[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 20 (Monday, February 1, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4834-4835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2313]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA-99-5025]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS); Child Restraint 
Systems

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

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is 
conducting a review of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 
No. 213, Child Restraint Systems, in order to determine, consistent 
with Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, and Section 
610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, whether this rule 1 
should be maintained without change, rescinded, or modified in order to 
make it more effective or less burdensome in achieving its objectives. 
This review also is being conducted to determine whether the rule can 
become more consistent with the objectives of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act to achieve regulatory goals while imposing as few 
burdens as possible on small entities.
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    \1\ This document refers to FMVSS No. 213 as a ``rule'' 
consistent with Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 
Public Law 96-354, September 19, 1980 (see Section 601(2)).

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DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 2, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments must refer to the docket number cited at the 
beginning of this notice and be submitted to the Docket Management, 
Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. It is 
requested, but not required, that one original plus two copies of the 
comments be provided. The Docket hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 
p.m., Monday through Friday (telephone 202-366-9324).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nita Kavalauskas, Office of Regulatory 
Analysis and Evaluation, Office of Plans and Policy, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington, DC 20590, (telephone 202-366-2584, fax 202-366-2559).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 
(FMVSS) No. 213 (49 CFR 571.213) (``the rule'') specifies minimum 
performance requirements for child restraint systems (both built-in and 
add-on) used in motor vehicles and aircraft. The purpose of the rule is 
to reduce the number of children killed or injured in motor vehicle and 
aircraft crashes. The rule applies to passenger cars, multipurpose 
passenger vehicles, trucks and buses, and to child restraint systems 
for use in motor vehicles and aircraft.
    The rule evaluates the performance of child restraint systems in 
dynamic tests performed in a simulated 30-mph frontal impact system. 
The rule tests built-in child restraints either in the specific 
vehicles or in the specific vehicle shell. Add-on child restraint 
systems are tested on a standard test seat, restrained either by a lap 
belt or (in the case of a belt positioning seat) by a lap/shoulder 
belt. In addition, the rule requires labeling both belt-positioning 
booster seats and shield-type booster seats to indicate which type of 
belt system (lap belt only or lap/shoulder belt) can be used with that 
particular booster seat.2
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    \2\ The agency has issued a proposal to standardize child 
restraint anchorages. The agency would prefer not to receive 
comments on this issue unless they relate to small business impacts.
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    The rule sets specific dummy testing requirements by weight and 
height, so that an add-on or a built-in child restraint recommended for 
a specific weight/height class will be tested using dummies 
representative of that weight/height class. The rule also establishes 
other requirements for child restraints with respect to such factors as 
the height and width of the seat back surface, padding on surfaces 
contacted by the child's head, the locations of fixed or movable 
surfaces in front of the seated child, belt buckles and their releases, 
seat belt material, and labeling requirements.
    The rule requires child restraint manufacturers to state on a label 
the heights and weights of children for whom the system is designed to 
protect. The rule also requires manufacturers of child restraints to 
provide warning labels on rear-facing child restraints to alert parents 
of the potential negative consequences of using rear-facing child 
restraint systems in the front seat of vehicles with passenger-side air 
bags.
    Also included in the rule is a requirement that child restraint 
manufacturers supply, at the time of sale of the child restraint, a 
postage-paid registration card that the purchaser can fill in with his/
her name and address and mail back to the manufacturer so that the 
purchaser could be notified in the event of a recall. Providing this 
information on the label allows subsequent owners of child restraints 
to register their restraints with the manufacturer so that they can be 
contacted in the event of a recall. Manufacturers must record a list or 
maintain records of the owners in a form suitable for inspection, such 
as computer information storage devices or card files. Manufacturers 
are required to retain the records of owners for six years from the 
date of manufacture of the child restraint. The rule also requires that 
each child restraint be permanently labeled with the manufacturer's 
address or toll-free telephone number and the U.S. Government's Auto 
Safety Hotline toll-free telephone number.
    At the present time, NHTSA has selected FMVSS No. 213 for review in 
accordance with the regulatory review provisions at Section 5 of the 
Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review (58 FR 51735, 
51739, Oct. 4, 1993) and the directive of Section 610 of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
    Section 610(a) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act requires the 
periodic review of rules to determine which ones have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses. The agency 
determined in August 1998 that FMVSS No. 213 (the rule) may have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses 
and pursuant to section 610(c) is conducting this review of FMVSS No. 
213. The purpose of the review is to determine whether the rule should 
be continued without change, rescinded, or amended to make it more 
effective or less burdensome in achieving its objectives, and to bring 
it into better alignment with the objectives of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act to achieve regulatory goals while imposing as little 
burden as possible on small entities. In the event the Agency 
determines, based on the results of this review, that the rule should 
be rescinded or modified, appropriate rulemaking will be initiated.
    An important step in the review process involves the gathering and 
analysis of information from affected parties about their experience 
with the rule and any material changes in circumstances since issuance 
of the standard. This notice provides an opportunity for interested 
parties to comment on the continuing need for, adequacy or inadequacy 
of, and small business impacts of the rule. Comments concerning the 
following subjects would assist the Agency in determining

