[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 29, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38860-38863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-14699]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 579

[Docket No. NHTSA 2001-8677; Notice 10]
RIN 2127-AJ41


Reporting of Information and Documents About Potential Defects

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend the date by which quarterly 
early warning reports are to be submitted to the agency from 30 days 
following the end of a calendar quarter to 60 days following the end of 
a calendar quarter. This also proposes to amend the date by which 
copies of non-dealer field reports are to be submitted from 30 days 
after the quarterly reports are due to 15 days after those reports are 
due.

DATES: Comments Closing Date: Comments must be received on or before 
July 29, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number 
NHTSA 2004-8677 by any of the following methods:

     Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the 
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 am 
and 5 pm, Monday

[[Page 38861]]

through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.

    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this 
rulemaking. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Request for 
Comments heading of the Supplementary Information section of this 
document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change 
to http://dms.dot.gov, including any personal information provided. 
Please see the Privacy Act heading of the Supplementary Information 
section of this document regarding documents submitted to the agency's 
dockets.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL-
401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal Holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues, contact Jonathan 
White, Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA (phone: 202-366-5226). 
For legal issues, contact Andrew DiMarsico, Office of Chief Counsel, 
NHTSA (phone: 202-366-5263).
    You may send mail to these officials at National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On July 10, 2002, NHTSA published a final rule implementing the 
early warning reporting (EWR) provisions of the Transportation Recall 
Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act, 49 U.S.C. 
30166(m) (67 FR 45822). The final rule established a schedule for the 
reporting of information and submission of copies of certain field 
reports required by the rule. The first calendar quarter for which 
reports were required was the second calendar quarter of 2003. See 49 
CFR 579.28(a)(2002). For the quarterly reporting periods in 2003, the 
reports were due within 60 days after the end of the quarter. 
Thereafter, starting in 2004, reports were to be due within 30 days 
after the end of the quarter. See 49 CFR 579.28(b) (2002).
    In response to a petition for reconsideration of the final rule, on 
June 11, 2003, NHTSA amended the reporting dates. Under the revised 
rule, the initial reporting period for all quarterly data \1\ other 
than historical reports and copies of non-dealer field reports, was the 
third quarter of 2003. Reports covering the last two quarters of 2003 
and the first quarter of 2004 were due to NHTSA within 60 days after 
the close of the reporting period. Thereafter, reports currently are 
due within 30 days after the close of the quarter. NHTSA also amended 
the requirements for submission of copies of non-dealer field reports. 
The initial reporting period for the submission of copies of non-dealer 
field reports was the first calendar quarter of 2004. The field reports 
currently are due within 30 days after the quarterly data are due. 49 
CFR 579.28(b), (n) (2003); see 68 FR 35145 (June 11, 2003).
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    \1\ In general, quarterly reports include information on 
production, incidents involving death or injury, numbers of property 
damage claims, numbers of consumer complaints, numbers of warranty 
claims or warranty adjustments, and numbers of field reports. See 
e.g., 49 CFR 579.21.
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II. Petition for Extension of Time to Submit EWR Data.

    On April 22, 2004, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers 
(Alliance) petitioned NHTSA to conduct a rulemaking to allow 
manufacturers to submit EWR quarterly reports within 60 days after the 
close of the quarterly reporting period, rather than the 30 days 
allowed in the current regulation, beginning with the report for the 
second calendar quarter of 2004. The Alliance stated that vehicle 
manufacturers have learned through the experience of the first three 
reporting periods that the processing and reporting of early warning 
information will take longer than 30 days. As a result, the Alliance 
stated, despite the manufacturers' best efforts, if the reports were 
due 30 days after the end of the quarter a significant amount of 
reportable data could inadvertently be excluded from the reports, and 
included in the following quarter's reports instead. In order to avoid 
such incomplete reporting, the Alliance requests an additional 30 days 
to provide the quarterly data.

