National Highway Traffic Safety Administration January 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On July 10, 2017, Takata Corporation (``Takata'') filed a defect information report (``DIR'') in which it determined that a safety-related defect exists in phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (``PSAN'') driver-side air bag inflators that it manufactured with a calcium sulfate desiccant and supplied to Ford Motor Company (``Ford''), Mazda North American Operations (``Mazda''), and Nissan North America Inc. (``Nissan'') for use in certain vehicles. Ford petitioned the Agency for a decision that the equipment defect determined to exist by Takata is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety in the Ford vehicles affected by Takata's DIR, and that Ford should therefore be relieved of its notification and remedy obligations under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 and its applicable regulations. After reviewing the petition, NHTSA has concluded that Ford has not met its burden of establishing that the defect is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and denies the petition.

On October 2, 2020, NHTSA received a petition for rulemaking from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation regarding when to apply an increase to the civil penalty rate applicable to automobile manufacturers that fail to meet applicable corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards and are unable to offset such a deficit with compliance credits. After carefully considering the issues raised, NHTSA has granted the petition and promulgates an interim final rule providing that the increase will go into effect beginning in model year 2022 in accordance with NHTSA's December 2016 rule on the same issue, except if the August 31, 2020 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Case No. 19-2395 is vacated. This interim final rule amends the relevant regulatory text accordingly and requests comment. This document also responds to a petition for reconsideration of NHTSA's July 2019 rule from the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law.

This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a petition submitted on December 19, 2019, by Mr. Brian Sparks to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). The petition requests that the Agency recall Tesla vehicles for an unidentified defect that allegedly causes sudden unintended acceleration (SUA). NHTSA opened Defect Petition DP20-001 to evaluate the petitioner's request. After reviewing the information provided by the petitioner and Tesla regarding the alleged defect and the subject complaints, NHTSA has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to warrant further action at this time. Accordingly, the Agency has denied the petition.

In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, this final rule provides the 2020 inflation adjustment to civil penalty amounts that may be imposed for violations of certain DOT regulations. In additional, this final rule makes conforming revisions to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations to reflect inflationary adjustments to the statutorily-mandated civil penalties for violations of Federal law.

This notice announces a meeting of the National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (NEMSAC).

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below is being submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. This new information collection seeks to assess the knowledge of drivers nationwide about the laws governing passing a school bus. A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting public comments on the following information collection was published on July 17, 2020. By the close of the comment period, NHTSA received six comments.

NHTSA has received petitions asking the Agency to extend the comment period for a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to update Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, ``Child restraint systems.'' The NPRM proposed to incorporate a new test sled assembly to conduct compliance tests of child restraints and update a number of the test procedures of the standard. The comment period for the NPRM is scheduled to end on January 4, 2021. In response to petitions from the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the Agency is extending the comment period by 90 days.

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (Porsche), has determined that certain model year (MY) 2008-2019 Porsche Cayenne and Macan motor vehicles do not comply with Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) 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. Porsche filed a noncompliance report dated March 28, 2019, and subsequently petitioned NHTSA on April 20, 2019, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This notice announces the grant of Porsche's petition.