[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 13, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55212-55214]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23520]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA-00-7794]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS); Small Business 
Impacts of School Bus Safety

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

ACTION: Notice of regulatory review; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
seeks comments on the economic impact of its regulations on small 
entities. As required by Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 
we are attempting to identify rules that may have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. We also 
request comments on ways to make these regulations easier to read and 
understand. The focus of this notice is rules that specifically relate 
to school bus safety.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 29, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should mention the docket number of this document in 
your comments and submit your comments in writing to: Docket Management 
System, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC, 20590. You may call Docket Management at: 
(202) 366-9324. You may visit the Docket from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm 
Monday through Friday.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act

A. Background and Purpose

    Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-
354), as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 
Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), requires agencies to conduct periodic 
reviews of final rules that have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small business entities. The purpose of the 
reviews is to determine whether such rules should be continued without 
change, amended, or rescinded, consistent with the objectives of 
applicable statutes, to minimize any significant economic impact of the 
rules on a substantial number of such small entities.

B. Review Schedule

    The Department of Transportation (DOT) published its Semiannual 
Regulatory Agenda on November 22, 1999, listing in Appendix D (64 FR

[[Page 55213]]

64684) those regulations that each operating administration will review 
under section 610 during the next 12 months. Appendix D also contains 
DOT's 10-year review plan for all of its existing regulations.
    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, (``we'') 
has divided its rules into 10 groups by subject area. Each group will 
be reviewed once every 10 years, undergoing a two-stage process--an 
Analysis Year and a Review Year. For purposes of these reviews, a year 
will coincide with the fall-to-fall publication schedule of the 
Semiannual Regulatory Agenda. Thus, Year 1 (1998) began in fall of 1998 
and ends in the fall of 1999; Year 2 (1999) begins in the fall of 1999 
and ends in the fall of 2000; and so on.
    During the Analysis Year, we will request public comment on and 
analyze each of the rules in a given year's group to determine whether 
any rule has a significant impact on a substantial number of small 
entities and, thus, requires review in accordance with section 610 of 
the Regulatory Flexibility Act. In each fall's Regulatory Agenda, we 
will publish the results of the analyses we completed during the 
previous year. For rules that have subparts, or other discrete sections 
of rules that do have a significant impact on a substantial number of 
small entities, we will announce that we will be conducting a formal 
section 610 review during the following 12 months.
    The section 610 review will determine whether a specific rule 
should be revised or revoked to lessen its impact on small entities. We 
will consider: (1) The continued need for the rule; (2) the nature of 
complaints or comments received from the public; (3) the complexity of 
the rule; (4) the extent to which the rule overlaps, duplicates, or 
conflicts with other federal rules or with state or local government 
rules; and (5) the length of time since the rule has been evaluated or 
the degree to which technology, economic conditions, or other factors 
have changed in the area affected by the rule. At the end of the Review 
Year, we will publish the results of our review.
    The following table shows the 10-year analysis and review schedule:

                      NHTSA Section 610 Review Plan
------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Regulations to be
   Year            reviewed           Analysis year       Review year
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.........  49 CFR parts 501                     1998               1999
             through 526 and
             571.213.
2.........  49 CFR parts 571.131,                1999               2000
             217, 220, 221, and
             222.
3.........  49 CFR parts 591                     2000               2001
             through 594.
4.........  49 CFR parts 571.101                 2001               2002
             through 571.110 and
             571.135.
5.........  49 CFR parts 529                     2002               2003
             through 579, except
             part 571.
6.........  49 CFR parts 571.111                 2003               2004
             through 571.129 and
             parts 580 through 590.
7.........  49 CFR parts 571.201                 2004               2005
             through 571.212.
8.........  49 CFR parts 571.214                 2005               2006
             through 571.219,
             except 217.
9.........  49 CFR parts 571.223                 2006               2007
             through 571.304, part
             500 and new parts and
             subparts under 49 CFR.
10........  23 CFR parts 1200's                  2007               2008
             and 1300's and new
             parts and subparts
             under 23 CFR.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Regulations Under Analysis

    During Year 2 (1999), the Analysis Year, we will conduct a 
preliminary assessment of the following sections of 49 CFR Part 571.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Section                               Title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
571.131................................  School bus pedestrian safety
                                          devices.
571.217................................  Bus emergency exits and window
                                          retention and release.
571.220................................  School bus rollover protection.
571.221................................  School bus body joint strength.
571.222................................  School bus passenger seating
                                          and crash protection.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We are seeking comments on whether any requirements in Parts 
571.131, 571.217, and 571.220 through 571.222 have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. ``Small 
entities'' include small businesses, not-for-profit organizations that 
are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their 
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations under 50,000. 
Business entities are generally defined as small businesses by Standard 
Industrial Classification (SIC) code, for the purposes of receiving 
Small Business Administration (SBA) assistance. Size standards 
established by SBA in 13 CFR 121.201 are expressed either in number of 
employees or annual receipts in millions of dollars, unless otherwise 
specified. The number of employees or annual receipts indicates the 
maximum allowed for a concern and its affiliates to be considered 
small. If your business or organization is a small entity and if any of 
the requirements in Parts 571.131, 571.217, and 571.220 through 571.222 
have a significant economic impact on your business or organization, 
please submit a comment to explain how and to what degree these rules 
affect you, the extent of the economic impact on your business or 
organization, and why you believe the economic impact is significant.
    If the agency determines that there is a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities, it will ask for 
comment in a subsequent notice during the Review Year on how these 
impacts could be reduced without reducing safety.

II. Plain Language

A. Background and Purpose

    Executive Order 12866 and the President's memorandum of June 1, 
1998, require each agency to write all rules in plain language. 
Application of the principles of plain language includes consideration 
of the following questions:
     Have we organized the material to suit the public's needs?
     Are the requirements in the rule clearly stated?
     Does the rule contain technical language or jargon that is 
not clear?
     Would a different format (grouping and order of sections, 
use of headings,

[[Page 55214]]

paragraphing) make the rule easier to understand?
     Would more (but shorter) sections be better?
     Could we improve clarity by adding tables, lists, or 
diagrams?
     What else could we do to make the rule easier to 
understand?
    If you have any responses to these questions, please include them 
in your comments on this document.

B. Review Schedule

    In conjunction with our section 610 reviews, we will be performing 
plain language reviews over a ten-year period on a schedule consistent 
with the section 610 review schedule. We will review Parts 571.131, 
571.217, and 571.220 through 571.222 to determine if these regulations 
can be reorganized and/or rewritten to make them easier to read, 
understand, and use. We encourage interested persons to submit draft 
regulatory language that clearly and simply communicates regulatory 
requirements, and other recommendations, such as for putting 
information in tables, that may make the regulations easier to use.

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.
    Comments may also be submitted to the docket electronically by 
logging onto the Docket Management System website at http://dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help & Information'' or ``Help/Info'' to obtain 
instructions for filing your comments electronically.
    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.
    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 ``pdf'' versions 
of the documents are 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. 00-23520 Filed 9-12-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P