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

This proposed rule would amend the regulations 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 change would allow disposal facilities an additional 90 days, for a total of 270 days, to crush or shred a vehicle traded in under the CARS program. This additional time would allow the public to benefit from the availability of lower cost used vehicle parts from vehicles traded in under the CARS program and would provide disposal facilities with an opportunity to derive more revenue from those vehicles prior to crushing or shredding.

The NHTSA announces a meeting of NEMSAC to be held in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area. This notice announces the date, time and location of the meeting, which will be open to the public. The purpose of NEMSAC is to provide a nationally recognized council of emergency medical services representatives and consumers to provide advice and recommendations regarding Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to the U.S. DOT's NHTSA.

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.

The State of Texas has petitioned for approval of alternate requirements to certain requirements under Federal odometer law. NHTSA has initially determined that Texas's alternate requirements satisfy Federal odometer law, with limited exceptions. Accordingly, NHTSA has preliminarily decided to grant Texas's petition, on the condition that before NHTSA makes a final determination, Texas amends its program to meet all the requirements of Federal odometer law or demonstrates that it meets the requirements of Federal law. This notice is not a final agency action.

This document grants in full the Fuji Heavy Industries U.S.A., Inc.'s (FUSA) petition for exemption of the Subaru Legacy vehicle line in accordance with 49 CFR part 543, Exemption From the 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 (49 CFR part 541).

This final rule delays the effective date of a final rule that reorganized and improved the structure and clarity of the Federal motor vehicle safety standard on lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment. The final rule reorganizing the lighting standard was published on December 4, 2007 with an effective date of September 1, 2008.\1\ The effective date was extended to December 1, 2009 in a final rule published on August 28, 2008.\2\ The agency received fourteen petitions for reconsideration of the 2007 final rule, including two that requested a delay in the effective date of the rule, and others that raised concerns that the reorganization of FMVSS No. 108 imposed new requirements. This rule delays the effective date further, from December 1, 2009 to December 1, 2012, to enable the agency to fully resolve all of the issues raised in the petitions well before manufacturers are required to certify to the new requirements.

This document announces the availability of the Final Vehicle Safety Rulemaking and Research Priority Plan 2009-2011 (Priority Plan) in Docket No. NHTSA-2009-0108. The draft Priority Plan was announced in a Request for Comment published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2009. This document also summarizes the public comments received in response to that Request for Comments, and announces NHTSA's intent to incorporate those comments in the process of developing a longer-term motor vehicle safety strategic plan that would encompass the period 2010 to 2020, and will be announced in a separate Federal Register notice.

This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a petition (Defect Petition DP09-001) submitted by Mr. Jeffrey A. Pepski (petitioner) to the Administrator of NHTSA by a letter dated March 13, 2009, under 49 CFR part 552. The petitioner requests additional investigations of: (1) The unwanted and unintended acceleration of model year 2007 Lexus ES350 vehicles and (2) model years 2002-2003 Lexus ES300 for long duration incidents involving uncontrolled acceleration where brake pedal application had no effect.