National Highway Traffic Safety Administration June 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden.

This document requests comments on data about passenger motor vehicle thefts that occurred in calendar year (CY) 2010 including theft rates for existing passenger motor vehicle lines manufactured in model year (MY) 2010. The preliminary theft data indicate that the vehicle theft rate for CY/MY 2010 vehicles (1.17 thefts per thousand vehicles) decreased by 12.03 percent from the theft rate for CY/MY 2009 vehicles (1.33 thefts per thousand vehicles). Publication of these data fulfills NHTSA's statutory obligation to periodically obtain accurate and timely theft data, and publish the information for review and comment.

GTC North America, Inc., on behalf of Guizhou Tyre I/E Co. LTD (collectively referred to as ``GTC'') has determined that certain Samson and Advance brand ST trailer Tires, do not fully comply with paragraph S6.5 (j) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New pneumatic tires for motor vehicles with a GVWR of more than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) and motorcycles. GTC has filed an appropriate report dated March 22, 2012, pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) (see implementing rule at 49 CFR Part 556), GTC submitted a petition for an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. This notice of receipt of GTC's petition is published under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition. Equipment involved: Affected are approximately 4,291 size ST235/ 85R16/14 ply Samson and Advance brand ST Trailer Tires manufactured from December 4, 2011 through March 31, 2012. NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, these provisions only apply to the subject 4,291 \1\ tires that GTC no longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), on March 30, 2011 (76 FR 17746) the agency published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register soliciting public comment on the proposed information collection abstracted below. On January 17, 2012 (77 FR 2344), the agency published a second notice in the Federal Register. In further compliance with the PRA, the agency now publishes this 30-day notice announcing the submission of its proposed collection to OMB for review and notifying the public about how to submit comments on the collection to OMB during the 30-day comment period.

Section 402 of title 23 of the United States Code requires the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate uniform guidelines for State highway safety programs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is seeking comments on proposed amendments to five (5) guidelines and one (1) new guideline that reflect program methodologies and approaches that have proven to be successful and are based on sound science and program administration. The guidelines the agency proposes to revise are: Guideline No. 1 Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspection, Guideline No. 2 Motor Vehicle Registration, Guideline No. 6 Codes and Laws, Guideline No. 16 Management of Highway Incidents (formerly Debris Hazard Control and Cleanup), and Guideline No. 18 Motor Vehicle Crash Investigation and Incident Reporting (formerly Accident Investigation and Reporting). The new guideline is No. 13 Older Driver Safety. NHTSA believes the proposed amendments and new guideline will provide more accurate, current and effective guidance to the States. The guidelines will be made publicly available on the NHTSA Web site.

NHTSA announces a meeting of the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services (FICEMS) to be held in the Washington, DC area. This notice announces the date, time and location of the meeting, which will be open to the public. Pre-registration is required to attend.

This notice updates the Conforming Products List (CPL) published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2010 (75 FR 11624) for instruments that conform to the Model Specifications for Evidential Breath Alcohol Measurement Devices dated, September 17, 1993 (58 FR 48705).

This document proposes fees for Fiscal Year 2013 and until further notice, as authorized by 49 U.S.C. 30141, relating to the registration of importers and the importation of motor vehicles not certified as conforming to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS). These fees are needed to maintain the registered importer (RI) program.

On January 13, 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) granted in full Ford Motor Company's (Ford) petition for an exemption in accordance with Sec. 543.9(c)(2) of 49 CFR part 543, Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard for the Ford Fusion vehicle line beginning with its model year (MY) 2012 vehicles. On February 16, 2012, Ford submitted a petition to modify its previously approved exemption for the Ford Fusion vehicle line beginning with model year (MY) 2013. Ford also requested confidential treatment of specific information in its petition by letter dated April 25, 2012. The agency will address Ford's request for confidential treatment by separate letter. NHTSA is granting Ford's petition to modify the exemption in full because it has determined that the modified device is also likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard.

There is a NHTSA regulation that permits motor vehicle dealers and repair businesses to install retrofit on-off switches for air bags in vehicles owned by or used by persons whose request for a switch has been approved by the agency. This regulation is only available for motor vehicles manufactured before September 1, 2012. In this document, the agency proposes to extend the availability of this regulation for three additional years, so that it would apply to motor vehicles manufactured before September 1, 2015.

This final rule announces NHTSA's determination that there are no new model year (MY) 2013 light duty truck lines subject to the parts-marking requirements of the Federal motor vehicle theft prevention standard, because they have been determined by the agency to be high-theft or because they have a majority of interchangeable parts with those of a passenger motor vehicle line. This final rule also identifies those vehicle lines that have been granted an exemption from the parts-marking requirements, because the vehicles are equipped with antitheft devices determined to meet certain statutory criteria.