[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 22 (Monday, February 3, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5333-5335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-2367]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-03-14395]


NHTSA's Activities under the United Nations Economic Commission 
for Europe 1998 Global Agreement

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

ACTION: Notice of activities under the 1998 Global Agreement and 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NHTSA is publishing this notice to inform the public of the 
tentative schedule of meetings of the World Forum for the Harmonization 
of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) and its working parties of experts for 
calendar year 2003. In addition, this notice informs the public about 
the 1998 Global Agreement program of work that was agreed to by the 
Executive Committee of the Agreement and adopted by WP.29. Finally, 
NHTSA is seeking comments regarding a draft U.S. proposal for the 
development of a global technical regulation on door locks and door 
retention components under the 1998 Global Agreement. Publication of 
this information is consistent with NHTSA's Statement of Policy 
regarding Agency Policy Goals and Public Participation in the 
Implementation of the 1998 Agreement on Global Technical Regulations.

DATES: Written comments may be submitted to this agency and must be 
received by March 5, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You may submit your comments in writing to: Docket 
Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, 
20590. Alternatively, you may submit your comments electronically by 
logging onto the Dockets Management System Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help & Information'' or ``Help/Info'' to view 
instructions for filing your comments electronically. Regardless of how 
you submit your comments, you should mention the docket number of this 
document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Julie Abraham, Director of the 
Office of International Policy and Harmonization (NPP-01), National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC, 20590; phone number (202) 366-2114, fax number (202) 
366-2559.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. List of tentative meetings of WP.29 and its Working Parties of 
Experts
III. Program of Work of the 1998 Global Agreement
IV. Formal proposals for global technical regulations submitted by 
Contracting Parties
V. Request for comments on U.S. draft proposal for a GTR
VI. Appendix

I. Introduction

    On August 23, 2000, NHTSA published in the Federal Register (65 FR 
51236) a statement of policy indicating that the agency would provide 
each calendar year a list of scheduled meetings of WP.29 and the 
working parties of experts, as well as meetings of the Executive 
Committee of the 1998 Global Agreement. Further, in that policy 
statement, the agency stated that it would keep the public informed 
about a program of work under the Agreement (i.e., the agreed subjects 
for which a global technical regulations should be developed) as well 
as a list of candidate global technical regulations that have been 
formally proposed by a contracting party and referred to a working 
party of experts. NHTSA also indicated that before submitting a draft 
U.S. proposal for the development of a global technical regulation to 
WP.29, NHTSA would publish a notice requesting public comments on the 
draft proposal.
    On July 18, 2000, NHTSA published in the Federal Register (65 FR 
44565) a notice seeking public comments on its preliminary 
recommendations for the first motor vehicle safety technical 
regulations to be considered for establishment under the Agreement. On 
January 18, 2001, the agency, after consideration of the comments, 
published in the Federal Register (66 FR 4893) a notice outlining its 
final recommendations. In that notice, the agency stated that it would 
present those recommendations to WP.29 and propose them for 
consideration by other contracting parties of the 1998 Global Agreement 
concerning the adoption of a program of work under the Agreement. The 
agency also stated that it would report to the public the final outcome 
of the deliberations.

II. List of Tentative Meetings of WP.29 and Its Working Parties of 
Experts

    The following list contains meetings tentatively scheduled for 
calendar year 2003. The meeting dates are subject to confirmation by 
the Inland Transport Committee during its February 2003 session. The 
agency does not anticipate any changes to the schedule. In addition, 
working parties of experts may schedule, if necessary, informal 
meetings in addition to their regularly scheduled ones in order to 
address specific regulations.

Schedule of Meetings of WP.29 and Its Working Parties of Experts

January

13-17 Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE) (45th session).

February

3-7 Working Party on Brakes and Running Gear (GRRF) (53rd session).

March

10 Administrative Committee for the Coordination of Work (WP.29/AC.2) 
(81st session).
11-14 World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29)--
(129th session) and Administrative Committee to the 1958 Agreement 
(AC.1) (23rd session) and Executive Committee of the 1998 Agreement 
(AC.3) (seventh session).

April

7-11 Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signalling (GRE) (50th 
session).

May

5-9 Working Party on General Safety Provisions (GRSG) (84th session).
20-23 Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE) (46th session).

June

2-6 Working Party on Passive Safety (GRSP) (33rd session).
23 Administrative Committee for the Coordination of Work (WP.29/AC.2) 
(82nd session).
24-27 World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) 
(130th session) and AC.1 (24th session) and AC.3 (eighth session).

September

15-19 Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signalling (GRE) (51st 
session).

October

6-8 Working Party on Brakes and Running Gear (GRRF) (54th session).
9-10 Working Party on Noise (GRB) (38th session).
21-24 Working Party on General Safety Provisions (GRSG) (85th session).