[[Page 4835]]

whether to retain the rule unchanged or to initiate rulemaking for 
purposes of revision or rescission:
    1. The benefits and utility of the rule in its current form and, if 
amended, in its amended form;
    2. The continued need for the rule;
    3. The complexity of the rule;
    4. Whether and to what extent the rule overlaps, duplicates or 
conflicts with other Federal, State, and local governmental rules;
    5. Information on any new developments in technology, economic 
conditions, or other factors affecting the ability of affected firms to 
comply with the rule;
    6. Alternatives to the rule or portions of the rule that would 
minimize significant impacts on small businesses while achieving the 
objectives of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
    In essence, the agency would like to know what sections of FMVSS 
No. 213 significantly affect small business costs, unnecessarily affect 
costs, are particularly burdensome for small entities, or could be 
rewritten to minimize burdens on small entities. In addition, NHTSA 
would like to know which sections of the rule could be written more 
clearly and in plain English.

Comments

How do I prepare and submit comments?

    Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your 
comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the docket 
number of this document in your comments.
    Your comments must not be more than 15 pages long. (49 CFR 553.21). 
We established this limit to encourage you to write your primary 
comments in a concise fashion. However, you may attach necessary 
additional documents to your comments. There is no limit on the length 
of the attachments.
    Please submit two copies of your comments, including the 
attachments, to Docket Management at the address given above under 
ADDRESSES.

How can I be sure that my comments were received?

    If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of 
your comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the 
envelope containing your comments. Upon receiving your comments, Docket 
Management will return the postcard by mail.

How do I submit confidential business information?

    If you wish to submit any information under a claim of 
confidentiality, you should submit three copies of your complete 
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential 
business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the address given 
above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. In addition, you should 
submit two copies, from which you have deleted the claimed confidential 
business information, to Docket Management at the address given above 
under ADDRESSES. When you send a comment containing information claimed 
to be confidential business information, you should include a cover 
letter setting forth the information specified in our confidential 
business information regulation. (49 CFR part 512.)

Will the agency consider late comments?

    We will consider all comments that Docket Management received 
before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated 
above under DATES. To the extent possible, we will also consider 
comments that Docket Management receives after that date.

How can I read the comments submitted by other people?

    You may read the comments received by Docket Management at the 
address given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the Docket are 
indicated above in the same location.
    You may also see the comments on the Internet. To read the comments 
on the Internet, take the following steps:
    1. Go to the Docket Management System (DMS) Web page of the 
Department of Transportation (http://dms.dot.gov/).
    2. On that page, click on ``search.''
    3. On the next page (http://dms.dot.gov/search/), type in the four-
digit docket number shown at the beginning of this document. Example: 
If the docket number were ``NHTSA-1998-1234,'' you would type ``1234.'' 
After typing the docket number, click on ``search.''
    4. On the next page, which contains docket summary information for 
the docket you selected, click on the desired comments.
    You may download the comments. However, since the comments are 
imaged documents, instead of word processing documents, the downloaded 
comments are not word searchable.
    Please note that even after the comment closing date, we will 
continue to file relevant information in the Docket as it becomes 
available. Further, some people may submit late comments. Accordingly, 
we recommend that you periodically check the Docket for new material.
William H. Walsh,
Associate Administrator for Plans and Policy.
[FR Doc. 99-2313 Filed 1-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P