National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NHTSA and EPA published in the Federal Register of November 30, 2010, proposed rules to establish a comprehensive Heavy-Duty National Program that will increase fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for on-road heavy-duty vehicles, responding to the President's directive on May 21, 2010, to take coordinated steps to produce a new generation of clean vehicles. That document inadvertently contained some incorrect fuel consumption values in NHTSA-specific tables in the preamble that resulted from using an incorrect conversion factor for determining CO2 emissions to equivalent fuel consumption for gasoline fuel. That document also contained some rounding errors in NHTSA-specific tables in the preamble. This document corrects the rounding errors by adopting a uniform rounding approach for all fuel consumption equivalents for those NHTSA-specific tables and makes the appropriate corrections to the conversions.

This document increases the maximum civil penalty amounts for related series of violations of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended (Vehicle Safety Act) and increases the liability for a violation of odometer disclosure or other odometer requirements with intent to defraud. This action is taken pursuant to the Federal Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, which requires NHTSA to review and, as warranted, adjust penalties based on inflation at least every four years.

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

This final rule makes two changes to the agency's specifications for the Hybrid III six-year-old child dummy, and the Hybrid III six-year-old weighted child test dummy. First, to improve the durability of the dummies' femurs we are changing the design of and material used for the femur assembly. Second, we correct the drawings for the abdomen insert so that the abdominal insert dimensions on the drawings reflect actual parts in the field. The correction responds to a petition for rulemaking submitted by Denton ATD and First Technology Safety Systems.

On May 21, 2010, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum requesting that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), on behalf of the Department of Transportation, develop, through notice and comment rulemaking, a coordinated National Program under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), as amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), to improve fuel economy and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of light-duty vehicles for model years 2017-2025. President Obama requested that the agencies issue a Notice of Intent (NOI) to issue a proposed rulemaking that announces plans for setting stringent fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for light-duty vehicles for model year 2017 and beyond. On September 30, 2010, the agencies issued the requested Notice, which described the agencies' initial assessment of potential levels of stringency for a National Program for model years 2017-2025 (See 75 FR 62739 (Oct. 13, 2010). This Supplemental Notice highlights input on many of the key issues the agencies have received in response to the September NOI and the accompanying Interim Joint Technical Assessment (TAR) developed by EPA, NHTSA, and the California Air Resources Board, and also provides an overview of many of the key technical analyses the agencies have planned and are conducting to support the upcoming proposed rule.

NHTSA has received a petition asking the agency to extend the comment period for its proposal to upgrade the Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) that applies to new pneumatic tires for use on vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 10,000 pounds and motorcycles. In the proposal, NHTSA established a deadline for the submission of written comments of November 29, 2010. In light of that petition and the need to ensure that all interested parties have a sufficient amount of time to fully develop their comments, the agency is extending the deadline for the submission of written comments by 30 days.

EPA and NHTSA, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, are each proposing rules to establish a comprehensive Heavy-Duty National Program that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase fuel efficiency for on-road heavy-duty vehicles, responding to the President's directive on May 21, 2010, to take coordinated steps to produce a new generation of clean vehicles. NHTSA's proposed fuel consumption standards and EPA's proposed carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions standards would be tailored to each of three regulatory categories of heavy-duty vehicles: Combination Tractors; Heavy-Duty Pickup Trucks and Vans; and Vocational Vehicles, as well as gasoline and diesel heavy-duty engines. EPA's proposed hydrofluorocarbon emissions standards would apply to air conditioning systems in tractors, pickup trucks, and vans, and EPA's proposed nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions standards would apply to all heavy-duty engines, pickup trucks, and vans. EPA is also requesting comment on possible alternative CO2-equivalent approaches for model year 2012-14 light-duty vehicles. EPA's proposed greenhouse gas emission standards under the Clean Air Act would begin with model year 2014. NHTSA's proposed fuel consumption standards under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 would be voluntary in model years 2014 and 2015, becoming mandatory with model year 2016 for most regulatory categories. Commercial trailers would not be regulated in this phase of the Heavy- Duty National Program, although there is a discussion of the possibility of future action for trailers.

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.

