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

This notice solicits public comment 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 approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections. This document describes a collection of information associated with 49 CFR Part 574, Tire Identification and Recordkeeping.

This document proposes amendments to certain provisions of the early warning reporting (EWR) rule published pursuant to the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act, responds to a petition for rulemaking, and proposes amendments to information identifying products involved in a recall under 49 CFR part 573 Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. This document proposes to modify the threshold for submitting quarterly EWR reports for light vehicle, bus, and trailer manufacturers. It further proposes to require manufacturers to submit product names that are consistent from reporting quarter to quarter or advise NHTSA of changes; to add a requirement that light vehicle manufacturers specify the vehicle type and the fuel or propulsion system type of each model in their quarterly EWR submissions; to add a new component category for light vehicle manufacturers; and to correct the definition of ``other safety campaign.'' It also proposes to amend part 573 Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports to add a requirement that tire manufacturers provide tire identification numbers of recalled tires and manufacturers provide the country of origin of a component involved in a recall.

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, incomplete vehicles, motorcycles, and motor vehicle equipment.

In this final rule, we are amending our tire identification and recordkeeping regulation to codify existing interpretations regarding opportunities for electronic registration of tire sales and leases and to create new opportunities for the public to use electronic means to register new tires. This regulation requires manufacturer- owned tire distributors and dealers to register the names and addresses of the people to whom they sell or lease new tires, and currently specifies the use of standardized paper forms for this purpose. It also requires independent distributors and dealers to provide purchasers with standardized registration forms, with the tire identification number filled in, that they can complete and mail to the manufacturer or its designee. Today's rule accommodates and facilitates Internet and other electronic registration of tires, including voluntary registration of tires by independent dealers.

This notice asks for public comments on DJG's appeal of NHTSA's denial of its petitions for two inconsequential noncompliances with the Federal safety standard for child restraint systems. This notice simply summarizes DJG's appealit does not represent NHTSA's judgment or findings on the appeal. All public comments will be considered along with the information in DJG's appeal and other relevant information as the agency makes its final decision on these petitions for inconsequential noncompliance.

This document grants in full the petition of Ford Motor Company (Ford) in accordance with Sec. 543.9(c)(2) of 49 CFR Part 543, Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard, for the Ford Mercury Mariner vehicle line beginning with model year (MY) 2010. 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.

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 a collection of phase-in information on the Appendix A-1 phase-in requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant crash protection'' for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

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 one collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

NHTSA is amending Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant crash protection,'' to update many of the child restraint systems (CRSs) listed in Appendix A of the standard. The CRSs in Appendix A are used by NHTSA to test advanced air bag suppression or low risk deployment systems, to ensure that the air bag systems pose no reasonable safety risk to infants and small children in the real world. The amendments replace the CRSs listed in Appendix A with CRSs that are more available and more representative of the CRS fleet currently on the market.

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. This document describes a collection of information on eight Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSSs) and one regulation, for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval. The information collection pertains to requirements that specify certain safety precautions regarding items of motor vehicle equipment must appear in the vehicle owner's manual.

This final rule upgrades the school bus passenger crash protection requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 222. This final rule requires new school buses of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or less gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) (``small school buses'') to have lap/shoulder belts in lieu of the lap belts currently required. This final rule also sets performance standards for seat belts voluntarily installed on school buses with a GVWR greater than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) (``large school buses''). Each State or local jurisdiction may decide whether to install seat belts on these large school buses. Other changes to school bus safety requirements include raising the height of seat backs from 508 mm (20 inches) to 610 mm (24 inches) on all new school buses and requiring a self-latching mechanism on seat bottom cushions that are designed to flip up or be removable without tools.

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 reinstatements of previously approved collections. This document describes one collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

This document grants in full the Chrysler LLC, (Chrysler) petition for exemption of the Dodge Journey 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).

NHTSA is proposing to amend several aspects of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 218, Motorcycle Helmets. Some of the amendments would help realize the full potential of compliant helmets by aiding state and local law enforcement officials in enforcing state helmet use laws, thereby increasing the percentage of motorcycle riders wearing helmets compliant with FMVSS No. 218. The amendments would do this by adopting additional requirements and revising existing requirements to reduce misleading labeling of novelty helmets that creates the impression that uncertified, noncompliant helmets have been properly certified as compliant. The other amendments would aid NHTSA in enforcing the standard by specifying a quasi-static load application rate for the helmet retention system; revising the impact attenuation test by specifying test velocity and tolerance limits and removing the drop height requirement; providing tolerances for the helmet conditioning specifications; revising requirements related to size labeling and location of the DOT symbol; correcting figures 7 and 8 in the Standard; and updating the reference in S7.1.9 to SAE recommended practice J211.

