|
|---|
|
Defect and Noncompliance Notification and Reporting Publication: Federal Register Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: Cem Hatipoglu Date: 26 October 2023 Subjects: American Government  , Safety
|
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 206 (Thursday, October 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73636-73640]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23639]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[U.S. DOT Docket Number NHTSA-2016-0065]
Defect and Noncompliance Notification and Reporting
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 the reinstatement of a
previously 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.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 26, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket No. NHTSA-
2016-0065 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, 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.
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, 2000 (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 Jeremy Gunderson, Recall Management
Division (NEF-107), Jeremy.Gunderson@dot.gov, National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
[[Page 73637]]
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
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: Defect and Noncompliance Notification and Reporting.
OMB Control Number: 2127-0004.
Form Number(s): N/A.
Type of Request: Reinstatement of a previously approved information
collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information: This notice requests
comment on NHTSA's proposed reinstatement of a previously approved
collection of information, designated as OMB No. 2127-0004. This
collection covers the information collection requirements found within
various statutory provisions of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966
(Act), 49 U.S.C. 30101, et seq., that address and require manufacturer
notifications to NHTSA of safety-related defects and failures to comply
with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) in motor vehicles
and motor vehicle equipment, as well as the provision of particular
information related to the ensuing owner and dealer notifications and
free remedy campaigns that follow those notifications. The sections of
the Act imposing these requirements include 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30119,
30120, and 30166. Many of these requirements are implemented through,
and addressed with more specificity in, 49 CFR part 573, Defect and
Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports (Part 573) and 49 CFR 577,
Defect and Noncompliance Notification (Part 577).
Pursuant to the Act, motor vehicle and motor vehicle equipment
manufacturers are obligated to notify, and then provide various
information and documents to, NHTSA when a safety defect or
noncompliance with FMVSS is identified in products they manufactured.
See 49 U.S.C. 30118(b) and 49 CFR 573.6. Manufacturers are further
required to notify owners, purchasers, dealers, and distributors about
the safety defect or noncompliance. See 49 U.S.C. 30118(b), 30120(a);
49 CFR 577.7, 577.13. Manufacturers are required to provide to NHTSA
copies of communications pertaining to recall campaigns that they issue
to owners, purchasers, dealers, and distributors. See 49 U.S.C.
30166(f); 49 CFR 573.6(c)(10).
Manufacturers are also required to file with NHTSA a plan
explaining how they intend to reimburse owners and purchasers who paid
to have their products remedied before being notified of the safety
defect or noncompliance and explain that plan in the notifications they
issue to owners and purchasers about the safety defect or
noncompliance. See 49 U.S.C. 30120(d) and 49 CFR 573.13. Manufacturers
are further required to keep lists of the respective owners,
purchasers, dealers, distributors, lessors, and lessees of the products
determined to be defective or noncompliant and involved in a recall
campaign, and are required to provide NHTSA with a minimum of eight
quarterly reports and three annual reports reporting on the progress of
their recall campaigns. See 49 U.S.C. 30118and 49 CFR 573.7.
The Act and part 573 also contain numerous information collection
requirements specific to tire recall and remedy campaigns. These
requirements relate to the proper disposal of recalled tires, including
a requirement that the manufacturer conducting the tire recall submit a
plan and provide specific instructions to certain persons (such as
dealers and distributors) addressing that disposal, and a requirement
that those persons report back to the manufacturer certain deviations
from the plan. See 49 U.S.C. 30120(d) and 49 CFR 573.6(c)(9). The
regulations also require that manufacturers report to NHTSA intentional
and knowing sales or leases of defective or noncompliant tires.
49 U.S.C. 30166(n) and its implementing regulation found at 49 CFR
573.10 mandate that anyone who knowingly and willfully sells or leases
for use on a motor vehicle a defective tire or a tire that is not
compliant with FMVSS, and with actual knowledge that the tire
manufacturer has notified its dealers of the defect or noncompliance as
required under the Act, is required to report that sale or lease to
NHTSA no more than five working days after the person to whom the tire
was sold or leased takes possession of it.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information: This information is necessary to enable NHTSA to
administer, monitor, and enforce the legal, statutory, and regulatory
requirements identified above. These requirements are intended to
ensure the safety of the motoring public through the proper and timely
notification and remedy of defective or noncompliant motor vehicles and
motor vehicle equipment.
Affected Public: Businesses or individuals.
Estimated Number of Respondents: NHTSA receives reports of defect
or noncompliance from roughly 240 manufacturers per year. Accordingly,
we estimate that there will be approximately 240 manufacturers per year
filing defect or noncompliance reports and completing the other
information collection responsibilities associated with those filings.
