Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for Comment; Record Retention

Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for Comment; Record Retention

Publication: Federal Register
Signing Official: Stephen Ridella
Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Date: 20 July 2022

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 20, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43378-43380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15470]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. DOT-NHTSA-2022-0011]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for
Comment; Record Retention

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on an extension of a currently
approved information collection

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
invites public comments about our intention to request approval from
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of a
currently approved information collection. Before a Federal agency can
collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval
from (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 for which NHTSA intends
to seek OMB approval. The information collection is for mandatory
record retention requirements.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by September 19, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket No. DOT-
NHTSA-2022-0011 through any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Go to the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions
for submitting comments.
Fax: (202) 493-2251.
Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket Management Facility, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except on Federal holidays. To be sure someone is there
to help you please (202) 366-9322 before coming.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number for this notice. 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
below.
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, 2020 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit https://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the
dockets via internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access
to background documents, contact Paul Simmons, Office of Defect
Investigation (NEF-110), (202) 366-2315, National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, email paul.simmons@dot.gov.

[[Page 43379]]

Please identify the relevant collection of information by referring to
its OMB Control Number 2127-0042.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before an agency submits a proposed
collection of information to OMB for approval, it must first publish a
document in the Federal Register providing a 60-day comment period and
otherwise consult with members of the public and affected agencies
concerning each proposed collection of information. The OMB has
promulgated regulations describing what must be included in such a
document. Under OMB's regulation (at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an agency must
ask for public comment on the following: (a) whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) how to enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;
and (d) how to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic
submission of responses. In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA
asks for public comments on the following proposed collection of
information for which the agency is seeking approval from OMB.
Title: Record Retention--49 CFR part 576.
OMB Control Number: 2127-0042.
Form Number(s): N/A.
Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information
collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Summary of the Collection of Information
Under 49 U.S.C. Section 30166(e), NHTSA ``reasonably may require a
manufacturer of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment to keep
records, and a manufacturer, distributor or dealer to make reports, to
enable [NHTSA] to decide whether the manufacturer, distributor, or
dealer has complied or is complying with this chapter or a regulation
prescribed under this chapter.''
To ensure that NHTSA will have access to this type of information,
the agency exercised the authority granted in 49 U.S.C. Section
30166(e) and promulgated 49 CFR part 576 Record Retention, initially
published on August 20, 1974 and most recently amended on July 10, 2002
(67 FR 45873), requiring manufacturers to retain one copy of all
records that contain information concerning malfunctions that may be
related to motor vehicle safety for a period of five calendar years
after the record is generated or acquired by the manufacturer.
Manufacturers are also required to retain for five years the underlying
records related to early warning reporting (EWR) information submitted
under 49 CFR part 579. The information collections support NHTSA's
mission by increasing the effectiveness of NHTSA's investigations into
potential safety related defects.

Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information

The records that are required to be retained per 49 CFR part 576
are used to promptly identify potential safety-related defects in motor
vehicles and motor vehicle equipment in the United States. When a trend
in incidents arising from a potentially safety-related defect is
discovered, NHTSA relies on this information, along with other agency
data, to determine whether or not to open a formal defect investigation
(as authorized by Title 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301--Motor Vehicle Safety).
NHTSA normally becomes aware of possible safety-related defects because
it receives consumer complaints.
Agency experience has shown that manufacturers receive
significantly more consumer complaints than does the agency. This is
because the consumer with the product does not know whether their
particular vehicle or equipment has a problem that is common with an
entire group of vehicles or equipment. Whereas consumers know the
manufacturer of their vehicle or equipment, relatively few know how to
file a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration's Auto Safety Hotline. The complaints filed with the
manufacturer give the agency a fair indication of how widespread the
potential problem may be.
If the manufacturer did not retain its records, NHTSA would be
unable to enforce the statutory requirements that the manufacturer
notify the agency and other persons of a safety-related defect when the
manufacturer ``learns'' of the defect, and notify the agency and other
persons of a noncompliance when it ``decides in good faith'' that the
noncompliance exists. Without access to the manufacturer's records, it
would be impossible for anyone other than the manufacturer to show when
or if that manufacturer had obtained knowledge of a potential defect or
had determined in good faith that the noncompliance did or did not
exist. Without access to manufacturers' records, NHTSA's examinations
of potential defects and non-compliances would be seriously
handicapped. NHTSA could conduct surveys of vehicle owners or use other
means to learn of problems with vehicles and equipment, but any of
these other methods would require significantly more information
collections by the agency and necessitate a larger staff of the
agency's Office of Defect Investigations.
Affected Public: Manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle
equipment.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,030.
NHTSA estimates that approximately 1,030 manufacturers of vehicles
and equipment (including tires, child restraint systems and trailers)
are required to maintain records under Part 576.
Frequency: As needed.
Number of Responses: 1,030.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 40,225.
NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for each vehicle, tire, and
child restraint manufacturer to be 40 hours for a subtotal of 40,200
hours (1,005 respondents x 40 hours). In addition, there are
approximately 23,660 equipment manufacturers (excluding tires, child
seat restraint systems and trailer manufacturers) whose record
retention requirements under Part 576 are limited to the documents
underlying their Part 579 reporting requirements. Their Part 579
requirements include only the reporting of incidents involving deaths.
Therefore, based on the number of death reports submitted to date by
these equipment manufacturers, we estimate that an additional 25
equipment manufacturers have record retention requirements imposed by
Part 576. We estimate that it will take one hour each to maintain the
necessary records each year for a subtotal burden of 25 hours (25
respondents x one hour). Accordingly, NHTSA estimates that the total
annual burden hours is 40,225 hours ((1,005 respondents x 40 hours) +
(25 respondents x 1 hour)).
To calculate the labor cost associated with maintaining, NHTSA
looked at wage estimates for the type of personnel involved with
compiling and submitting the documents. NHTSA estimates the total labor
costs associated with these burden hours by looking at the average wage
for clerical workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates
that the

[[Page 43380]]

average hourly wage for office clerks (BLS Occupation code 43-9061) in
the Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry is $20.98.\1\ The Bureau of
Labor Statistics estimates that private industry workers' wages
represent 70.2% of total labor compensation costs.\2\ Therefore, NHTSA
estimates the hourly labor costs to be $29.89 and NHTSA estimates the
total labor cost associated with the 40,225 burden hours to be
$1,202,325.25. Table 1 provides a summary of the estimated burden hours
and labor costs associated with those submissions.
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\1\ May 2020 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment
and Wage Estimates, NAICS 336100--Motor Vehicle Manufacturing,
available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/2020/may/naics4_336100.htm#43-0000 (accessed March 25, 2022).
\2\ See Table 1. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by
ownership (Mar. 2020), available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_06182020.pdf (accessed March 25, 2022).

Table 1--Burden Estimates
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Average
Annual responses Estimated burden per hourly labor Labor cost per Total burden Total labor
response cost response hours costs
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1,030.................... 39.05 hours.......... $29.89 $1,167.31 40,225 $1,202,325.25
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $0.
NHTSA estimates that there are no costs resulting from this
collection of information other than labor costs associated with the
burden hours.
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 Department's estimate
of the burden of the proposed information collection; (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 automated 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.

Stephen Ridella,
Director, Office of Defect Investigation.
[FR Doc. 2022-15470 Filed 7-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P