[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 97 (Thursday, May 20, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27499-27503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12629]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 567 and 568

[Docket No. NHTSA-99-5673]
RIN 2127-AE27


Vehicles Built in Two or More Stages

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to form a negotiated rulemaking advisory 
committee.

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SUMMARY: NHTSA proposes to establish a Negotiated Rulemaking Committee 
to develop recommended amendments to the existing NHTSA regulations 
governing the certification of vehicles built in two or more stages (49 
CFR Part 567, 568), so that certification responsibilities can be more 
equitably assigned among the various participants in the multi-stage 
vehicle manufacturing process. The Committee would develop its 
recommendations through a negotiation process. The Committee would 
consist of persons who represent the interests affected by the proposed 
rule, such as first-stage, intermediate and final-stage manufacturers 
of motor vehicles, equipment manufacturers, vehicle converters, trade 
associations that represent various manufacturing groups, as well as 
consumers. The purpose of this document is to invite interested parties 
to submit comments on the issues to be discussed and the

[[Page 27500]]

interests and organizations to be considered for representation on the 
Committee.

DATES: You should submit your comments or applications for membership 
or nominations for membership on the negotiated rulemaking committee 
early enough to ensure that Docket Management receives them not later 
than June 21, 1999.

ADDRESSES: You should mention the docket number of this document in 
your comments and submit your comments in writing to: Docket 
Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 
20590.
    You may call the Docket at 202-366-9324. You may visit the Docket 
from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues, you may call 
Charles Hott, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, at 202-366-4920.
    For legal issues, you may call Rebecca MacPherson, Office of the 
Chief Counsel, at 202-366-2992.
    You may send mail to both of these officials at National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 
20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Regulatory Negotiation

    NHTSA intends to use the negotiated rulemaking procedure in 
accordance with the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-648 
(NRA) (5 U.S.C. 561, et seq.). The agency will form an advisory 
committee consisting of representatives of the affected interests and 
the agency for the purpose of reaching consensus on the proposed rule. 
The NRA establishes a framework for the conduct of a negotiated 
rulemaking and encourages agencies to use negotiated rulemaking to 
enhance the informal rulemaking process. Under the NRA, the head of an 
agency must consider whether:
     There is a need for the rule;
     There are a limited number of identifiable interests that 
will be significantly affected by the rule;
     There is a reasonable likelihood that a committee can be 
convened with a balanced representation of persons who (1) can 
adequately represent the interests identified; and (2) are willing to 
negotiate in good faith to reach a consensus on the rulemaking;
     There is a reasonable likelihood that a committee will 
reach a consensus on the rulemaking within a fixed period of time;
     The negotiated rulemaking process will not unreasonably 
delay the development and issuance of a final rule;
     The agency has adequate resources and is willing to commit 
such resources, including technical assistance, to the committee; and
     The agency, to the maximum extent possible consistent with 
its legal obligations, will use the consensus of the committee with 
respect to developing the rule proposed by the agency for public notice 
and comment.
    Negotiations are conducted by a committee chartered under the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App. 2). The committee 
includes an agency representative and is assisted by a neutral 
facilitator. The goal of the committee is to reach consensus on the 
language or issues involved in the rule. If consensus is reached, the 
agency undertakes to use the consensus as the basis of the proposed 
rule, to the extent consistent with its legal obligations. The 
negotiated rulemaking process does not otherwise affect the agency's 
obligations under FACA, the Administrative Procedure Act and other 
statutes, including all economic, paperwork and other regulatory 
analyses.
    NHTSA invites comments on the appropriateness of regulatory 
negotiation for a proposed rule on vehicles built in two or more 
stages.