In summary, we estimate that there will be a total of 240
respondents per year associated with OMB No. 2127-0004.
Frequency: As circumstances necessitate.
Estimated Burden: NHTSA previously estimated an annual burden of
64,966 hours associated with this collection (of which 456 hours was
contemplated for conducting supplemental recall communications under
administrative activities. We continue to estimate a small burden of 2
hours annually in order to set up a manufacturer's online recalls
portal account with the pertinent contact information and maintaining/
updating their account information as needed. We estimate this will
require a total of 480 hours annually (2 hours x 240 MFRs).
Our prior estimates of the burden hours and cost associated with
the requirements currently covered by this
[[Page 73638]]
information collection require adjustment as follows.
Based on current information, we estimate 240 distinct
manufacturers filing an average of 976 part 573 Safety Recall Reports
each year. This is a change from our previous estimate of 988 part 573
Safety Recall Reports filed by 249 manufacturers each year. In
addition, with reference to the metric associated with NHTSA's Vehicle
Identification Number (VIN) Look-up Tool regulation, see 49 CFR 573.15,
we continue to estimate it takes the 17 major passenger vehicle
manufacturers (those that produce more than 25,000 vehicles annually)
additional burden hours to complete these Reports to NHTSA, as explored
in more detail below. See 82 FR 60789 (December 22, 2017). Between 2017
and 2021, the major passenger vehicle manufacturers conducted an
average of 355 recalls annually.
We continue to estimate that maintenance of the required owner,
purchaser, dealer, and distributors lists requires 8 hours a year per
manufacturer. We also continue to estimate it takes a major passenger
vehicle manufacturer 40 hours to complete each part 573 Safety Recall
notification report to NHTSA, and it takes all other manufacturers 4
hours. Accordingly, we estimate the annual burden hours related to the
reporting to NHTSA of a safety defect or noncompliance for the 17 major
passenger vehicle-manufacturers to be 14,200 hours annually (355
notices x 40 hours/report), and that all other manufacturers require a
total of 2,484 hours annually (621 notices x 4 hours/report) to file
their notices. Thus, the estimated annual burden hours related to the
reporting to NHTSA of a safety defect or noncompliance is 17,164 hours
(14,200 hours + 2,484 hours) + (240 MFRs x 8 hours to maintain
purchaser lists).\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For more information about how we derived these and certain
other estimates, please see 81 FR 70269 (October 11, 2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We continue to estimate that an additional 40 hours will be needed
to account for major passenger vehicle manufacturers adding details to
Part 573 Safety Recall Reports relating to the intended schedule for
notifying its dealers and distributors and tailoring its notifications
to dealers and distributors in accordance with the requirements of 49
CFR 577.13. An additional 2 hours will be needed to account for this
obligation in other manufacturers' Safety Recall Reports. This burden
is estimated at 15,442 hours annually (621 notices x 2 hours/
notification) + (355 notices x 40 hours/notification).
49 U.S.C. 30166(f) requires manufacturers to provide to the Agency
copies of all communications regarding defects and noncompliances sent
to owners, purchasers, and dealerships. Manufacturers must index these
communications by the year, make, and model of the vehicle as well as
provide a concise summary of the subject of the communication. We
continue to estimate this burden requires 3 hours for each vehicle
recall for the 17 major passenger vehicle manufacturers, and 30 minutes
for all other manufacturers for each vehicle recall. This totals an
estimated 1,375.5 hours annually (355 recalls x 3 hours for the 17
major passenger vehicle manufacturers) + (621 recalls x .5 for all
other manufacturers).
In the event a manufacturer supplied the defective or noncompliant
product to independent dealers through independent distributors, that
manufacturer is required to include in its notifications to those
distributors an instruction that the distributors are then to provide
copies of the manufacturer's notification of the defect or
noncompliance to all known distributors or retail outlets further down
the distribution chain within five working days. See 49 CFR
577.7(c)(2)(iv). As a practical matter, this requirement would only
apply to equipment manufacturers, since vehicle manufacturers generally
sell and lease vehicles through a dealer network, and not through
independent distributors. We have estimated the burden associated with
these notifications (identifying retail outlets, making copies of the
manufacturer's notice, and mailing) to be 5 hours per recall campaign.
Assuming an average of 3 distributors per equipment item, which is a
liberal estimate given that many equipment manufacturers do not use
independent distributors, the total number of burden hours associated
with this third-party notification requirement is approximately 1,290
hours per year (86 recalls x 3 distributors x 5 hours).
