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

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 is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and the expected burden. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period was published on June 13, 2012 (77 FR 35473-35475).

On February 2, 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) granted in full Mitsubishi Motors R&D (Mitsubishi) of America's 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 Mitsubishi Outlander vehicle line beginning with its model year (MY) 2011 vehicles. On August 6, 2012, Mitsubishi submitted a petition to modify its previously approved exemption for the Outlander vehicle line beginning with its model year (MY) 2014 vehicles. Mitsubishi also requested confidential treatment of specific information in its petition. The agency will address Mitsubishi's request for confidential treatment by separate letter. NHTSA is granting Mitsubishi'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.

This document increases the maximum civil penalty amounts for violations of motor vehicle safety requirements for the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended, and violations of bumper standards and consumer information provisions. Specifically, this increases the maximum civil penalty amounts for single violations of motor vehicle safety requirements, a series of related violations of school bus and equipment safety requirements, a series of related violations of bumper standards, and a series of related violations of consumer information regarding crashworthiness and damage susceptibility requirements. 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 us to review and, as warranted, adjust penalties based on inflation at least every four years.

This document announces a final decision by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that certain vehicles that do not comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS), but that are certified by their original manufacturer as complying with all applicable Canadian motor vehicle safety standards (CMVSS), are nevertheless eligible for importation into the United States. The vehicles in question either (1) are substantially similar to vehicles that were certified by their manufacturers as complying with the U.S. safety standards and are capable of being readily altered to conform to those standards, or (2) have safety features that comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply with, all U.S. safety standards.

NHTSA seeks comments on the economic impact of its regulations on small entities. As required by Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, we are attempting to identify rules that may have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. We also request comments on ways to make these regulations easier to read and understand. The focus of this notice is rules that specifically relate to passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, trailers, motorcycles, and motor vehicle equipment.

This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a Technical Report reviewing and evaluating its existing Safety Standard 138, Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems. The report's title is: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of TPMS in Proper Tire Pressure Maintenance.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that nonconforming 2009 Porsche Cayenne S multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPV) 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 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 (the U.S.-certified version of the 2009 Porsche Cayenne S MPV) and they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.