This document proposes to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, Child Restraint Systems, regarding a Hybrid III 10-year-old child test dummy that the agency seeks to use in the compliance test procedures of the standard. This document supplements a 2005 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and a 2008 SNPRM previously published in this rulemaking (RIN 2127-AJ44) regarding this test dummy. In the 2005 NPRM, in response to Anton's Law, NHTSA proposed to adopt the 10-year-old child test dummy into FMVSS No. 213 to test child restraints for older children. Subsequently, to address variation that was found in dummy readings due to chin-to-chest contact, NHTSA published the 2008 SNPRM to propose a NHTSA-developed procedure for positioning the test dummy in belt-positioning seats. Comments on the SNPRM objected to the positioning procedure, and some suggested an alternative procedure developed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). Today's SNPRM proposes to use the UMTRI procedure to position the test dummy rather than the NHTSA-developed procedure. We note that the 10-year-old child dummy may sometimes experience stiff contact between its chin and upper sternal bib region which may result in an unrealistically high value of the head injury criterion (HIC) \1\ referenced in the standard. Accordingly, NHTSA proposes that the dummy's HIC measurement will not be used to assess the compliance of the tested child restraint. This SNPRM also proposes other amendments to FMVSS No. 213, including a proposal to permit NHTSA to use, at the manufacturer's option, the Hybrid II or Hybrid III versions of the 6-year-old test dummy, and a proposal to use the UMTRI procedure to position the Hybrid III 6-year- old and 10-year-old dummies when testing belt-positioning seats.

This document grants in full the BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) petition for exemption of the Carline X1 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).

In accordance with the procedures in 49 CFR Part 555, Terrafugia, Inc. (``Terrafugia''), has petitioned the agency for a temporary exemption from certain FMVSS requirements for the Transition[reg], a Light Sport Aircraft that has road-going capability. Terrafugia seeks exemption from the FMVSS requirements for tire selection and rims for motor vehicles (FMVSS No. 110), electronic stability control systems (FMVSS No. 126), glazing materials (FMVSS No. 205), and occupant crash protection, specifically advanced air bags (FMVSS No. 208). The basis for the application is that compliance would cause substantial economic hardship to a manufacturer that has tried in good faith to comply with the standard. NHTSA is publishing this notice of receipt of an application for temporary exemption and providing an opportunity to comment in accordance with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. Sec. 30113(b)(2). NHTSA has not made any judgment on the merits of the application.

This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a Technical Report, its existing Safety Standard 223, Rear Impact Guards and Safety Standard 224, Rear Impact Protection. The report's title is: The Effectiveness of Underride Guards for Heavy Trailers.

This document responds to petitions for reconsideration of the agency's May 2007 final rule amending our head restraint standard, and to related petitions for rulemaking. This document also makes technical corrections. The May 2007 final rule was issued in response to petitions for reconsideration of our December 2004 final rule upgrading our head restraint standard. We are partially granting and partially denying the petitions for reconsideration.

In this final rule, we respond to petitions for reconsideration of a final rule published on October 21, 2008, which upgraded NHTSA's school bus passenger crash protection requirements. This document denies most of the requests in the petitions for reconsideration. To the extent we grant petitions, we make slight changes to the regulatory text of the October 2008 final rule to clarify the rule. We make clearer the procedure specifying how we will measure the height of school bus passenger torso belts, and we are clarifying that a requirement that seat belts be integral to the passenger seat (a requirement adopted to reduce the likelihood of passengers getting injured by or tangled in loose belts) also applies to seats that have wheelchair positions or side emergency doors behind them, even if the seats are in the last row of vehicles. We are also slightly revising the procedure for testing the self- latching requirement for school bus seat cushions, to specify the weight that is placed on the seat cushion in Newtons, to specify that the downward force is applied in a one to five second timeframe, and to specify that activation of the self-latching mechanism is assessed using the seat cushion retention test. Those provisions make the language more consistent with that of a pre-existing seat cushion retention test in the 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 proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections. This document describes one collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, the agency must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatements of previously approved collections. In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice describes one collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval, relating to confidential business information.

The NHTSA announces a teleconference meeting of NEMSAC to be held in October 2010. This notice announces the date, time and call-in information for the meeting, which will be open to the public. The purpose of NEMSAC is to serve as 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.

This NPRM proposes to upgrade Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, which specifies requirements for new truck tires. We propose to amend FMVSS No. 119 to adopt more stringent endurance test requirements and a new high speed test for several heavy load range tires for vehicles with gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of more than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds). We are also proposing that FMVSS No. 119 require that the tire sidewall be labeled with the tire's maximum speed rating.

This NPRM proposes to amend our regulations to correct and expand a reference in an exemption relating to the Federal motor vehicle safety standard for side impact protection. The expanded exemption would facilitate the mobility of physically disabled drivers and passengers. This document responds to a petition from Bruno Independent Living Aids.

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. On September 3, 2010, NHTSA published a request for comment on one collection of information for which it intends to seek OMB approval (75 FR 54217). This notice elaborates on some specific areas NHTSA is requesting comment on that were not mentioned in the original notice.