III. Discussion

    When we issued the final rule, and when we postponed the initial 
reporting period on reconsideration, we believed that after 
manufacturers had three opportunities to gain experience in making EWR 
submissions, 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter would be a 
sufficient amount of time for submitting EWR information. However, on 
the basis of the Alliance's petition and our experience in receiving 
EWR data, we are proposing to revise section 579.28(b) to permit 
manufacturers to submit EWR quarterly data not later than 60 days after 
the end of each calendar quarter.
    The EWR rule requires manufacturers to submit large amounts of data 
that are stored in a variety of locations. As manufacturers have 
compiled and reported EWR information, they have gained a better 
understanding of the amount of time it takes them to collect, collate 
and report the information. Based upon the experience of the Alliance's 
members, it appears that at least for the foreseeable future, 
manufacturers need more than 30 days to provide complete and accurate 
EWR reports to NHTSA. Incomplete or inaccurate data would not serve 
NHTSA well. Complete quarterly reports are far more useful in comparing 
various data to determine whether there are trends that are indicative 
of a potential defect. In fact, incomplete reports could lead the 
agency to fail to notice potential defects or to examine issues 
unnecessarily.
    As we have stated in earlier Federal Register notices on the early 
warning reporting program, we plan to review the EWR regulation after 
two years of experience. During the course of this review, we will 
assess whether the appropriate time for quarterly reporting should be 
30, 60 or some other number of days after the end of the reporting 
period.
    Under the current regulations, copies of non-dealer field reports 
are due to NHTSA within 30 days after the other quarterly reports are 
due. 49 CFR 579.28(n). In essence, beginning with the second quarter of 
2004, these reports are now due 60 days after the end of the quarter. 
Given the structure of the regulation, which bases the due date for 
non-dealer field reports on the due date for quarterly reports, if we 
were to change the due date for the quarterly reports and make no other 
changes, the non-dealer field reports would be due 90 days after the 
end of the quarter. We do not see any need for such a delay, which 
could delay our ability to identify potential safety defects. However, 
to avoid any possibility that the submission of the field reports could 
interfere with the submission of the quarterly data, we want to 
continue to stagger the two dates. We believe that a difference of 15 
days is sufficient for this purpose. Therefore, we propose to change 
the language of subsection 579.28(n) to require non-dealer field 
reports to be submitted not later than 15 days after the quarterly data 
is due,

[[Page 38862]]

which would be 75 days after the end of the calendar quarter.

IV. Request for 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 beginning of this document, 
under ADDRESSES. You may also submit your comments electronically to 
the docket following the steps outlined 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 the following to the Chief Counsel 
(NCC-110) at the address given at the beginning of this document under 
the heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: (1) A complete copy of the 
submission; (2) a redacted copy of the submission with the confidential 
information removed; and (3) either a second complete copy or those 
portions of the submission containing the material for which 
confidential treatment is claimed and any additional information that 
you deem important to the Chief Counsel's consideration of your 
confidentiality claim. A request for confidential treatment that 
complies with 49 CFR part 512 must accompany the complete submission 
provided to the Chief Counsel. For further information, submitters who 
plan to request confidential treatment for any portion of their 
submissions are advised to review 49 CFR part 512, particularly those 
sections relating to document submission requirements. Failure to 
adhere to the requirements of part 512 may result in the release of 
confidential information to the public docket. In addition, you should 
submit two copies from which you have deleted the claimed confidential 
business information, to Docket Management at the address given at the 
beginning of this document under ADDRESSES.

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 at 
the beginning of this notice under DATES. In accordance with our 
policies, to the extent possible, we will also consider comments that 
Docket Management receives after the specified comment closing date. If 
Docket Management receives a comment too late for us to consider in 
developing the proposed rule, 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 and times given near the beginning of this document under 
ADDRESSES.
    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 heading of this document. 
Example: if the docket number were ``NHTSA-2001-1234,'' you would type 
``1234.''
    (4) After typing the docket number, click on ``search.''
    (5) The next page contains docket summary information for the 
docket you selected. Click on the comments you wish to see.
    You may download the comments. The comments are imaged documents, 
in either TIFF or PDF format. 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 search the 
Docket for new material.

V. Privacy Act Statement

    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477) or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

VI. Rulemaking Analyses

    Regulatory Policies and Procedures. Executive Order 12866, 
``Regulatory Planning and Review'' (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) 
provides for making determinations whether a regulatory action is 
``significant'' and therefore subject to Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) review and to the requirements of the Executive Order. The 
Order defines as ``significant regulatory action'' as one that is 
likely to result in a rule that may:
    (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or 
adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the 
economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public 
health or safety, or State, local, or Tribal governments or 
communities;
    (2) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency;
    (3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, 
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients 
thereof; or
    (4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal 
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in 
the Executive Order.
    This document was not reviewed under E.O. 12866 or the Department 
of Transportation's regulatory policies and procedures. This rulemaking 
action is not significant under Department of Transportation policies 
and procedures. The impacts of this rule are expected to be so minimal 
as not to warrant preparation of a full regulatory evaluation because 
this proposal would only revise the time period for reporting certain 
EWR data from 30 days to 60 days after the calendar quarter ends and 
revise the date for submission of certain field reports by 15 days. 
This document does not otherwise change the substance of the reports.
    Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 
(5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires agencies to evaluate the potential 
effects of their proposed and final rules on small businesses, small 
organizations and small governmental jurisdictions. This was addressed 
in the final rule and a response to petitions for reconsideration. See 
67 FR 45870-71

