Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Compliance Labeling of Retroreflective Materials for Heavy Trailer Conspicuity |
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Raymond R. Posten
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
21 July 2021
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38528-38529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15521]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket Number NHTSA-2011-0084]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Compliance
Labeling of Retroreflective Materials for Heavy Trailer Conspicuity
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for comment on the reinstatement of a
previously approved collection of information.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR)
abstracted below, regarding the reinstatement of a previously approved
collection of information on Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) No. 108, will be submitted to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes the labeling
requirement for retroreflective sheeting material and its expected
burden. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period
soliciting comments on the following information collection was
published on July 7, 2020. No comments were received regarding this
information collection.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 20, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection, including suggestions for reducing the burden,
should be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget at
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. To find this particular information
collection, select ``Currently under Review--Open for Public Comment''
or use the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access
to background documents, contact Andrei Denes, U.S. Department of
Transportation, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
Mr. Denes's telephone number is (202) 366-1810, and fax number is (202)
366-7002. Please identify the relevant collection of information by
referring to its OMB Control Number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), a
Federal agency must receive approval from the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) before it collects certain information from the public and
a person is not required to respond to a collection of information by a
Federal agency unless the collection displays a valid OMB control
number. In compliance with these requirements, this notice announces
that the following information collection request will be submitted
OMB.
A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting
public comments on the following information collection was published
on July 7, 2020 (85 FR 40735).
Title: 49 CFR 571.108, Standard No. 108; Lamps, reflective devices,
and associated equipment; Compliance Labeling of Retroreflective
Materials for Heavy Trailer Conspicuity
OMB Control Number: 2127-0569.
Type of Request: Reinstatement of a previously approved collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Length of Approval Requested: Three years.
Summary of the Collection of Information: The National Traffic and
Motor Vehicle Act, authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (NHTSA by
delegation), at 49 U.S.C. 30111, to issue Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards (FMVSS) that set performance standards for motor vehicles and
items of motor vehicle equipment. Further, the Secretary (NHTSA by
delegation) is authorized, at 49 U.S.C. 30117, to require manufacturers
to provide information to first purchasers of motor vehicles or items
of motor vehicle equipment related to performance and safety in printed
materials that are
[[Page 38529]]
attached to or accompany the motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle
equipment. Under this authority, the agency issued FMVSS No. 108,
specifying labeling requirements to aid the agency in achieving many of
its safety goals.
FMVSS No. 108, ``Lamp, reflective devices and associated
equipment,'' requires that the inscription ``DOT-C2'', ``DOT-C3'', or
``DOT-C4'', as appropriate, constituting a certification that the
retroreflective sheeting conforms to the requirements of the standard,
appear at least once on the exposed surface of each white or red
segment of retroreflective sheeting, and at least once every 300 mm on
retroreflective sheeting that is white only. The characters must be not
less than 3 mm high, and must be permanently stamped, etched, molded,
or printed in indelible ink.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information: Crashes can be reduced if retroreflective material having
certain essential properties is used to mark trailers. The permanent
labeling is used to identify retroreflective material having the
minimum properties required for effective conspicuity of trailers at
night.
Affected Public: Manufacturers of conspicuity grade retroreflective
materials.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 3.
The respondents are likely to be manufacturers of the conspicuity
material. The agency estimates that currently there are three
manufacturers producing conspicuity material.
Frequency: On Occasion.
Number of Responses: 190,000,000.
It is estimated that there are 2.34 million trailers and 0.54
million truck tractors that require new conspicuity tape annually. On
average, a trailer requires approximately 60 ft. of reflective tape and
a truck tractor requires about 4 ft. The labels are to be placed at
intervals varying between 150 mm and 300 mm on rolls of retroreflective
conspicuity tape. Considering the length of tape required per trailer
and truck tractor, and that the labeling is applied on average every 9
in. (225 mm), a total number of 80 labels per trailer and 6 labels per
truck tractor are required. Therefore, it is estimated that 190 million
labels will be required annually (2.34 million trailers x 80 labels +
0.54 million truck tractors x 6 labels).
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 3 hours.
The compliance symbol labeling program imposes only a minor hour
burden per respondent, or three total hours, for the collection or
reporting based on a maximum time required to ensure that the correct
inscription is being applied to the sheeting by the printing presses.
The application of symbols is performed by automated equipment
incorporated in the production process of the retroreflective sheeting.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $4,000.
The cost to respondents is estimated based on information that was
supplied by the respondents regarding the cost of supplying or
modifying printing rollers to apply the label. The cost to
manufacturers of applying the label requirement is the maintenance and
amortization of printing rollers and the additional dye or ink
consumed. The labels are printed during the normal course of steady
flow manufacturing operations and do not add additional time to the
production process.
Two methods of printing the label are in use. One method uses the
same roller that applies the dye to the red segments of the material
pattern. The roller is resurfaced annually using a computerized etching
technique. The label was incorporated in the software to drive the
roller resurfacing in 1993, and there is no additional cost to continue
the printing of the label. In fact, costs would be incurred to
discontinue the label.
The second method uses a separate roller and dye to apply the
label. The manufacturer using this technique reported that the rollers
have been in service for five years without detectable wear and
predicted a service life of at least fifteen years. Four rollers
costing about $2,500 each are used for a total of $10,000. If all three
manufacturers chose to use this method, a total of 12 rollers would be
used for a total cost of $30,000. A straight-line depreciation of the
rollers over 15 years ($30,000 divided by 15 years) equals $2,000 per
year. The total cost of the dye required is derived from the number of
labels required to be printed yearly and the dye required for each
label. The total number of labels printed annually is about 190
million. Therefore, at a cost of approximately $40 per gallon of dye
and using about 0.001 milliliters of dye per label, the total cost of
dye to print all the labels is estimated to be $2,000 (190 million
labels x $40/gal x 0.001 ml x 0.000264172 ml/gal). With the yearly cost
to replace the rollers of $2,000 and an annual allowance of $2,000 for
dye, the annual total industry cost of maintaining the label is about
$4,000.
Estimated annual cost burden:
Additional cost of maintaining printing rollers with added label--$0
Annual cost of separate printing rollers for label (where used)--$2,000
Annual cost of additional dye or ink--$2,000
Total annual respondent cost--$4,000
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Total annual Annual Est. total
Number of rollers Cost of each Total cost Depreciation labels additional dye annual cost to
roller rollers over 15 years (million) allowance maintain label
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12................................................ $2,500 $30,000 $2,000 190 $2,000 $4,000
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Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspects of
this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the Department, including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of
the burden of the proposed information collection, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance
the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected;
and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. chapter
35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.
Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2021-15521 Filed 7-20-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P