November

10 Administrative Committee for the Coordination of Work (WP.29/AC.2) 
(83rd session).

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11-14 World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) 
(131st session) and AC.1 (25th session) and AC.3 (ninth session).

December

8-12 Working Party on Passive Safety (GRSP) (34th session).

III. Program of Work of the 1998 Global Agreement

    In March 2001, NHTSA submitted to WP.29 and the Executive Committee 
of the 1998 Global Agreement its final recommendations for the first 
motor vehicle safety technical regulations to be considered for 
establishment under that Agreement. The Administrative Committee for 
the Coordination of Work of WP.29 (AC.2) reviewed the recommendations 
made by various contracting parties, including the United States, 
Canada, the European Union, Japan, and Russia, as well as those made by 
other interested parties and reached agreement on a Program of Work, 
taking into account the workload of the working parties of experts 
under WP.29. AC.2 then submitted the Program of Work to the Executive 
Committee of the 1998 Global Agreement (AC.3). The AC.3 approved the 
Program of Work and requested that contracting parties volunteer to 
sponsor each listed regulation by submitting a formal proposal as 
required by Article 6 of the 1998 Global Agreement. WP.29 formally 
adopted the Program of Work at its session in March 2002. During the 
June and November 2002 sessions of WP.29, several contracting parties 
stepped forward as sponsors for the individual work items. The 
following table lists the subjects and the sponsoring contracting 
party.

                                  Program of Work of the 1998 Global Agreement
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Working party of experts                    Subject                         Sponsoring contracting party
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GRE.......................  Installation of Lighting and Light-       Canada.
                             Signalling Devices.
GRRF......................  Motorcycle Brakes.......................  Canada.
                            Passenger Vehicle Brakes................  To be determined.
GRSG......................  Safety Glazing..........................  Germany.
                            Controls and Displays...................  Canada.
                            Vehicle Classification, Masses and        Japan.
                             Dimensions.
GRSP......................  Pedestrian Safety.......................  European Community.
                            Lower Anchorages and Tethers for Child    TBD.
                             Safety Seats.
                            Door Locks and Door Retention Components  U.S.A.
                            Head Restraints.........................  TBD.
GRPE......................  Worldwide Heavy-Duty Certification        European Community.
                             Procedure.
                            Worldwide Motorcycle Emission Test Cycle  TBD.
                            Heavy-Duty On-Board Diagnostics.........  U.S.A.
                            Off-Cycle Emissions.....................  U.S.A.
                            Non-Road Mobile Machinery...............  European Community.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, the contracting parties will begin exchanges of 
information in the following areas: tires, under the GRRF; field of 
vision (GRSG); side-impact dummy and compatibility (GRSP); fuel cells 
and worldwide light-duty vehicle test procedures (GRPE); and 
intelligent vehicle systems (WP.29).

IV. Formal Proposals for the Development of Global Technical 
Regulations Submitted by Contracting Parties

    As of December 2002, pursuant to Article 6 of the 1998 Global 
Agreement, which sets forth the process and conditions under which a 
contracting party may make proposals for the establishment of global 
technical regulations, there had been two formal proposals for global 
technical regulations. One proposal addresses controls and displays, 
and the other one addresses on-board diagnostics for heavy-duty 
vehicles and machinery. A copy of the former, which was proposed by 
Canada, is available in the docket for this notice. Both proposals can 
be found on the UN/ECE Web site http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp29/wp29wgs/wp29gen/gen2002.html as UNECE documents Trans/WP.29/2002/29 and 
Trans/WP.29/2002/26, respectively.

V. Request for Comments on U.S. Draft Proposal for a GTR

    During the upcoming meeting of WP.29 and the Executive Committee of 
the 1998 Global Agreement in March 2003, NHTSA will formalize its 
sponsorship of the regulation on Door Locks and Door Retention 
Components, as identified in the Program of Work of the 1998 Global 
Agreement. The draft proposal describes the objective of the global 
technical regulation and identifies in general terms issues to be 
considered during the development of the regulation. Please provide 
public comments on the draft proposal set forth in the appendix to this 
notice. NHTSA will take all public comments into account before 
submitting the proposal to WP.29 during its March 2003 session.

