic transaction system.

NHTSA has prepared a DEIS to disclose and analyze the potential environmental impacts of proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for model year (MY) 2012-2016 passenger cars and light trucks, which NHTSA recently proposed pursuant to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and a reasonable range of alternative standards. To inform decisionmakers and the public, the DEIS compares the potential environmental impacts of the proposed standards and alternative standards reflecting a full range of stringencies, and it analyzes direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts in proportion to their significance. The DEIS provides a detailed analysis of potential impacts on energy resources, air quality, and climate. The DEIS uses climate modeling and NHTSA's own computer model (known as the ``Volpe model'') to provide quantitative estimates of potential impacts on air quality, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, global mean surface temperature, precipitation, and sea level rise. The DEIS provides a qualitative analysis of resources that may be impacted by changes in climate, such as freshwater resources, terrestrial ecosystems, coastal ecosystems, land use, human health, and environmental justice. It examines these impacts on the U.S. and on a global scale. In addition, the DEIS analyzes potential environmental impacts unrelated to climate change.

In accordance with the procedures of 49 CFR Part 555, Automobili Lamborghini SpA (``Lamborghini'') has applied for an extension of a previously received temporary exemption from certain requirements of FMVSS No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection, for the Lamborghini Murcielago model. Lamborghini requests extension of its temporary exemption for the advanced air bag requirements. The basis of the application is that compliance would cause substantial economic hardship to a manufacturer that has tried in good faith to comply with the standard.

The purpose of this request for comments is to acquire updated information regarding vehicle manufacturers' future product plans to assist the agency in assessing what corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards should be established for model years 2012 through 2016 passenger cars and light trucks. The establishment of those standards is required by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, Public Law 110-140. This request for comments is being issued concurrently with a joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by NHTSA and EPA to proposed CAFE and greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for MYs 2012- 2016 passenger cars and light trucks.

NHTSA is republishing the Privacy Act system of records notice (SORN) for the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save program (CARS program) database system replacing the previously published SORN of July 27, 2009 in order to: (1) Expand the routine uses of records maintained in the system to include sharing complaint records with State Attorneys General and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), for purposes of investigating and prosecuting criminal violations, including fraud associated with the CARS program, and (2) update the system location, storage and retrievability sections of the SORN to reflect the use of word-searchable electronic files (i.e., Excel spreadsheets) to store complaint information, including that to be shared with the State Attorneys General and NAAG. These changes are more thoroughly detailed below and in the accompanying updated Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) that may be found on the DOT Privacy Web site at https://www.dot.gov/privacy.

This notice announces the Eighteenth Public Meeting of members of the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network. CIREN is a collaborative effort to conduct research on crashes and injuries at eight Level 1 Trauma Centers across the United States linked by a computer network. Researchers can review data and share expertise, which may lead to a better understanding of crash injury mechanisms and the design of safer vehicles. The eight centers will give presentations on current research based on CIREN data. The agenda will be posted to the CIREN Web site that can be accessed by going to the NHTSA homepage https://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/, click on Vehicle Safety Research on the right side of the top toolbar, then click on Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) in the box on the left. The agenda will be posted two weeks prior to the meeting.

The Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007 (the ``K.T. Safety Act of 2007'') directs NHTSA to consider amending the Federal motor vehicle safety standard aimed at minimizing the likelihood of death or injury from the accidental operation of power window systems. The amendment would require power windows and panels on motor vehicles to automatically reverse direction when such power windows and panels detect an obstruction to prevent children and others from being trapped, injured, or killed. In the event that NHTSA chooses not to require power windows and panels on motor vehicles to automatically reverse direction when such power windows and panels detect an obstruction, the Act requires that the agency submit a report to Congress describing why such standards were not prescribed and publish a list of vehicles that are or are not equipped with power windows and panels that automatically reverse direction when an obstruction is detected.