II. Subject and Scope of the Rule

A. Need for the Rule

    The certification problems of multistage manufacturers have 
troubled NHTSA almost since the agency's creation. An early set of 
NHTSA regulations on this subject was overturned almost twenty-five 
years ago. Rex Chainbelt v. Volpe, 486 F.2d. 757 (7th Circuit 1973; 
appeal after remand, Rex Chainbelt v. Brinegar, 511 F.2d 1215 (7th Cir. 
1975). To resolve that lawsuit, the agency amended 49 CFR Part 568 to 
define ``chassis cabs'' and establish special certification 
requirements for chassis cab manufacturers, which are usually large 
companies such as General Motors Corporation and Ford Motor Company. 
However, the amended regulations do not impose corresponding 
certification responsibilities on manufacturers of incomplete vehicles 
other than ``chassis cabs.''
    A further amendment to 49 CFR Part 567 has become necessary as a 
result of another judicial decision that invalidated NHTSA's 1989 
amendment of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 204 
(Steering Column Displacement) with respect to light trucks and vans 
with gross vehicle weight ratings of up to 10,000 pounds that are 
manufactured in two or more stages. National Truck and Equipment 
Association v. NHTSA, 919 F.2d 1148 (6th Cir. 1990). A majority of the 
court concluded that the challenged rule was not practicable for final 
stage manufacturers that cannot ``pass through'' the certification of 
the incomplete vehicle manufacturer. The court cited NHTSA's 
acknowledgment in the regulatory preamble that most final stage 
manufacturers are not capable of performing dynamic testing or in-house 
engineering analysis, as well as the fact that ``pass through'' 
certification is not available under existing regulations unless the 
incomplete vehicle is a chassis cab.
    In response to the NTEA decision, on December 3, 1991, NHTSA 
published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) (56 FR 61392) to 
extend the certification requirements that currently apply only to 
manufacturers of chassis-cabs to all incomplete vehicle manufacturers, 
and to permit all final stage manufacturers to ``pass through'' the 
certification of the incomplete vehicle under certain circumstances. 
That NPRM engendered considerable controversy and virtually no support. 
In the comments, there was a clear division in positions among the 
various segments of the multistage vehicle industry.
    On November 17, 1995, NHTSA published a Notice announcing that it 
would hold a public meeting to seek information from final stage and 
intermediate manufacturers of vehicle built in two or more stages, 
manufacturers of incomplete vehicles, and the public on certification 
of vehicles that are manufactured in stages and suggestions for action 
with respect to NHTSA's regulations and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standards that govern the manufacture of vehicles in stages (60 FR 
57694). In the notice, the agency stated its belief that multistage 
vehicle certification is an area in which negotiated rulemaking may be 
beneficial, and invited comments on the advisability of conducting 
negotiated rulemaking in this area.
    The public meeting was held on December 12, 1995. Companies, trade 
associations, and individuals made presentations at the meeting and/or 
submitted written comments for the record. Many of the comments 
endorsed using regulatory negotiation for this rulemaking; none opposed 
the process. Based on this response, NHTSA has determined that 
establishing an ad hoc advisory committee on this subject is in the 
public interest.

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B. Issues and Questions To Be Resolved

    NHTSA has tentatively identified major issues that should be 
considered in this negotiated rulemaking. Listed below are subjects 
which NHTSA presently believes the negotiation process should address:
     Equitable and effective allocation of certification 
responsibility;
     Enforcement issues relevant to each stage of 
manufacturing;
     Costs to regulated parties of testing or certification;
     Effects on safety;
     Effects on small businesses;
     Enforceability against later stage manufacturers of 
standards that include dynamic testing;
     Feasibility and cost effectiveness of alternate methods 
(e.g., testing, computer modeling, or other as-yet-unspecified methods) 
to ensure compliance of completed vehicles with requirements of 
applicable FMVSS's;
     Mechanisms for incorporating alternate methods of ensuring 
compliance into these regulations;
     Mechanisms for sharing costs of testing;
     Requirements tailored to the capabilities and 
circumstances of each class of vehicles;
     Extended leadtime for implementation of FMVSSs for final-
stage manufacturers;
     Recall and warranty responsibilities of manufacturers;
     Pass-through certification as a compliance option;
     Relative administrative/compliance burdens of 
certification on first stage and later stage manufacturers; and
     Scope of compliance ``envelopes'' prescribed by first 
stage manufacturers and ability of intermediate and final stage 
manufacturers to stay within those envelopes.1
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    \1\ Compliance envelopes represent the level of certification 
attested to by incomplete vehicle manufacturers of chassis cabs. 
There are three compliance statements which the first level 
manufacturer can make with regard to an incomplete vehicle. The 
manufacturer may affix to the vehicle a statement that:
    (1) the vehicle, when completed, will conform to the safety 
standard if no alterations are made in the identified components of 
the incomplete vehicle;
    (2) there are specific conditions of final manufacture under 
which the manufacturer specifies that the completed vehicle will 
conform to the safety standard; or
    (3) conformity with the safety standard is not substantially 
affected by the design of the incomplete vehicle and no 
representation is made as to conformity with that safety standard.
    Any safety standards for which the first level manufacturer has 
not certified the vehicle must be certified by the final stage 
manufacturer, and all other work must be performed within the terms 
of the incomplete vehicle manufacturer's certification to allow that 
certification to remain valid.
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    NHTSA invites comment on whether additional issues should be 
addressed by the negotiating committee.

