Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Test Procedures; Reopening of Comment Period

Topics:  Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

Raymond R. Posten
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
10 March 2021

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 10, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13684-13685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04933]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA-2020-0109]
RIN 2127-AM04


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Test Procedures; 
Reopening of Comment Period

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Reopening of comment period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In response to a request from the Alliance for Automotive 
Innovation (Auto Innovators), NHTSA is announcing a reopening of the 
comment period on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) 
published December 10, 2020. The ANPRM requests public comment on 
whether any test procedure for any Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) may be a candidate for replacement, repeal, or 
modification, for reasons other than for considerations

[[Page 13685]]

relevant only to automated driving systems (ADS). The comment period 
for the ANPRM was originally scheduled to end on February 8, 2021. It 
will now be reopened and will end on April 9, 2021.

DATES: The comment period for the ANPRM published on December 10, 2020 
at 85 FR 79456 is reopened and extended to April 9, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern 
Time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure 
someone is there to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before coming.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    Regardless of how you submit your comments, you must include the 
docket number identified in the heading of this document.
    Note that all comments received, including any personal information 
provided, will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Please see the ``Privacy Act'' heading below.
    You may call the Docket Management Facility at (202) 366-9322. For 
access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, 
go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street address listed above. We 
will continue to file relevant information in the docket as it becomes 
available. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 
366-9322 before coming. We will continue to file relevant information 
in the Docket as it becomes available.
    Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to inform its decision-making process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information 
the commenter provides, to http://www.regulations.gov, as described in 
the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed 
at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. 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).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical issues, you may contact 
Ms. Mary Versailles, Office of Rulemaking, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590; mary.versailles@dot.gov. For legal issues, you 
may contact Ms. Callie Roach, Attorney-Advisor, Vehicle Rulemaking and 
Harmonization, Office of Chief Counsel, (202) 597-1312, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590; callie.roach@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 10, 2020, NHTSA published an 
ANPRM to obtain public comments on whether any test procedure for any 
FMVSS may be a candidate for replacement, repeal, or modification, for 
reasons other than for considerations relevant only to automated 
driving systems (ADS) (85 FR 79456). The ANPRM provided examples of 
test procedures found in FMVSS Nos. 103, 104, 105/135, 121, and 126 to 
facilitate responses and asked commenters to consider whether the 
agency should make changes to these test procedures or to any other 
test procedure. The ANPRM also asked commenters to provide research, 
evidence, and data to support why such change may be necessary. The 
ANPRM stated that the closing date for comments was February 8, 2021.
    NHTSA received on January 14, 2021 a petition from Auto Innovators 
for a 30-day extension of the comment period. The request states that 
additional time is necessary to permit Auto Innovators to conduct a 
comprehensive review of the extensive number of regulations and FMVSS 
that contain detailed test procedures, including standards that 
reference industry standards. Auto Innovators also notes that its 
efforts to organize group meeting have been hampered by working 
inefficiencies induced by COVID meeting restrictions. The request can 
be found in the docket for the ANPRM identified in the heading of this 
document.
    In accordance with NHTSA's rulemaking procedures in 49 CFR part 
553, subpart B, the agency is granting this request to reopen and 
extend the comment period. We have determined that the requestors have 
shown good cause for an extension, and that the extension is consistent 
with the public interest (49 CFR 553.19). A 30-day reopening and 
extension appropriately balances NHTSA's interest in providing the 
public with sufficient time to comment on the notice with its interest 
in proceeding with this rulemaking in a timely manner. Accordingly, 
NHTSA is reopening and extending the comment period to the date shown 
in the DATES section of this document.

    Issued in Washington, DC pursuant to authority delegated in 49 
CFR 1.95 and 501.8.
Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2021-04933 Filed 3-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P