As for the burden linked with a manufacturer's preparation of and
notification concerning its reimbursement for pre-notification
remedies, we continue to estimate that the preparation of a
reimbursement plan takes approximately 4 hours annually. We also
continue to estimate that an additional 1.5 hours per year is spent by
the 17 major passenger vehicle manufacturers adapting the plan to
particular defect and noncompliance notifications to NHTSA and adding
tailored language about the plan to a particular safety recall's owner
notification letters, whereas an additional .5 hours per year is spent
on this task by all other manufacturers. And we continue to estimate
that an additional 12 hours annually is spent disseminating plan
information, for a total of 4,827 annual burden hours ((249 MFRs x 4
hours to prepare plan) + (355 recalls x 1.5 hours tailoring plan for
each recall) + (621 recalls x .5 hours) + (249 MFRs x 12 hours to
disseminate plan information)).
The Safety Act and 49 CFR part 573 also contain numerous
information collection requirements specific to tire recall and remedy
campaigns, as well as a statutory and regulatory reporting requirement
that anyone who knowingly and intentionally sells or leases a defective
or noncompliant tire notify NHTSA of that activity.
Manufacturers are required to include specific information related
to tire disposal in the notifications they provide NHTSA concerning
identification of a safety defect or noncompliance with FMVSS in their
tires, as well as in the notifications they issue to their dealers or
other tire outlets participating in the recall campaign. See 49 CFR
573.6(c)(9). We believe our previous estimate of 12 tire recalls per
year needs to be adjusted to 11 tire recalls per year to better reflect
recent data. We continue to estimate that the inclusion of this
additional information will require an additional two hours of effort
beyond the subtotal above associated with non-tire recall campaigns.
This additional effort consists of one hour for the NHTSA notification
and one hour for the dealer notification for a total of 22 burden hours
(11 tire recalls a year x 2 hours per recall).
Manufacturer-owned or controlled dealers are required to notify the
manufacturer and provide certain information should they deviate from
the manufacturer's disposal plan. Consistent with our previous
analysis, we continue to ascribe zero burden hours to this requirement
since to date no such reports have been provided, and our original
expectation that dealers would comply with manufacturers' plans has
proven accurate.
Accordingly, we estimate 22 burden hours a year will be spent
complying with the tire recall campaign requirements found in 49 CFR
573.6(c)(9).
The agency continues to estimate 1 burden hour annually will be
spent preparing and submitting reports of a defective or noncompliant
tire being intentionally sold or leased under 49 U.S.C. 30166(n) and
its implementing regulation at 49 CFR 573.10.
[[Page 73639]]
We continue to expect that nine vehicle manufacturers, who did not
operate VIN-based recalls lookup systems prior to August 2013, incur
certain recurring burdens on an annual basis. We continue to estimate
that 100 burden hours will be spent on system and database
administrator support. These 100 burden hours include: Backup data
management and monitoring; database management, updates, and log
management; and data transfer, archiving, quality assurance, and
cleanup procedures. We continue to estimate another 100 burden hours
will be incurred on web/application developer support. These burdens
include: Operating system and security patch management; application/
web server management; and application server system and log files
management. We continue to estimate these burdens will total 1,800
hours each year (9 MFRs x 200 hours). We also continue to estimate the
recurring costs of these burden hours will be $30,000 per
manufacturer.\2\ Furthermore, we continue to estimate that the total
cost to the industry from these recurring expenses will total $270,000,
on an annual basis (9 MFRs x $30,000).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ $8,000 (for data center hosting for the physical server) +
$12,000 (for web/application developer support) = $30,000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes to 49 CFR part 573 in 2013 required 27 manufacturers to
update each recalled vehicle's repair status no less than every 7 days,
for 15 years from the date the VIN is known to be included in the
recall. This ongoing requirement to update the status of a VIN for 15
years continues to add a recurring burden on top of the one-time burden
to implement and operate these online search tools. We continue to
estimate that 8 affected motorcycle manufacturers will make recalled
VINs available for an average of 2 recalls each year and 19 affected
passenger vehicle manufacturers will make recalled VINs available for
an average of 8 recalls each year. We believe it will take no more than
1 hour, and potentially less with automated systems, to update the VIN
status of vehicles that have been remedied under the manufacturer's
remedy program. We continue to estimate this will require 8,736 burden
hours per year (1 hour x 2 recalls x 52 weeks x 8 MFRs + 1 hour x 8
recalls x 52 weeks x 19 MFRs) to support the requirement to update the
recalls completion status of each VIN in a recall at least weekly for
15 years.
