[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 230 (Monday, December 1, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63598-63599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-31363]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 93-68; Notice 9]


Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for public comment on proposed collections of 
information.

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SUMMARY: Before a Federal agency can require collection of certain 
information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB). Under new procedures established under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, 
Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of 
information, including extensions and reinstatements of previously 
approved collections. This document describes a proposed collection of 
information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments must refer to the notice and docket numbers cited 
at the beginning of this notice and be submitted to Docket Section, 
Room 5109, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590. 
Please identify the proposed collection of information for which a 
comment is provided as the Proposed Part 577 Information Collection. It 
is requested, but not required, that one (1) original plus two (2) 
copies of the comments be provided. The Docket Section is open on 
weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Complete copies of each NHTSA request 
for OMB approval of a collection of information may be obtained at no 
charge from Mr. Edward Kosek, NHTSA Information Collection Clearance 
Officer, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Room 5110, Washington, DC 
20590. The telephone number is (202) 366-2589.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before an agency submits 
a proposed collection of information to OMB for approval, it must 
publish a document soliciting public comments in the Federal Register, 
with a 60-day comment period, and otherwise consult with members of the 
public and affected agencies concerning each proposed collection of 
information. OMB has promulgated regulations describing what must be 
included in the Federal Register document. Under OMB's regulations 
(found at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an agency must ask for public comment on 
the following:
    (i) 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;
    (ii) 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;
    (iii) How to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (iv) 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 
comment on the following proposed collection of information:

Amendment to Part 577 Requirements for Notification of Dealers by 
Manufacturers of Motor Vehicles or Motor Vehicle Equipment with Safety-
Related Defects or Noncompliances with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standards

    Type of Request--Clearance for new collection.
    OMB Clearance Number--Not applicable. New collection.
    Form Number--This collection of information uses no standard forms.
    Requested Expiration Date for Approval--Three years after date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information--This collection of 
information applies to manufacturers of motor vehicles and items of 
motor vehicle equipment when it is decided that a vehicle or item of 
equipment they manufacture contains a safety-related defect or fails to 
comply with a Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS). 
Manufacturers are required by statute to notify dealers when it is 
decided that safety-related defects or noncompliances exist. The agency 
has proposed an amendment to 49 CFR Part 577, Defect and Noncompliance 
Notification, to establish a time limit within which the manufacturers 
must notify the dealers and to require that certain information about 
dealer rights and responsibilities with respect to the defective or 
noncomplying vehicles or equipment be included in the notification.
    Description of the Need for Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information--Dealers of vehicles or equipment that are the subject of 
safety recalls need to receive notification of safety recalls from 
manufacturers promptly after the decision is made to recall, including 
information about the prohibition against selling from inventory 
vehicles that have been determined to be subject to recall. This prompt 
notification will minimize the likelihood that dealers will sell unsafe 
vehicles or equipment from their inventories before the defect or 
noncompliance is remedied. It is also necessary for dealers to be 
informed of their statutory rights vis a vis manufacturers so that they 
will not fail to participate in recalls due to erroneous beliefs about 
who must bear financial responsibility for providing the remedy for the 
defect or noncompliance.
    Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number) 
and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of Information--
The estimated number of vehicle and equipment manufacturers subject to 
this rule is 500. The agency estimates that in any given year the 
number of safety recalls is approximately 300, based on the average 
number of recalls per year from 1993 through 1996. A manufacturer is 
required to provide notification in compliance with this rule only if 
it is conducting a safety recall. The frequency of response to the 
collection of information depends on the number of safety recalls a 
manufacturer conducts.
    Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden 
Resulting from the Collection of Information--The hour burden on 
respondents from the final rule will arise from the time manufacturers 
will spend in rewriting their dealer notification letters to include 
the additional information specified in the rule, and in writing 
letters to NHTSA to request a delay in providing dealer notification 
beyond the five days specified in the rule.
    The agency estimates that the average time needed for a 
manufacturer to revise the language of a dealer notification letter to 
include the newly-required language will be \1/2\ hour. This is based 
on the assumption that most manufacturers use a form letter as the 
basis for their dealer notification letters; and that those few that do 
not do so experience very few, if any, recalls in a year.
    The total number of hours needed for all 500 potentially affected