[[Page 38863]]

and 69 FR 3292, 3297 respectively. Today's proposal simply extends 
dates for reporting information under the EWR rule and does not impose 
any new burdens on small businesses. Based on the analyses performed in 
the final rule (67 FR 45870-71) and the response to petitions for 
rulemaking (69 FR 3292, 3297), I certify that this proposed rule will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.
    Executive Order 13132 (Federalism). Executive Order 13132 on 
``Federalism'' requires us to develop an accountable process to ensure 
``meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the 
development of ``regulatory policies that have federalism 
implications.'' The Executive Order defines this phrase to include 
regulations ``that have substantial direct effects on the States, on 
the relationship between the national government and the States, or on 
the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels 
of government.'' The agency has analyzed this proposed rule in 
accordance with the principles and criteria set forth in Executive 
Order 13132 and has determined that it will not have sufficient 
federalism implications to warrant consultation with State and local 
officials or the preparation of a federalism summary impact statement. 
This changes proposed in this document only affect a rule that 
regulates the manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle 
equipment, which does not have substantial direct effect on the States, 
on the relationship between the national government and the States, or 
on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various 
levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132.
    Civil Justice Reform. This proposed rule will not have a 
retroactive or preemptive effect, and judicial review of it may be 
obtained pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 702. That section does not require that a 
petition for reconsideration be filed prior to seeking judicial review.
    Paperwork Reduction Act. Today's proposal simply extends the 
reporting period for the submission of EWR data. The proposal does not 
create new information collection requirements, as that term is defined 
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 5 CFR Part 1320. To the 
extent that this proposed rule implicates the Paperwork Reduction Act, 
we will rely upon our previous clearance from OMB. To obtain a three-
year clearance for information collection for the EWR rule, we 
published a Paperwork Reduction Act notice on June 25, 2002 (67 FR 
42843) pursuant to the requirements of that Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq.). We received clearance from OMB on December 20, 2002, which will 
expire on December 31, 2005. The clearance number is 2127-0616. The 
amendments proposed by this document do not change the overall 
paperwork burden. They simply extend the dates for reporting certain 
information pursuant to the EWR rule.
    Data Quality Act Section 515 of the FY 2001 Treasury and General 
Government Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 106-554, section 515, codified 
at 44 U.S.C. 3516 historical and statutory note), commonly referred to 
as the Data Quality Act, directed OMB to establish government-wide 
standards in the form of guidelines designed to maximize the 
``quality,'' ``objectivity,'' ``utility,'' and ``integrity'' of 
information that Federal agencies disseminate to the public. As noted 
in the EWR final rule (67 FR 45822), NHTSA has reviewed its data 
collection, generation, and dissemination processes in order to ensure 
that agency information meets the standards articulated in the OMB and 
DOT guidelines. The changes proposed by today's document simply extends 
the reporting period for submission of data pursuant to the EWR rule 
and do not have any effects on data quality.
    Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 
1995 (Public Law 104-4) requires agencies to prepare a written 
assessment of the costs, benefits, and other effects of proposed or 
final rules that include a Federal mandate likely to result in 
expenditures by State, local or tribal governments, in the aggregate, 
or by the private sector, of more than $100 million annually (adjusted 
annually for inflation with base year of 1995). The final rule did not 
have unfunded mandates implications. 67 FR 49263 (July 30, 2002). 
Today's proposal simply extends the reporting period for submission of 
data pursuant to the EWR rule and does not create any unfunded mandates 
within the meaning of this Act.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 579

    Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.
    In consideration of the foregoing, 49 CFR chapter V is amended as 
follows:

PART 579--REPORTING OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT 
POTENTIAL DEFECTS

    1. The authority citation for part 579 continues to read as 
follows: Sec. 3, Pub. L. 106-414, 114 Stat. 1800 (49 U.S.C. 30102-103, 
30112, 30117-121, 30166-167); delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

Subpart C--Reporting of Early Warning Information

    2. In Sec.  579.28, revise paragraphs (b) and (n) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  579.28  Due date of reports and other miscellaneous provisions.

* * * * *
    (b) Due date of reports. Except as provided in paragraph (n) of 
this section, each manufacturer of motor vehicles and motor vehicle 
equipment shall submit each report that is required by this subpart not 
later than 60 days after the last day of the reporting period.
* * * * *
    (n) Submission of copies of field reports. Copies of field reports 
required under this subpart shall be submitted not later than 15 days 
after reports are due pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section.

    Issued on: June 24, 2004.
Kenneth N. Weinstein,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 04-14699 Filed 6-24-04; 3:58 pm]
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