[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 4, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47075-47076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17702]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA-2004-17980; Notice 2]
RIN 2127-AI38


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Seat Belt Assemblies

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

ACTION: Extension of comment period.

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

SUMMARY: NHTSA received a letter asking us to extend the comment period 
for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the Federal motor 
vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) for seat belt assemblies. The NPRM 
proposed to redefine the requirements and establish a new test 
methodology for emergency-locking retractors. If adopted, the 
amendments would establish a new acceleration corridor, add a figure 
illustrating the acceleration corridor, provide tolerance on angle 
measurements, and employ the same instrumentation specifications 
currently found in other FMVSSs containing crash tests. To provide 
interested persons additional time to prepare comments, we are 
extending the end of the comment period from August 2, 2004, to October 
1, 2004. This 60-day extension will allow seat belt manufacturers the 
opportunity to conduct additional testing in support of the NPRM and 
provide more meaningful comments.

DATES: Comments must be received by October 1, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by the docket number set 
forth above) by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site. Please note, if 
you are submitting petitions electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, we 
ask that the documents submitted be scanned using Optical Character 
Recognition (OCR) process, thus allowing the agency to search and copy 
certain portions of your submissions.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Optical character recognition (OCR) is the process of 
converting an image of text, such as a scanned paper document or 
electronic fax file, into computer-editable text.

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

[[Page 47076]]

     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 20590-001.
     Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the 
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC between 9 a.m. 
to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this 
rulemaking. All comments received will be posted without change to 
http://dms.dot.gov, including any personal information provided. For 
detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information 
on the rulemaking process, see the Privacy Act heading of the 
Supplementary Information section of this document.
    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: The following persons at the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590 can be contacted.
    For non-legal issues: William Fan, Office of Crashworthiness 
Standards, NVS-112. Telephone: (202) 366-4922. Fax: (202) 493-2739.
    For legal issues: Christopher Calamita, Office of Chief Counsel, 
NCC-112. Telephone: (202) 366-2992. Fax: (202) 366-3820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 3, 2004, NHTSA published in the 
Federal Register (69 FR 31330) a NPRM to amend FMVSS No. 209, ``Seat 
belt assemblies,'' to redefine the requirements and establish a new 
test methodology for emergency-locking retractors. This rulemaking was 
initiated in response to a petition for rulemaking submitted by the 
Automotive Occupant Restraints Council (AORC), a trade association 
representing manufacturers of occupant restraints. The AORC petition 
requested that NHTSA amend the performance requirements and test 
procedures for emergency-locking retractors to include an acceleration 
corridor. Additionally, the AORC requested that NHTSA apply the same 
instrumentation specifications to emergency-locking retractors, as used 
in other FMVSS dynamic performance requirements.
    In developing the NPRM, the agency examined vehicle crash tests, 
hard braking tests, FMVSS No. 209 compliance test pulses, and data 
presented by the AORC in its petition for rulemaking. Based on our 
analysis of available data, NHTSA proposed amendments to FMVSS No. 209 
that would establish a new acceleration corridor, add a figure 
illustrating the acceleration corridor, provide tolerance on angle 
measurements, and employ the same instrumentation specifications 
currently found in other FMVSSs containing crash tests. In general, the 
NPRM expanded upon, and modified, the performance specifications 
recommended by the AORC in their original petition. The agency did so 
to allow for a wider range of acceleration pulses, including those 
historically used for ensuring a minimum level of safety performance.
    On July 14, 2004, the AORC requested a 60-day extension of the 
comment period to October 1, 2004. The AORC stated that the basis for 
the extension is to gather additional technical information. The AORC 
stated its belief that the additional time requested for comments would 
allow for sufficient testing and assessment. Specifically, the AORC 
made the following statements about gathering additional information:
     Due to significant changes of the proposed emergency-
locking retractor corridor, the restraint suppliers need to test and 
analyze the impact of these changes to the totality of the proposed 
rulemaking, as well as the ability of products to comply with pulses 
within the corridor.
     The addition of the ``nuisance locking'' 0.3 g 
requirement, which was not in the AORC petition, needs further study. 
This evaluation may consider the applicability of a corridor, limits, 
and the ability of retractors to meet the proposed requirements.
     The addition of the ``tolerance for angles'' of plus or 
minus 3 degrees, which was not in the AORC petition, needs to be 
reviewed for applicability to this standard in test lab practices and 
procedures.
     The proposal to use the Society of Automotive Engineers 
J211-1 filtering for webbing payout needs to be reviewed with the 
equipment manufacturers and assessed in terms of product compliance.
    In conclusion, the AORC stated that the additional 60-days would 
allow for a more thorough evaluation and response to the proposed 
rulemaking.
    After considering the AORC's request, we have decided that it would 
be in the public's interest to extend the comment period to obtain as 
much data as possible. The AORC may provide additional tests and 
analyses to better assess the merits of the proposal, and the potential 
for product compliance with the technical performance requirements 
specified in the NPRM. There is also a public interest in having the 
views of the public be as informed as possible. Since the proposal 
seeks to clarify the requirements and test procedures applicable to 
emergency-locking retractors, we stated in the NPRM that we do not 
anticipate any substantial changes in their performance. Consequently, 
we believe the 60-day extension of the comment period will not 
adversely affect safety. Furthermore, since the AORC initiated both the 
original petition and the 60-day extension request, our decision to 
extend the comment period is supported by the petitioner in this case. 
Therefore, we believe that providing additional time for the AORC to 
collect and analyze information will result in more helpful comments.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
submissions received into any of our dockets by the name of the 
individual submitting the comment or petition (or signing the comment 
or petition, 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.

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

    Issued: July 29, 2004.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 04-17702 Filed 7-30-04; 8:58 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P