[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 169 (Friday, August 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51045-51046]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20061]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2008-0143]


Plan for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Vehicle and Behavioral 
Programs, 2008-2012

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

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the publication by NHTSA of its 
Evaluation Program Plan for 2008-2012. The report describes the 
agency's ongoing and planned evaluations of its existing Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standards [49 CFR part 571] and other vehicle-safety, 
behavioral-safety and consumer programs. It also summarizes the results 
of completed evaluations. The agency's evaluation program responds to 
Executive Order 12866, which provides for Government-wide review of 
existing significant Federal regulations. This notice solicits public 
review and comment on the evaluation plan. Comments received will be 
used to improve the plan.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than December 29, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Report: The Evaluation Program Plan is available on the 
Internet for viewing online in PDF format at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810983.PDF. You may obtain a copy of the plan 
free of charge by sending a self-addressed mailing label to Charles J. 
Kahane (NVS-431), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
    Comments: You may submit comments [identified by Docket Number 
NHTSA-2008-0143] by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 9 am and 5 pm Eastern Time, Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    You may call Docket Management at 202-366-9826.
    Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments, see 
the Procedural Matters section of this document. Note that all comments 
received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation 
Division, NVS-431, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room W53-312, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-2560. E-
mail: [email protected].
    For information about NHTSA's evaluations of the effectiveness of 
existing regulations and programs: Visit the NHTSA Web site at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov and click ``NCSA'' near the upper right corner on the 
home page; then click ``Regulatory Evaluation'' under ``Browse Topics'' 
on the ``NCSA'' page.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA has rigorously evaluated its major 
programs as a matter of policy since 1970. The evaluation of the 
effectiveness of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 
began in 1975. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and 
Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' issued in 
October 1993 (58 FR 51735), now oblige all Federal agencies to evaluate 
their existing programs and regulations. Previously, Executive Order 
12291, issued in February 1981 (46 FR 13193), also required reviews of 
existing regulations. Even before 1981, however, NHTSA was a leader 
among Federal agencies in evaluating the effectiveness of existing 
regulations and technologies. There are large databases of motor 
vehicle crashes that can be analyzed to find out what vehicle and 
behavioral safety programs work best.
    This five-year plan for the Evaluation Division of the Office of 
Regulatory

[[Page 51046]]

Analysis and Evaluation (ORAE) in NHTSA's National Center for 
Statistics and Analysis presents and discusses the vehicle and 
behavioral programs, regulations, technologies, and related areas ORAE 
proposes to evaluate, and it summarizes the findings of ORAE's past 
evaluations. Depending on scope, evaluations typically take a year or 
substantially more, counting initial planning, contracting for support, 
OMB clearance for surveys, data collection, analysis, internal review, 
approvals, publication, review of public comments, and the last phase 
of preparing recommendations for subsequent agency action.
    Most of NHTSA's crashworthiness and several crash avoidance 
standards have been evaluated at least once since 1975. A number of 
consumer-oriented regulations, e.g., bumpers, theft protection, fuel 
economy and NCAP also have been evaluated. So have promising safety 
technologies that were at the time not mandatory under Federal 
regulations, such as electronic stability control for passenger 
vehicles. Based on these evaluations, NHTSA estimated that vehicle 
safety technologies had saved an estimated 328,551 lives from 1960 
through 2002 and that the FMVSS added an average of $839 (in 2002 
dollars) to the cost of a new passenger car and $711 to an LTV in model 
year 2001 (70 FR 3975).
    ORAE's plan for calendar years 2008-2012 includes evaluations of 
new and existing vehicle and behavioral safety programs, regulations, 
technologies and consumer information programs. Vehicle safety 
evaluations address crash avoidance, crashworthiness, compatibility and 
recalls. They study passenger cars, LTVs, heavy trucks, and 
motorcycles. Behavioral safety evaluations address impaired driving, 
occupant protection, child passenger safety, motorcycle safety, 
pedestrians and emergency care (injury survivability).
    The plan will be periodically updated in response to public and 
agency needs, with a complete revision scheduled every five years. The 
most recent plan before this one was published on January 27, 2004 (69 
FR 3992).

Procedural Matters

How can I influence NHTSA's thinking on this subject?

    NHTSA welcomes public review of the evaluation plan and invites the 
reviewers to comment about the selection, priority, and schedule of the 
regulations to be evaluated. The agency is interested in learning of 
any additional data that may be useful in the evaluations. NHTSA will 
submit to the Docket a response to the comments and, if appropriate, 
will supplement or revise the evaluation plan.

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 (NHTSA-2008-0143) in your comments.
    Your primary comments must not be more than 15 pages long (49 CFR 
553.21). However, you may attach additional documents to your primary 
comments. There is no limit on the length of the attachments.
    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://regulations.gov.
    Please send two paper copies of your comments to Docket Management, 
fax them, or use the Federal eRulemaking Portal. The mailing address is 
U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Management Facility, M-30, 
West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC 20590. The fax number is 1-202-493-2251. To use the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal, go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow 
the online instructions for submitting comments.
    We also request, but do not require, you to send a copy to Charles 
J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation Division, NVS-431, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, Room W53-312, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, 
SE., Washington, DC 20590 (or e-mail them to [email protected]). He 
can check if your comments have been received at the Docket and he can 
expedite their review by NHTSA.

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, send three copies of your complete submission, 
including the information you claim to be confidential business 
information, to the Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. 
Include a cover letter supplying the information specified in our 
confidential business information regulation (49 CFR part 512).
    In addition, send two copies from which you have deleted the 
claimed confidential business information to U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Docket Management Facility, M-30, West Building, Ground 
Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, 
or submit them via the Federal eRulemaking Portal.

Will the agency consider late comments?

    In our response, 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.
    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 check the Docket for new material.

How can I read the comments submitted by other people?

    You may read the materials placed in the docket for this document 
(e.g., the comments submitted in response to this document by other 
interested persons) at any time by going to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets. You may also 
read the materials at the Docket Management Facility by going to the 
street address given above under ADDRESSES. The Docket Management 
Facility is open between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30168; delegation of authority at 49 
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

James F. Simons,
Director, Office of Regulatory Analysis and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. E8-20061 Filed 8-28-08; 8:45 am]
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