Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Plain Language and Small Business Impacts of Motor Vehicle Safety |
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Topics: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
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Terry T. Shelton
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
31 May 2018
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 105 (Thursday, May 31, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 24962-24965]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11671]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Parts 571, 580, 581, 582, 583, 585, 587, 588, 591, 592, 593,
594, and 595
[Docket No. NHTSA-2018-0064]
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Plain Language and Small
Business Impacts of Motor Vehicle Safety
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notification of regulatory review; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: 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 notification is rules that
specifically relate to passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles,
trucks, buses, trailers, motorcycles, and motor vehicle equipment.
DATES: You should submit comments early enough to ensure that Docket
Management receives them not later than July 30, 2018.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments [identified by Docket Number NHTSA-
2018-0064] by any of the following methods:
Internet: To submit comments electronically, go to the
U.S. Government regulations website at http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Send comments to Docket Management Facility, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Delivery: If you plan to submit written comments by
hand or courier, please do so at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and
5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
Fax: Written comments may be faxed to 202-493-2251.
You may call Docket Management at 1-800-647-5527.
Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and
additional Information, see the COMMENTS heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document. Note that all comments received
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading
in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Roth, Office of Regulatory
Analysis and Evaluation, National Center for Statistics and Analysis,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590
(telephone 202-366-0818, fax 202-366-3189).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act
A. Background and Purpose
Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-
354), as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), requires agencies to conduct periodic
reviews of final rules that have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small business entities. The purpose of the
reviews is to determine whether such rules should be continued without
change, or should be amended or rescinded, consistent with the
objectives of applicable statutes, to minimize any significant economic
impact of the rules on a substantial number of such small entities.
B. Review Schedule
On December 1, 2008, NHTSA published in the Federal Register (73 FR
72758) a 10-year review plan for its existing regulations. The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, ``we'') has divided its
rules into 10 groups by subject area. Each group will be reviewed once
every 10 years, undergoing a two-stage process-an Analysis Year and a
Review Year. For purposes of these reviews, a year
[[Page 24963]]
will coincide with the fall-to-fall publication schedule of the
Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, see http://www.regulations.gov. Year 1
(2008) begins in the fall of 2008 and ends in the fall of 2009; Year 2
(2009) begins in the fall of 2009 and ends in the fall of 2010; and so
on.
During the Analysis Year, we will request public comment on and
analyze each of the rules in a given year's group to determine whether
any rule has a significant impact on a substantial number of small
entities and, thus, requires review in accordance with section 610 of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act. In each fall's Regulatory Agenda, we
will publish the results of the analyses we completed during the
previous year. For rules that have subparts, or other discrete sections
of rules that do have a significant impact on a substantial number of
small entities, we will announce that we will be conducting a formal
section 610 review during the following 12 months.
The section 610 review will determine whether a specific rule
should be revised or revoked to lessen its impact on small entities. We
will consider: (1) The continued need for the rule; (2) the nature of
complaints or comments received from the public; (3) the complexity of
the rule; (4) the extent to which the rule overlaps, duplicates, or
conflicts with other federal rules or with state or local government
rules; and (5) the length of time since the rule has been evaluated or
the degree to which technology, economic conditions, or other factors
have changed in the area affected by the rule. At the end of the Review
Year, we will publish the results of our review. The following table
shows the 10-year analysis and review schedule:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Section 610 Reviews
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Year Regulations to be reviewed Analysis year Review year
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1.......................................... 49 CFR 571.223 through 571.500, and 2008 2009
parts 575 and 579.
2.......................................... 23 CFR parts 1200 and 1300......... 2009 2010
3.......................................... 49 CFR parts 501 through 526 and 2010 2011
571.213.
4.......................................... 49 CFR 571.131, 571.217, 571.220, 2011 2012
571.221, and 571.222.
5.......................................... 49 CFR 571.101 through 571.110, and 2012 2013
571.135, 571.138 and 571.139.
6.......................................... 49 CFR parts 529 through 578, 2013 2014
except parts 571 and 575.
7.......................................... 49 CFR 571.111 through 571.129 and 2014 2015
parts 580 through 588.
8.......................................... 49 CFR 571.201 through 571.212..... 2015 2016
9.......................................... 49 CFR 571.214 through 571.219, 2016 2017
except 571.217.
10......................................... 49 CFR parts 591 through 595 and 2017 2018
new parts and subparts.
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C. Regulations Under Analysis
NHTSA did not publish a Federal Register notification for year 9,
opting instead to publish years 9 and 10 simultaneously. During this
year, we will continue to conduct a preliminary assessment of the
following sections of 49 CFR 571.214 through 571.219, except 571.217,
and also 49 CFR parts 591 through 595 and new parts and subparts.
Year 9
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Section Title
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571.214........................... Side impact protection.
571.215........................... [RESERVED].
571.216........................... Roof crush resistance; Applicable
unless a vehicle is certified to
Sec. 571.216a.
571.216a.......................... Roof crush resistance; Upgraded
Standard.
571.218........................... Motorcycle Helmets.
571.219........................... Windshield zone intrusion.
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Year 10
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Section Title
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591............................... Importation of Vehicles and
Equipment.
592............................... Registered Importers of Vehicles not
originally manufactured to meet
FMVSSs.
593............................... Determination that a vehicle not
originally manufactured to meet
FMVSS is eligible for importation.
594............................... Schedule of Fees Authorized by 49
U.S.C. 30141.
595............................... ``Make Inoperative'' Exemptions.
571.141........................... Sound Alerts.
571.136........................... ESC for Heavy Trucks.
571.111........................... Rear Visibility.
571.208, 571.210.................. Occupant Crash Protection.
571.214........................... Ejection Mitigation.
571.218........................... Motorcycle Helmets.
