[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 186 (Thursday, September 25, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55319-55320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24146]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 585

[Docket No. NHTSA-03-15067]


Advanced Air Bag Phase-In Reporting Requirements

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

ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendment.

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SUMMARY: This document contains a correction to the final rule 
published May 5, 2003, that amended the definition of limited line 
manufacturer for the purposes of the advanced air bag regulations 
phase-in.

[[Page 55320]]


DATES: The effective date of this final rule is September 25, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The following persons at the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
    For non-legal issues: Mr. Louis Molino of the NHTSA Office of 
Crashworthiness Standards, NVS-112, telephone (202) 366-2264, facsimile 
(202) 493-2739.
    For legal issues: Mr. Christopher Calamita of the NHTSA Office of 
Chief Counsel, NCC-112, telephone (202) 366-2992, facsimile (202) 366-
3820.
    You may send mail to both of these officials at the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh St., SW., 
Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The standards that are subject to these corrections are 49 CFR part 
585, Advanced Air Bag Phase-In Reporting Requirements, and Federal 
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, Occupant Crash 
Protection. In May 2000, we published a rule requiring advanced air 
bags in light vehicles in order to reduce the risk of serious air bag-
induced injuries, particularly for small women and young children, and 
provide improved frontal crash protection for all occupants (65 FR 
30680). The requirements of that rule are being phased in during two 
stages, the first of which extends from September 1, 2003 to August 31, 
2006.
    During the first phase-in, increasing percentages of motor vehicles 
will be required to meet requirements for minimizing air bag risks, 
primarily by either automatically turning off the air bag when young 
children are present or deploying the air bag more benignly so that it 
is much less likely to cause serious or fatal injury to out-of-position 
occupants. The May 2000 final rule permitted limited line 
manufacturers, i.e., those defined in FMVSS No. 208 as producers of no 
more than two vehicle lines for sale in the United States, the option 
of opting out of the advanced air bag requirements for the first year 
of the phase-ins as long as 100 percent of the vehicles produced for 
the U.S. market were fully compliant in the second year of the phase-
ins and thereafter.
    In May 2003, we published a final rule amending the advanced air 
bag regulation to address how to treat limited line manufacturers in 
the first phase-in. (68 FR 23614; May 5, 2003.) The May 2003 final rule 
amended the definition of limited line manufacturer, for the first 
phase-in only, to a manufacturer that produces no more than three 
vehicle lines. Additionally, we provided limited line manufacturers 
with an additional year to comply with the new advanced air bag 
requirements. We determined that the amended definition provided relief 
to manufacturers of only a few carlines that are required to ensure 
that each of its carlines is fully compliant.

Need for Correction

    As published, the May 2003 final rule contained an error that needs 
correction. The May 2003 final rule expanded the definition of limited 
line manufacturer in FMVSS No. 208 for the first stage of the advanced 
air bag phase-in, but the final rule failed to amend the definition of 
limited line manufacturer contained in 49 CFR part 585. Part 585 
establishes the reporting requirements for the advanced air bag phase-
ins. Under the May 2000 and May 2003 final rules, Sec.  585.4(g) 
defines limited line manufacturer as a ``manufacturer that sells two or 
fewer carlines, as that term is defined in 49 CFR 583.4, in the United 
States during a production year.''
    This correction amends the definition of limited line manufacture 
in Sec.  585.4 to include manufacturers of three or fewer carlines for 
the first stage of the phase-in.

Correction of Publication

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 585

    Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.


0
In consideration of the foregoing, 49 CFR part 585 is amended as 
follows:

PART 585--ADVANCED AIR BAG PHASE-IN REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 585 of title 49 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117, and 30166; 
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.


0
2. Section 585.4 is amended by revising paragraph (g) to read as 
follows:
* * * * *


Sec.  585.4  Definitions.

* * * * *
    (g) Limited line manufacturer for phase one, means a manufacturer 
that sells three or fewer carlines, as that term is defined in 49 CFR 
583.4, in the United States during a production year; and for phase 
two, a manufacturer that sells two or fewer carlines, as that term is 
defined in 49 CFR 583.4, in the United States during a production year.
* * * * *

    Issued on: September 16, 2003.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 03-24146 Filed 9-24-03; 8:45 am]
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