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

Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) on behalf of itself and its parent company Daimler AG (DAG), has determined that certain model year (MY) 2016-2017 Mercedes-Benz GLE and GLS-Class motor vehicles do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110, Tire Selection and Rims and Motor Home/Recreation Vehicle Trailer Load Carrying Capacity Information for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or Less. MBUSA filed a noncompliance information report dated December 12, 2016, and subsequently petitioned NHTSA on December 22, 2016, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This document announces the grant of MBUSA's petition.

General Motors, LLC (GM), has determined that certain model year (MY) 2018 Buick Regal motor vehicles do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110, Tire Selection and Rims and Motor Home/Recreation Vehicle Trailer Load Carrying Capacity Information for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or Less. GM filed a noncompliance report dated April 4, 2018, and subsequently petitioned NHTSA on April 27, 2018, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This document announces the grant of GM's petition.

NHTSA is seeking public comment on the near- and long-term challenges of testing and verifying compliance with existing crash avoidance (100-series) Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs) for Automated Driving System-Dedicated Vehicles (ADS-DVs) that lack traditional manual controls necessary for a human driver to maneuver the vehicle and other features intended to facilitate operation of a vehicle by a human driver, but that are otherwise traditional vehicles with typical seating configurations. This document seeks comments on the suitability of various approaches that could be used to address compliance verification challenges that exist for crash avoidance standards that either require a manual control; or specify the use of manual controls in a compliance test procedure. NHTSA's long-term goal is to use what the agency learns from this ANPRM, as well as the agency's other research efforts, to develop a proposal to amend the crash avoidance FMVSSs in ways that address these and other compliance challenges with a continued focus on safety. This ANPRM builds on NHTSA's efforts to identify and address regulatory barriers to ADS technologies, including the request for comments (RFC) on this topic in January 2018. NHTSA intends to issue two additional documents to remove barriers in the crashworthiness FMVSSs (200-series standards) and address issues in the FMVSSs pertaining to telltales, indicators, and warnings in ADS-DVs.

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.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information collection was published May 16, 2018. The agency did not receive any comments.

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA), has determined that certain model year (MY) 2013-2018 Thomas Built Buses do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 222, School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection. DTNA filed a noncompliance report dated November 27, 2017. DTNA in Collaboration with SynTec Seating Solutions, LLC ``SynTec'' (the seating manufacturer), subsequently petitioned NHTSA on December 15, 2017, and later updated it on September 21, 2018, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This document announces receipt of DTNA's petition.

FCA US LLC (FCA US), (formally known as: Chrysler Group LLC) and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen), have determined that certain Mopar Service seat belt assemblies sold to FCA dealers and Volkswagen dealers as replacement equipment in certain model year (MY) 1992-2018 FCA US motor vehicles and certain MY 2009-2018 Volkswagen Routan motor vehicles, do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 209, Seat Belt Assemblies. The petitioners have requested that NHTSA deem the subject noncompliance inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. This document grants both petitions in full.

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 an Information Collection Request (ICR) for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.