571.121........................... Air Brake Systems.
571.216........................... Roof Crush Resistance.
571.3, 571.5, 571.10, 571.210..... Designated Seating Positions and
Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages.
571.126........................... ESC Systems; Controls and Displays.
[[Page 24964]]
571.214........................... Occupant Protection in Interior
Impact; Side Impact Protection;
Fuel System Integrity, Electric
Powered Vehicles: Electrolyte
Spillage and Electrical Shock
Protection, Side Impact Phase in
Reporting Requirements.
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We are seeking comments on whether any requirements in 49 CFR
571.214 through 571.219, except 571.217, and 49 CFR 591 through 595,
and all new parts and subparts added since 2008 have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. ``Small
entities'' include small businesses, not-for-profit organizations that
are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations under 50,000.
Business entities are generally defined as small businesses by Standard
Industrial Classification (SIC) code, for the purposes of receiving
Small Business Administration (SBA) assistance. Size standards
established by SBA in 13 CFR 121.201 are expressed either in number of
employees or annual receipts in millions of dollars, unless otherwise
specified. The number of employees or annual receipts indicates the
maximum allowed for a concern and its affiliates to be considered
small. If your business or organization is a small entity and if any of
the requirements in 49 CFR 571.214 through 571.219, except 571.217, and
49 CFR 591 through 595, and all new parts and subparts added since 2008
have a significant economic impact on your business or organization,
please submit a comment to explain how and to what degree these rules
affect you, the extent of the economic impact on your business or
organization, and why you believe the economic impact is significant.
If the agency determines that there is a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities, it will ask for
comment in a subsequent notification during the Review Year on how
these impacts could be reduced without reducing safety.
II. Plain Language
A. Background and Purpose
Executive Order 12866 and the President's memorandum of June 1,
1998, require each agency to write all rules in plain language.
Application of the principles of plain language includes consideration
of the following questions:
Have we organized the material to suit the public's needs?
Are the requirements in the rule clearly stated?
Does the rule contain technical language or jargon that is
not clear?
Would a different format (grouping and order of sections,
use of headings, paragraphing) make the rule easier to understand?
Would more (but shorter) sections be better?
Could we improve clarity by adding tables, lists, or
diagrams?
What else could we do to make the rule easier to
understand?
If you have any responses to these questions, please include them
in your comments on this document.
B. Review Schedule
In conjunction with our section 610 reviews, we will be performing
plain language reviews over a ten-year period on a schedule consistent
with the section 610 review schedule. We will review 49 CFR 571.214
through 571.219, except 571.217, and 49 CFR 591 through 595, and all
new parts and subparts added since 2008, determine if these regulations
can be reorganized and/or rewritten to make them easier to read,
understand, and use. We encourage interested persons to submit draft
regulatory language that clearly and simply communicates regulatory
requirements, and other recommendations, such as for putting
information in tables that may make the regulations easier to use.
Comments
How do I prepare and submit comments?
Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your
comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the docket
number of this document in your comments.
Your comments must not be more than 15 pages long. (49 CFR 553.21.)
We established this limit to encourage you to write your primary
comments in a concise fashion. However, you may attach necessary
additional documents to your comments. There is no limit on the length
of the attachments.
Please submit one copy of your comments, including the attachments,
to Docket Management at the address given above under ADDRESSES.
Please note that pursuant to the Data Quality Act, in order for
substantive data to be relied upon and used by the agency, it must meet
the information quality standards set forth in the OMB and DOT Data
Quality Act guidelines. Accordingly, we encourage you to consult the
guidelines in preparing your comments. OMB's guidelines may be accessed
at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_reproducible. DOT's guidelines
may be accessed at http://dmses.dot.gov/submit/DataQualityGuidelines.pdf.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://www.regulations.gov.
How can I be sure that my comments were received?
If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of
your comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the
envelope containing your comments. Upon receiving your comments, Docket
Management will return the postcard by mail.
How do I submit confidential business information?
If you wish to submit any information under a claim of
confidentiality, you should submit three copies of your complete
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential
business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. In
addition, you should submit a copy, from which you have deleted the
claimed confidential business information, to Docket Management at the
address given above under ADDRESSES. When you send a comment containing
information claimed to be confidential business information, you should
include a cover letter setting forth the information specified in our
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confidential business information regulation. (49 CFR part 512.)
Will the Agency consider late comments?
We will consider all comments that Docket Management receives
before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated
above under DATES. To the extent possible, we will also consider
comments that Docket Management receives after that date.
How can I read the comments submitted by other people?
You may read the comments received by Docket Management at the
address given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the Docket are
indicated above in the same location.
You may also see the comments on the internet. To read the comments
on the internet, take the following steps:
(1) Go to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) FDMS provides two basic methods of searching to retrieve
dockets and docket materials that are available in the system: (a)
``Quick Search'' to search using a full-text search engine, or (b)
``Advanced Search,'' which displays various indexed fields such as the
docket name, docket identification number, phase of the action,
initiating office, date of issuance, document title, document
identification number, type of document, Federal Register reference,
CFR citation, etc. Each data field in the advanced search may be
searched independently or in combination with other fields, as desired.
Each search yields a simultaneous display of all available information
found in FDMS that is relevant to the requested subject or topic.
(3) You may download the comments. However, since the comments are
imaged documents, instead of word processing documents, the ``pdf''
versions of the documents are word searchable.
Please note that even after the comment closing date, we will
continue to file relevant information in the Docket as it becomes
available. Further, some people may submit late comments. Accordingly,
we recommend that you periodically check the Docket for new material.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30168; delegation of authority at
49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8.
Issued in Washington, DC.
Terry T. Shelton,
Associate Administrator for the National Center for Statistics and
Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2018-11671 Filed 5-30-18; 8:45 am]
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