Due to a congressionally-mandated increase in the required number
of quarterly reports for each recall, the number of quarterly reports
that track the completion of safety recalls has also increased. Our
previous estimate of 4,498 quarterly reports received annually is now
revised upwards to 5,875 quarter reports received annually. We continue
to estimate it takes manufacturers 1 hour to gather the pertinent
information for each quarterly report, and 10 additional hours for the
17 major passenger vehicle manufacturers to submit electronic reports.
We therefore now estimate that the quarterly reporting burden pursuant
to 49 U.S.C.A. 30118 totals 6,045 hours ((5,875 quarterly reports x 1
hour/report) + (17 MFRs x 10 hours for electronic submission)).
We continue to estimate that 20 percent of part 573 reports will
involve a change or addition regarding recall components, and that at
two hours per amended report, this totals 390 burden hours per year
(976 recalls x .20 = 195 recalls; 195 x 2 = 390 hours).
Additionally, per the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Pub. L. 117-
58, title IV, subtitle B, section 24202), manufacturers are now
required to submit three (3) annual recall completion rate reports.
NHTSA estimates that it will receive and average of 316 reports yearly
from manufacturers. We estimate it takes manufacturers 2 hours to
complete annual reports, including 1.5 hours to gather pertinent
information for each report, and .5 hours for the 17 major passenger
vehicle manufacturers to submit the electronic reports. We therefore
estimate that the annual reporting burden pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118
totals 632 hours ((316 annual reports x 1.5 hours) + (17 MFRs x .5
hours for electronic submission)). We continue to estimate that 20
percent of Part 573 reports will involve a change or addition regarding
recall components, and that at two hours per amended report, this
totals 390 burden hours per year (976 recalls x .20 = 195 recalls; 195
x 2 = 390 hours).
As to the requirement that manufacturers notify NHTSA in the event
of a bankruptcy, we expect this notification to take an estimated 2
hours to draft and submit to NHTSA. We continue to estimate that only
10 manufacturers might submit such a notice to NHTSA each year, so we
calculate the total burden at 20 hours (10 MFRs x 2 hours).
We continue to estimate that it takes the 17 major passenger
vehicle manufacturers an average of 11 hours to draft their
notification letters, submit them to NHTSA for review, and then
finalize them for mailing to their affected owners and purchasers. We
also continue to estimate it takes 8 hours for all other manufacturers
to perform this task. Accordingly, we estimate that the 49 CFR part 577
requirements result in 8,873 burden hours annually (11 hours per recall
x 355 recalls per year) + (8 hours per recall x 621 recalls per year).
We previously calculated that about 12 percent of past recalls
require an interim notification mailing, but recent trends show that 3
percent of recalls require an interim owner notification mailing. We
continue to estimate the preparation of an interim notification can
take up to 10 hours. We therefore estimate that 1,250 burden hours are
associated with the 60-day interim notification requirement (976
recalls x .03 = 34 recalls; 34 recalls times 10 hours per recall = 340
hours).
As for costs associated with notifying owners and purchasers of
recalls, to reflect an increase in postage rates, we are revising our
estimate of the cost of first-class mail notification to $1.53 per
notification, on average. This cost estimate includes the costs of
printing and mailing, as well as the costs vehicle manufacturers may
pay to third-party vendors to acquire the names and addresses of the
current registered owners from state and territory departments of motor
vehicles. In reviewing recent recall figures, we determined that an
estimated 51.4 million letters are mailed yearly totaling $78,642,000
($1.53 per letter x 51,400,000 letters). The requirement in 49 CFR part
577 for a manufacturer to notify their affected customers within 60
days would add an additional $10,223,460 (51,400,000 letters x .03
requiring interim owner notifications = 1,542,000 letters; 1,542,000 x
$1.53 = $2,359,260). In total, we estimate that the current 49 CFR part
577 requirements cost manufacturers a total of $81,001,260 annually
($78,642,000 for owner notification letters + $2,359,260 for interim
notification letters = $81,001,260).
Utilizing these variables, we now estimate an initial annualized
cost over the next three years of $81,271,260 per year.
Because of the forgoing burden estimates, we are revising the
burden estimate associated with this collection. The 49 CFR part 573
and 49 CFR part 577 requirements found in today's notice will require
68,837.5 hours each year. Additionally, manufacturers impacted by 49
CFR part 573 and 49 CFR part 577 requirements will incur a recurring
annual cost estimated at $81,271,260 total. NHTSA welcomes further
comment and data on these estimates.
Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspects of
this
[[Page 73640]]
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.
Cem Hatipoglu,
Acting Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2023-23639 Filed 10-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P