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

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 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatements of previously approved collections.

Pursuant to a statutory mandate in the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007, NHTSA is placing a requirement in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 114 that certain motor vehicles with an automatic transmission that includes a ``park'' position manufactured for sale on or after September 1, 2010 be equipped with a brake transmission shift interlock (BTSI). This interlock must necessitate that the service brake pedal be depressed before the transmission can be shifted out of ``park,'' and must function in any starting system key position. The BTSI requirement adopted by this final rule is identical in substance to the Congressional requirement.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 1991 Porsche 911 series passenger cars 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 importation into and 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 1991 Porsche 911 series passenger cars), and they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

This document comprises the agency's second of two responses to petitions for reconsideration of a September 11, 2007, final rule that upgraded Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 214, ``Side impact protection.'' The final rule incorporated a vehicle-to- pole test into the standard, adopted technically-advanced test dummies and enhanced injury criteria, and incorporated the advanced dummies into the standard's moving deformable barrier test. An earlier response

This notice updates the Conforming Products List (CPL) published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2007 (72 FR 71480) for instruments that conform to the Model Specifications for Evidential Breath Alcohol Measurement Devices (58 FR 48705).

Since September 2007, new passenger vehicles have been required to be labeled with safety rating information published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). This information is required to be part of the Monroney (automobile price sticker) label. In July 2008, NHTSA announced a decision to enhance the NCAP ratings program. In this document, the agency is proposing to upgrade its regulation on vehicle labeling of safety rating information to reflect the enhanced NCAP ratings program. NHTSA is proposing, among other things, to include a new overall vehicle score on the Monroney label.

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 has been 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. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period was published on March 20, 2009 (74 FR 11992-11993).

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 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatements of previously approved collections.

This document provides the agency's response to petitions for reconsideration of a November 12, 2008 final rule that amended the child restraint systems (CRSs) prescribed in Appendix A of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant crash protection.'' The final rule established a new appendix, ``Appendix A- 1,'' which effectively deleted seven older CRSs, added five new CRSs, and provided cosmetic replacements for seven others. Today's response grants some aspects of two of the petitions. All other requests are denied.

This document grants in full the Hyundai-Kia Motors Corporation (HATCI) petition for exemption of the Hyundai VI vehicle line in accordance with 49 CFR part 543, Exemption from Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard. This petition is granted because the agency has determined that the antitheft device to be placed on the line as standard equipment is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of 49 CFR part 541, Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard.

This NPRM proposes to amend FMVSS No. 116, Motor Vehicle Brake Fluids, so that brake fluids would be tested with ethylene, propylene, and diene terpolymer (EPDM) rubber, as this type of rubber is increasingly being used in brake fluid seals. This NPRM also updates references to standards issued by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the American Society for Materials and Testing (ASTM) (no substantive changes to the standard would be made by these updates), and corrects minor errors in the standard.

This document increases the maximum civil penalty amounts for violations of motor vehicle safety requirements involving school buses, bumper standards, consumer information requirements, odometer tampering and disclosure requirements, and vehicle theft protection 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.

This NPRM proposes amendments to the regulations establishing the criteria for designing and conducting State seat belt use observational surveys, procedures for obtaining NHTSA approval of survey designs, and a new form for reporting seat belt use rates to NHTSA. NHTSA proposes these amendments so that future surveys will give States more accurate data to guide their occupant protection programs.

This document grants in full the Chrysler LLC, (Chrysler) petition for exemption of the Jeep Patriot vehicle line in accordance with 49 CFR Part 543, Exemption from Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard. This petition is granted because the agency has determined that the antitheft device to be placed on the line as standard equipment is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of 49 CFR Part 541, Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard.

This final rule amends the Insurer Reporting Requirements. The regulations specify the requirements for annual insurer reports and lists in appendices those passenger motor vehicle insurers that are required to file reports on their motor vehicle theft loss experiences. An insurer included in any of these appendices must file three copies of its report for the 2006 calendar year before October 25, 2009 as specified by law, but we acknowledge this notice has not been published by that date. Therefore, NHTSA will not take enforcement actions against any insurer that file the 2006 insurer reports after October 25, 2009, but not later than December 31, 2009. This is a one-time exception, based on the unique circumstances for 2009. All subsequent reports must be filed not later than October 25th of the year in which the reports are due. If the passenger motor vehicle insurers remain listed, they must submit reports by each subsequent October 25th.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 2005 and 2006 Mercedes Benz S-Class passenger cars manufactured before September 1, 2006, 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 importation into and 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 2005 and 2006 Mercedes Benz S-Class passenger cars manufactured before September 1, 2006,) and they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

This NPRM proposes two housekeeping measures relating to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 217, ``Bus emergency exits and window retention and release.'' First, in response to a petition for rulemaking from the School Bus Manufacturers' Technical Council, NHTSA proposes to amend the standard to specify that the exterior release (the exterior handle) for school bus rear emergency exit doors may be located opposite the door hinges. The standard currently specifies that the exterior release for rear emergency exit doors be located in the middle of the door. Second, this NPRM would clarify FMVSS No. 217 as to the number of force applications that are required to open a window or roof emergency exit. For exits with one release mechanism, the exit shall require two force applications to open. The standard currently specifies that the ``mechanism'' shall require two force applications to open. For exits with two release mechanisms, there shall be a total of three force applications to open the exit: one force application shall be applied to each of the two mechanisms to release the mechanism, and another force shall be applied to open the exit.

This document responds, in part, to petitions for reconsideration of an October 2008 final rule that amended the definition of the term, ``designated seating position,'' as used in the Federal motor vehicle safety standards, to clarify which areas within the interior of a vehicle meet that definition.

This notice of proposed rulemaking is being issued in response to a petition from Bruno Independent Living Aids to expand and update existing exemptions to the ``make inoperative'' prohibition with respect to the Federal motor vehicle safety standard on head restraints. These exemptions are included in a regulation that provides exemptions for the ``make inoperative'' provision for, among other things, vehicle modifications to accommodate people with disabilities. NHTSA is proposing two substantive changes to the regulation. The first is to expand the exemption from the minimum height requirements listed in the head restraint standard to include the right front passenger position in addition to the driver position. The second is to update the exemption to include relevant provisions of a new version of the head restraint standard. Additionally, this document proposes to update an existing reference in the exemption to reflect the current numbering in the Code of Federal Regulations. Finally, we are denying other requests to expand the exemption to certain other requirements of the head restraint standard.

This Notice amends and updates the list of devices that conform to the Model Specifications for Screening Devices to Measure Alcohol in Bodily Fluids.

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 has been 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.

This document grants in full the petition of General Motors Corporation's (GM) petition for an exemption of the Cadillac CTS vehicle line in accordance with 49 CFR part 543, Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard. This petition is granted because the agency has determined that the antitheft device to be placed on the line as standard equipment is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard (49 CFR part 541).

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 has been 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. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period was published on August 10, 2009 (74 FR 3991-3992).

This notice solicits public comments on continuation of the requirements for the collection of information on safety standards. 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.