Appendix--U.S. Proposal for the Development of a Global Technical 
Regulation on Door Locks and Door Retention Components, To be Submitted 
to the Executive Committee of the 1998 Global Agreement (AC.3), March 
2003

A. Objective of the Proposal

    In the U.S., between 1994 and 1999, complete and partial ejections 
resulted in approximately 9,864 fatalities and 9,767 serious injuries 
per year. Door ejections accounted for 1,668 of those fatalities (19%) 
and 1,976 of the serious injuries (22%). Hinged side door openings 
accounted for approximately 90% of all door ejection fatalities and 93% 
of all door ejection serious injuries. This situation is likely to be a 
problem elsewhere.
    The objective of this proposal is to develop a global technical 
regulation regarding door locks and door retention components intended 
to reduce door latch system failures. In view of the 1998 Global 
Agreement, we now have an opportunity to develop an improved and 
harmonized door locks and door retention components regulation. 
Moreover, the work on the global regulation will provide an opportunity

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to consider in the new regulation most, if not all, international 
safety concerns as well as available technological developments.
    The U.S. is currently looking into upgrading its door locks and 
door retention components regulation to provide more stringent 
requirements. The current regulation was designed to test for door 
openings in vehicles that were built in the 1960s. Changes in vehicle 
latch designs common in the 1960s and 1970s have rendered the existing 
regulations largely obsolete. Likewise, the ECE regulation is now over 
30 years old. Neither regulation has been amended significantly since 
their original adoption. Accordingly, the existing regulations have 
become less effective and likely do not provide many safety benefits at 
this time.
    In light of the U.S. regulatory upgrade effort, we believe that 
this would be an excellent opportunity for the international community 
to develop a GTR concurrently with the U.S. Everyone could benefit from 
harmonization and new technology-based improvements of the door locks 
and door retention components regulation. The benefits to the 
governments would be the improvement of the door locks and door 
retention components adoption of the best safety practices, the 
leveraging of resources, and the harmonization of requirements. 
Manufacturers would benefit from reduction of the cost of development, 
testing and fabrication process of new models. Finally the consumer 
would benefit by having better choice of vehicles built to higher, 
globally recognized standards providing a better level of safety at a 
lower price.

B. Description of the Proposal to Develop a Regulation

    The current requirements only test individual latch components 
without regard to how those components interact with each other, with 
other portions of the door, or with the directions of force loading 
conditions occurring in real world crashes. Door openings are 
frequently caused by a combination of longitudinal and lateral forces 
during the crash, which can subject the latch system to compressive 
longitudinal and tensile lateral forces. These forces often result in 
structural failures of the latch system as well as other non-latch 
systems such as hinge strike supports, door frame and door sheet metal. 
Hence, it would be beneficial to consider developing full system 
requirements. In addition, current requirements have no test procedure 
for evaluating the safety of sliding doors. Consideration of such 
requirements would be valuable.
    The GTR will be applicable for passenger vehicles, multi-purpose 
vehicles as well as trucks. The performance and test requirements for 
the door latch, striker and hinges will be based on the stringency 
needed to attain reasonable safety benefits in a cost effective manner. 
The GTR will be developed based in part on existing national 
regulations, directives of contracting parties as well as the 
international standards and regulations listed below. The U.S. prepared 
a table to facilitate comparison of the present U.S. and ECE 
regulations, which are currently being widely used by many contracting 
parties. The table is available in the docket for this notice.
    The results of additional research and testing conducted by any 
contracting parties since the existing regulations were promulgated 
will also be factored into the requirements of the draft GTR and may 
result in the proposal of new requirements.
    Elements of the GTR, which cannot be resolved by the Working Party 
will be identified and dealt with in accordance with protocol 
established by AC.3 and WP.29. The proposed GTR will be drafted in the 
format adopted by WP.29 (TRANS/WP.29/882).

C. Existing Regulations and Directives

    Though there are no regulations currently contained in the 
Compendium of Candidates, the following regulations and standards will 
be taken into account during development of the new global technical 
regulation regarding door locks and door retention components.
    [sbull] UN/ECE Regulation 11--Uniform provisions concerning the 
approval of vehicles with regard to door latches and door retention 
components.
    [sbull] U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 49: 
Transportation; Part 571.206: Door locks and door retention components.
    [sbull] EU Directive 70/387/EEC, concerning the doors of motor 
vehicles and their trailers.
    [sbull] Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Regulation No. 206--Door locks 
and door retention components.
    [sbull] Japan Safety Regulation for Road Vehicle Article 25--
Entrance.
    [sbull] Australian Design Rule 2/00--Side Door Latches and Hinges.

D. Existing International Voluntary Standards

    The following international voluntary standards will be taken into 
account during development of the new global technical regulation 
regarding door locks and door retention components.
    [sbull] SAE J839, September 1998--Passenger Car Side Door Latch 
Systems.
    [sbull] SAE J934, September 1998--Vehicle Passenger Door Hinge 
Systems.

    Issued on: January 29, 2003.
Rose A. McMurray,
Associate Administrator for Planning, Evaluation and Budget.
[FR Doc. 03-2367 Filed 1-31-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P