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manufacturers to modify their dealer notification letters is 250 hours 
(500 manufacturers  x  \1/2\ hour letter modification time). However, 
the agency estimates that in any given year that 85 percent of the 300 
annual recalls are conducted by approximately 50 manufacturers who 
conduct more than one safety recall per year on a regular basis. The 
remaining 45 recalls per year (15 percent) are conducted by 
manufacturers who conduct recalls on an infrequent basis. In year one 
the agency estimates that all 50 of the manufacturers who conduct 
recalls on a regular basis along with 45 manufacturers who conduct 
recalls on an infrequent basis will have to modify their dealer 
notification letters, resulting in 95 out of the 500 affected 
manufacturers having to modify their dealer notification letters in 
year one. In years two through ten 45 of the remaining 405 remaining 
manufacturers who conduct recalls infrequently will have to modify 
their dealer notification letters each year. This would result in an 
annual hour burden of 47.5 hours for the first year (95 affected 
manufacturers  x  \1/2\ hour letter modification time) and 22.5 hours 
for the second through tenth years (45 affected manufacturers per year 
x  \1/2\ hour letter modification time).
    This burden will be a one-time occurrence because the rule will 
impose little or no time burden for recalls after the first one a 
manufacturer conducts after revising its dealer notification letter. 
Manufacturers are already required by statute to notify their dealers 
about safety recalls. This rule does not alter the information that a 
manufacturer is now required to provide to dealers about individual 
recalls.
    The agency expects that for 20 percent of the safety recalls 
conducted annually--or about 60--the manufacturer will request a delay 
in sending dealer notification. The agency estimates that the average 
preparation time for such a letter will be about \1/2\ hour. 
Accordingly, the total annual hour burden hours for preparing letters 
requesting a delay in providing dealer notification will be about 30 
hours (60 recalls  x  \1/2\ hour per recall).
    The agency estimates that the total annual hour burden on 
respondents of the information collection requirement of this final 
rule will be 30 hours, plus a one-time burden of 250 hours, spread over 
a period of ten years.
    The agency estimates that the hourly labor cost for manufacturers 
for revising the dealer notification letters will be $50. With the 
estimated \1/2\ hour needed to revise the letter for each of 500 
manufacturers, the total labor cost of revising the dealer notification 
letters would be $12,500. Since the number of safety recalls per year 
is approximately 300, not all manufacturers will incur the cost of 
revising the letter in the same year. If 95 manufacturers modify their 
dealer notification letters in year one and 45 of the remaining 405 
manufacturers modify their dealer notification letters in years two 
through ten, the cost would be spread over a minimum of ten years. This 
would result in an annual cost burden of $2,375 for the first year and 
$1,125 per year for the second through tenth years.
    As stated earlier, the burden is likely to be a one-time occurrence 
in most cases, since most manufacturers use form notifications that 
will only need to be revised once. After a manufacturer has revised its 
form notification, the cost of subsequent letters will be no greater 
than that for the notification that a manufacturer is presently 
required by statute to send to dealers.
    The agency estimates that the labor cost to manufacturers for 
preparation of requests for delay of dealer notification will also be 
about $50 per hour. Thus, for 60 such requests per year, with an 
average preparation time of \1/2\ hour each, the annual labor cost to 
manufacturers will be approximately $1,500.
    In summary, the agency estimates that the total annual cost to 
respondents will be approximately $1,500, plus a one-time-only cost of 
$12,500, spread over a period of ten years.
    There is no recordkeeping burden associated with this rulemaking.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3506(c); delegation of authority at 49 CFR 
1.50.

    Dated: November 24, 1997.
Kenneth N. Weinstein,
Associate Administrator For Safety Assurance.
[FR Doc. 97-31363 Filed 11-28-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P