III. Procedures and Guidelines

    The following proposed procedures and guidelines will apply to this 
process, subject to appropriate changes made as a result of comments on 
this Notice or as determined to be necessary during the negotiating 
process.

A. Notice of Intent To Establish Advisory Committee and Request for 
Comment

    In accordance with the requirements of FACA, an agency of the 
federal government cannot establish or utilize a group of people in the 
interest of obtaining consensus advice or recommendations unless that 
group is chartered as a federal advisory committee. It is the purpose 
of this Notice to indicate NHTSA's intent to create a federal advisory 
committee, to identify the issues involved in the rulemaking, to 
identify the interests affected by the rulemaking, to identify 
potential participants who will adequately represent those interests, 
and to ask for comment on the use of regulatory negotiation and on the 
identification of the issues, interests, procedures, and participants.

B. Facilitator

    Pursuant to the NRA (5 U.S.C. 566), a facilitator will be selected 
to serve as an impartial chair of the meetings; assist Committee 
members to conduct discussions and negotiations; and manage the keeping 
of minutes and records as required by FACA. The facilitator will chair 
the negotiations, may offer alternative suggestions toward the desired 
consensus, will help participants define and reach consensus, and will 
determine the feasibility of negotiating particular issues.

C. Representation

    The Committee will include representatives from NHTSA and from the 
organizations and interests listed below. Each representative may also 
name an alternate, who will be encouraged to attend all Committee 
meetings and will serve in place of the representative if necessary. 
The NHTSA representative is the Designated Agency Official (DAO) as 
required by FACA (5 U.S.C. 10) and will participate in the 
deliberations and activities of the Committee with the same rights and 
responsibilities as other Committee members. The DAO will be authorized 
to fully represent the agency in the discussions and negotiations of 
the Committee.
    NHTSA intends to invite the following organizations and interests 
to participate in the negotiated rulemaking by identifying an 
individual to serve as a member of the Committee. The organizations 
listed have been contacted by the facilitator and have indicated a 
willingness to serve on the Committee. NHTSA believes that, in addition 
to the organizations listed, there may be other interests that should 
be included on the Committee.
    The organizations and interests that should participate in the 
negotiated rulemaking are:
     Representatives of large, incomplete vehicle manufacturers 
(e.g., Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation);
     Representatives of specialty domestic manufacturers (e.g., 
Navistar, Freightliner);
     Representatives of component manufacturers (e.g., Atwood 
Mobile Products, Delphi Chassis Systems, Bornemann Products, Inc.);
     National Truck and Equipment Association;
     Recreational Vehicle Industry Association;
     School Bus Manufacturers Technical Council;
     Mark III;
     National Automobile Dealers Association;
     Veridian Engineering (formerly Calspan);
     Association of Fleet Operators;
     Paralyzed Veterans of America;
     National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association;
     Representatives from Consumer Groups.
    NHTSA will consider applications for representation from 
organizations or interests not appropriately represented by those 
listed above. Please identify such organizations and interests if they 
exist and explain why they should have separate representation on the 
Committee.

