[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11189-11190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-4432]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 572

[Docket No. NHTSA-2004-18865]
RIN 2127-AJ16


Anthropomorphic Test Devices; SID-IIsFRG Side Impact Crash Test 
Dummy

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

ACTION: Extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On December 8, 2004, NHTSA published a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register that proposed to amend 49 CFR 
part 572 to add specifications and qualification requirements for a 5th 
percentile adult female test dummy for use in vehicle side impact 
tests. In that NPRM, NHTSA established a March 8, 2005, deadline for 
submission of written comments. NHTSA has received a request from the 
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to extend the comment period ``to 
facilitate a comprehensive technical evaluation of that test device and 
allow manufacturers the opportunity to perform necessary fleet testing 
with the proposed test device.'' In response to that request, NHTSA is 
extending the comment period to April 12, 2005.

DATES: Comments must be received by April 12, 2005. Comments received 
after that date will be considered to the extent possible.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by the DOT DMS Docket 
Number) 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 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.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for the 
rulemaking to which you are commenting. For detailed instructions on 
submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking 
process, see the Public Participation 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 discussion 
under the Public Participation heading.
    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: Stan Backaitis, NHTSA Office of 
Crashworthiness Standards (202) 366-4912, or Deirdre Fujita, NHTSA 
Office of Chief Counsel (telephone (202) 366-2992). Both of these 
officials may be reached at 400 Seventh St., SW., Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 8, 2004 (69 FR 70947; Docket No. 
18865), the agency published an NPRM proposing to add specifications 
and qualification requirements for a 5th percentile adult female side 
impact crash test dummy to NHTSA's regulation on anthropomorphic test 
devices (49 CFR part 572). The test dummy, called the SID-IIsFRG, was 
part of an NPRM that NHTSA published in May 2004 that proposed to 
upgrade FMVSS No. 214, ``Side Impact Protection.'' The NPRM on FMVSS 
No. 214 proposed to require that all passenger vehicles with a gross 
vehicle weight rating of up to 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) protect 
front seat occupants against head, thoracic, abdominal and pelvic 
injuries in a vehicle-to-pole test simulating a vehicle crashing 
sideways into narrow fixed objects like telephone poles and trees (69 
FR 27990, May 17, 2004; Docket 2004-17694). The NPRM proposed that 
compliance with the pole test would be determined in tests using the 
SID-IIsFRG, and in tests using a new test dummy representing mid-size 
adult males (the ``ES-2re'' crash test dummy).
    The comment period for the NPRM on the SID-IIsFRG closes March 8, 
2005. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has petitioned to extend 
the comment period ``until mid 2005 to facilitate a comprehensive 
technical evaluation of that test device and allow manufacturers the 
opportunity to perform necessary fleet testing with the proposed test 
device. Further, the requested extension aligns the comment closing 
date with that requested by the Alliance in its October 14, 2004 
petition.'' That October 14, 2004, petition of the Alliance was to 
extend, for eight months, the comment periods for the FMVSS No. 214 
NPRM and for an NPRM on specifications for the ES-2re (which was 
published September 15, 2004; 69 FR 55550; Docket No. 18864). On 
January 12, 2005, in response to the petition, NHTSA reopened the 
comment period for those NPRMs for 90 days (70 FR 2105; Docket No. 
17694, 18864). The 90-day period closes April 12, 2005.
    We are extending the comment period for the SID-IIsFRG NPRM from 
March 8, 2005, to April 12, 2005, to align the comment closing date 
with those of the related NPRMs on FMVSS No. 214 and the ES-2re test 
dummy. The extended comment period gives interested parties additional 
time to submit comments without unnecessarily delaying key decisions by 
NHTSA about the FMVSS No. 214 rulemaking and without overly delaying 
the potential societal benefits associated with a final rule.

Public Participation

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 
appropriate docket number in your comments.
    Your comments must not be more than 15 pages long. (49 CFR 553.21). 
NHTSA 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 address given above under 
ADDRESSES.
    You may also submit your comments to the docket electronically by 
logging onto the Dockets Management System Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help & Information'' or ``Help/Info'' to obtain 
instructions for filing the document electronically.

[[Page 11190]]

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 three copies of your complete 
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential 
business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the address given 
above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. In addition, you should 
submit two copies, 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?

    NHTSA 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, the agency will also 
consider comments that Docket Management receives after that date. If 
Docket Management receives a comment too late for the agency to 
consider it in developing a final rule (assuming that one is issued), 
the agency 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 given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the Docket are 
indicated above in the same location.
    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 five-
digit docket number shown at the beginning of this document. Example: 
If the docket number were ``NHTSA-2004-12345,'' you would type 
``12345.'' After typing the docket number, click on ``search.''
    4. On the next page, which contains docket summary information for 
the docket you selected, click on the desired comments. You may 
download the comments. Although the comments are imaged documents, 
instead of word processing documents, the ``pdf'' versions of the 
documents are word searchable.
    Please note that even after the comment closing date, NHTSA will 
continue to file relevant information in the Docket as it becomes 
available. Further, some people may submit late comments. Accordingly, 
the agency recommends that you periodically check the Docket for new 
material.
    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.

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

    Issued on March 2, 2005.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 05-4432 Filed 3-7-05; 8:45 am]
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