[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 14, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42126-42127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15971]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA-2004-18039]


NHTSA's Four-Year Plan for Hydrogen, Fuel Cell and Alternative 
Fuel Vehicle Safety Research

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

ACTION: Request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of a planning document 
that describes the scope and timeline of NHTSA's proposed research 
program addressing safety and fuel economy assessment of hydrogen-
powered fuel cell and internal combustion engine vehicles.
    Ensuring that hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE) and fuel 
cell powered vehicles provide a level of safety comparable to that of 
other vehicles currently in use in the United States requires a 
substantial research effort. Hydrogen-powered vehicles will utilize 
many advanced and unique technologies that have not been tested in the 
transportation environment. Very little data are available concerning 
the safe performance of these vehicles because so few exist; they are 
typically prototypes handled by specially trained personnel. Many 
manufacturers, however, are substantially investing in producing and 
marketing these vehicles in the near future. As these vehicles are 
deployed into the fleet, the safety of hydrogen as a fuel and the 
safety of alternative fuel vehicles in crashes becomes an important 
issue for public safety. A failure to adequately address safety 
concerns in the earliest stages of development could have a negative 
impact on the deployment of this new technology.
    Corollary efforts by NHTSA that are covered in the plan address 
fuel economy and international harmonization of global technical 
regulations for hydrogen vehicles. The agency will analyze the 
potential increases in the fleet fuel economy. NHTSA will also work 
with its international counterparts to determine the content of 
regulations pertaining to fuel cell and ICE hydrogen vehicles.
    NHTSA seeks public review and comment on the planning document. 
Comments received will be evaluated and incorporated, as appropriate, 
into planned agency activities.

DATES: Comments should be submitted early enough to ensure that Docket 
Management receives them not later than October 12, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may obtain a copy of the research plan by 
downloading the document from the Document Management System (DMS), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, at the address provided below, or 
from NHTSA's Web site at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-11/H2-4yr-plan.html. Alternatively, interested persons may obtain a 
copy of the document by contacting the agency official(s) listed in the 
section titled, ``For Further Information Contact,'' immediately below. 
You may submit your comments (identified by DOT DMS Docket Number 
NHTSA-2004-18039) 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: (202) 493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-001.
     Hand Delivery: 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.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The following persons at the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590:

For Technical Issues

    Barbara C. Hennessey, Office of Applied Vehicle Safety Research, 
NVS-320, telephone (202) 366-4714, e-mail 
[email protected].

[[Page 42127]]

Submission of Comments

How Do I Prepare and Submit Comments?

    Interested persons are invited to submit comments in response to 
this request. We request that commenters provide all relevant factual 
information to support their conclusions or opinions, including 
statistical data and estimated cost and benefits, and the source of 
such information.
    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 notice.
    Comments must not be more than 15 pages long. (49 CFR 553.21). This 
limit was established to encourage comments written in a concise 
fashion. However, additional documents may be attached to your 
comments.
    There is no limit on the length of the attachments.
    Please submit two copies of comments, including the attachments, to 
Docket Management at the address given above under ADDRESSES. Note that 
all comments received will be posted without change to http://dms.dot.gov, including any personal information provided. 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 (Volume 
65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78), or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

How Can I Be Sure That My Comments Were Received?

    If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of 
your comments, mail a self-addressed, stamped postcard to Docket 
Management. 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, 400 7th St., SW., 
Washington, DC 20590. In addition, you should submit two copies of your 
comments, 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 9 a.m. 
to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also see 
the comments on the Internet. To read the comments on the Internet, 
take the following steps:
     Go to the Docket Management System (DMS) Web page of the 
Department of Transportation (http://dms.dot.gov).
     On that page, click on ``search.''
     On the next page (http://dms.dot.gov/search/), type in the 
five-digit docket number shown at the beginning of this document. 
Example: If the docket number were ``NHTSA-2001-12345,'' you would type 
``12345.'' After typing the docket number, click on ``search.''
     On the next page, which contains docket summary 
information for the docket you selected, click on the desired comments. 
You may download the comments. Please note that even after the comment 
closing date, we will continue to file relevant information in the 
Docket as it becomes available. Since some people may submit late 
comments, we recommend that you periodically check the Docket for new 
material.

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

    Issued on: July 6, 2004.
Joseph N. Kanianthra,
Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 04-15971 Filed 7-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P