D. Applications for Membership

    Each application for membership or nomination to the Committee 
should include: (i) the name of the applicant or nominee and the 
interest(s) such person would represent; (ii) evidence that the 
applicant or nominee is authorized to represent parties related to the 
interest(s) the person proposes to represent; and (iii) a written 
commitment that the applicant or nominee would participate in good 
faith. Please be aware that each individual or organization affected by 
a final rule need not have its own representative on the Committee and

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that the size of the Committee is limited by statute. Rather, each 
interest must be adequately represented, and the Committee should be 
fairly balanced.

E. Good Faith

    Participants must be committed to negotiate in good faith. 
Therefore, it is important that senior officials within each interest 
group be designated to represent that interest. No individual will be 
required to ``bind'' the interests he or she represents, but the 
individual should be able to represent the interest with confidence. 
For this process to be successful, the interests represented should be 
willing to accept the final Committee product.

F. Notice of Establishment

    After evaluating comments received as a result of this Notice, 
NHTSA will issue a notice announcing the establishment and composition 
of the Committee, unless it determines that such action is 
inappropriate in light of comments received. After the Committee is 
chartered, the negotiations will begin.

G. Administrative Support and Meetings

    Staff support will be provided by NHTSA, and meetings will take 
place in Washington, DC.

H. Consensus

    The purpose of the Committee is to develop consensus on an outline 
for a proposed rule. ``Consensus'' means the unanimous concurrence 
among the interests represented on the Committee, unless the Committee 
explicitly adopts a different definition.

I. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

    The Committee's objective is to prepare a report containing an 
outline of its recommendations for a notice of proposed rulemaking. 
This report may also include suggestions for specific preamble and 
regulatory language based on the Committee's recommendations, as well 
as information relevant to a regulatory evaluation and an evaluation of 
the impacts of the proposal on small businesses. To this end, NHTSA 
expects the Committee to address cost/benefit, paperwork reduction and 
regulatory flexibility requirements. If consensus cannot be achieved 
for some issues, the report will identify the areas of agreement and 
disagreement, and explanations for any disagreement. NHTSA will use the 
Committee report to draft a notice of proposed rulemaking, regulatory 
evaluation, and other analyses, as appropriate.
    NHTSA will accept the Committee proposal, keeping in mind its 
statutory authority and other legal requirements. In the event that the 
agency must reject an issue within the proposal, the preamble to a NPRM 
addressing the issues that were the subject of the negotiations will 
explain the reasons for the agency decision to reject the Committee 
recommendations.

J. Committee Procedures

    Under the general guidance of the facilitator, and subject to legal 
requirements, the Committee will establish detailed procedures for the 
meetings. The meetings of the Committee will be open to the public. Any 
person attending the Committee meetings may address the Committee if 
time permits or file statements with the Committee.

K. Record of Meetings

    In accordance with FACA requirements, the facilitator will prepare 
minutes of all Committee meetings. These minutes will be placed in the 
public docket for this rulemaking.

L. Tentative Schedule

    NHTSA plans to convene the first of five monthly meetings 
approximately fifteen days after publication of a notice of 
establishment of the advisory committee. The date and exact location of 
that meeting will be announced in the agency's notice of establishment 
of the advisory committee. Meetings are expected to last two to three 
days each. The negotiation process will proceed according to a schedule 
of specific dates that the Committee devises at its first meeting. 
NHTSA will publish a single notice of the schedule of all future 
meetings in the Federal Register, but will amend the notice through 
subsequent Federal Register notices if it becomes necessary to do so.
    The first meeting will commence with an orientation and regulatory 
negotiation training program conducted by the facilitator.

IV. 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 receives 
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. If Docket 
Management receives a comment too late for us to consider it in 
developing a final rule (assuming that one is issued), we will consider 
that comment as an informal suggestion for future rulemaking action.

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

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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.

    Issued on: May 14, 1999.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 99-12629 Filed 5-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P