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 collections and their expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period was published on Friday, May 2, 2008 [U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2008-0091, Federal Register Vol. 73, Pages 24349-24350].

This document responds to a petition for reconsideration of our 2006 final rule increasing the maximum gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) for low speed vehicles (LSVs) to 3,000 pounds. The agency established a GVWR limit (initially set at 2,500 pounds) in order to provide an objective means to delineate between vehicles for which the limited LSV requirements are appropriate and those that can be designed to meet the full set of Federal motor vehicle safety standards. Our 2006 final rule increased the limit to 3,000 pounds, in order to accommodate the heavier weight of load-carrying LSVs and electric batteries. A petition for reconsideration was received from Electronic Transportation Applications (ETA), which seeks to further increase the GVWR limit for electric-powered LSVs to 4,000 pounds, as well as to add additional regulations to regulate braking performance and tire specifications. The agency is denying the petitioner's request for the reasons discussed in this document.

This document adopts fees for Fiscal Year 2009 and until further notice, as authorized by 49 U.S.C. 30141, relating to the registration of importers and the importation of motor vehicles not certified as conforming to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS). These fees are needed to maintain the registered importer (RI) program. We are increasing the fees for the registration of a new RI from $677 to $760 and the annual fee for renewing an existing registration from $570 to $651. These fees include the costs of maintaining the RI program. The fee required to reimburse Customs for conformance bond processing costs will increase from $9.77 to $10.23 per bond. We are decreasing the fees to be collected from the importer of each vehicle covered by an import eligibility decision made on an individual make, model, and model year basis. For vehicles determined eligible based on their substantial similarity to a U.S. certified vehicle, the fee will decrease from $208 to $198. For vehicles determined eligible based on their capability of being modified to comply with all applicable FMVSS, the fee will also decrease from $208 to $198. In the event that a petitioner requests an inspection of a vehicle, the fee for such an inspection will remain $827 for vehicles that are the subject of either type of petition. The fee that an RI must pay as a processing cost for review of each conformity package that it submits to NHTSA will increase to $14 from $13 per certificate. If the vehicle has been entered electronically with Customs through the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) and the registered importer has an e-mail address, the fee for processing the conformity package will continue to be $6, provided the fee is paid by credit card. However, if NHTSA finds that the information in the entry or the conformity package is incorrect, the processing fee will be $48, representing no change from the fee that is currently charged when there are one or more errors in the ABI entry or omissions in the statement of conformity.

In accordance with the procedures in 49 CFR Part 555, Think Technology AS has petitioned the agency for a temporary exemption from certain advanced air bag requirements of FMVSS No. 208. The basis for the application is that the exemption would make the development or field evaluation of a low-emission vehicle easier and would not unreasonably lower the safety or impact protection level of the vehicle.\1\

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of two petitions for a decision that certain 1997-2001 Jeep Cherokee multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) 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 (1) 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, and (2) they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

NHTSA is proposing to remove the sunset of a requirement in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant crash protection,'' that a vehicle's lap belt must be lockable to tightly secure a child restraint system. Under FMVSS No. 208, the requirement ceases to apply to designated seating positions that are equipped with a child restraint anchorage system on vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2012. This NPRM proposes to amend the standard such that the requirement will continue to apply after September 1, 2012, even when a child restraint anchorage system is present. Data indicate that motorists are still using vehicle belts to attach child restraint systems to a large degree, so the agency is seeking to ensure that lap belts continue to be lockable in vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2012.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 2005-2006 Mercedes Benz SLK class (171 chassis) passenger cars manufactured between August 31, 2004 and August 31, 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 (1) 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 2005-2006 Mercedes Benz SLK class (171 chassis) passenger cars manufactured between August 31, 2004 and August 31, 2006,) and (2) they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

This notice announces the publication by NHTSA of its Evaluation Program Plan for 2008-2012. The report describes the agency's ongoing and planned evaluations of its existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards [49 CFR part 571] and other vehicle-safety, behavioral-safety and consumer programs. It also summarizes the results of completed evaluations. The agency's evaluation program responds to Executive Order 12866, which provides for Government-wide review of existing significant Federal regulations. This notice solicits public review and comment on the evaluation plan. Comments received will be used to improve the plan.