National Highway Traffic Safety Administration May 15, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This proposal is being issued pursuant to the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act which requires the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to extend the period of time manufacturers of motor vehicles, tires and child restraint systems must retain records concerning defects and malfunctions that may be related to motor vehicle safety under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Safety Act). Section 24403 of the FAST Act directs the Secretary to issue a rule increasing the time of record retention to a period not less than ten years, instead of five years as presently required under the regulatory provisions. Pursuant to its delegated authority, NHTSA is proposing to update our regulations in accordance with this mandate. This proposed update is not intended to change the scope of the existing rule, other than as specifically described in this notice, but is intended to aid in efficiently and effectively improving the agency's ability to identify safety defects and noncompliances.