[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 150 (Tuesday, August 5, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45412-45420]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18443]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 541

[Docket No. NHTSA-2014-0082]


Preliminary Theft Data; Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard

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

ACTION: Publication of preliminary theft data; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This document requests comments on data about passenger motor 
vehicle thefts that occurred in calendar year (CY) 2012, including 
theft rates for existing passenger motor vehicle lines manufactured in 
model year (MY) 2012. The preliminary theft data indicate that the 
vehicle theft rate for CY/MY 2012 vehicles (1.1294 thefts per thousand 
vehicles) increased by 14.21 percent from the theft rate for CY/MY 2011 
vehicles (0.9889) thefts per thousand vehicles).
    Publication of these data fulfills NHTSA's statutory obligation to 
periodically obtain accurate and timely theft data, and publish the 
information for review and comment.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 6, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket No. NHTSA-2012-
0082 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Instructions: 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://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below.
    Privacy Act: 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 19477-78) or you may visit http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Deborah Mazyck, Office of 
International Policy, Fuel Economy and Consumer Programs, NHTSA, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Ms. Mazyck's telephone 
number is (202) 366-4139. Her fax number is (202) 493-2990.

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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA administers a program for reducing 
motor vehicle theft. The central feature of this program is the Federal 
Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard, 49 CFR part 541. The standard 
specifies performance requirements for inscribing or affixing vehicle 
identification numbers (VINs) onto certain major original equipment and 
replacement parts of high-theft lines of passenger motor vehicles.
    The agency is required by 49 U.S.C. 33104(b)(4) to periodically 
obtain, from the most reliable source, accurate and timely theft data, 
and publish the data for review and comment. To fulfill the Sec.  
33104(b)(4) mandate, this document reports the preliminary theft data 
for CY 2012 the most recent calendar year for which data are available.
    In calculating the 2012 theft rates, NHTSA followed the same 
procedures it has used since publication of the 1983/1984 theft rate 
data (50 FR 46669, November 12, 1985). The 2012 theft rate for each 
vehicle line was calculated by dividing the number of reported thefts 
of MY 2012 vehicles of that line stolen during calendar year 2012 by 
the total number of vehicles in that line manufactured for MY 2012, as 
reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As in all 
previous reports, NHTSA's data were based on information provided to 
NHTSA by the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation. The NCIC is a government system that receives 
vehicle theft information from approximately 23,000 criminal justice 
agencies and other law enforcement authorities throughout the United 
States. The NCIC data also include reported thefts of self-insured and 
uninsured vehicles, not all of which are reported to other data 
sources.
    The preliminary 2012 theft data show an increase in the vehicle 
theft rate when compared to the theft rate experienced in CY/MY 2011 
(For 2011 theft data, see 79 FR 7090, February 6, 2014). The 
preliminary theft rate for MY 2012 passenger vehicles stolen in 
calendar year 2012 increased to 1.1294 thefts per thousand vehicles 
produced, an increase of 14.21 percent from the rate of 0.9889 thefts 
per thousand vehicles experienced by MY 2011 vehicles in CY 2011. For 
MY 2012 vehicles, out of a total of 210 vehicle lines, nine lines had a 
theft rate higher than 3.5826 per thousand vehicles, the established 
median theft rate for MYs 1990/1991 (See 59 FR 12400, March 16, 1994). 
Of the nine vehicle lines with a theft rate higher than 3.5826, eight 
are passenger car lines, one is a multipurpose passenger vehicle line, 
and none are light-duty truck lines.
    The data presented in this publication reflect an increase in the 
overall vehicle theft rate for CY/MY 2012, which is slightly 
inconsistent with the general theft rate trend over the past several 
years. Historically however, the data has shown an overall decreasing 
trend with periods of increase from one year to the next. While the 
theft rate data show only a slight increase in the overall theft rate 
for CY/MY 2012, the agency welcomes any comments on the increase in the 
overall theft rate for this period.
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    In Table I, NHTSA has tentatively ranked each of the MY 2012 
vehicle lines in descending order of theft rate. Public comment is 
sought on the accuracy of the data, including the data for the 
production volumes of individual vehicle lines.
    Comments must not exceed 15 pages in length (49 CFR 553.21). 
Attachments may be appended to these submissions without regard to the 
15 page limit. This limitation is intended to encourage commenters to 
detail their primary arguments in a concise fashion.
    If a commenter wishes to submit certain information under a claim 
of confidentiality, three copies of the

[[Page 45414]]

complete submission, including purportedly confidential business 
information, should be submitted to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the 
street address given in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section, 
and two copies from which the purportedly confidential information has 
been deleted should be submitted to the docket. A request for 
confidentiality should be accompanied by a cover letter setting forth 
the information specified in the agency's confidential business 
information regulation. 49 CFR Part 512.
    All comments received before the close of business on the comment 
closing date indicated above for this document will be considered, and 
will be available for examination in the docket at the above address 
both before and after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed 
after the closing date will also be considered. Comments on this 
document will be available for inspection in the docket. NHTSA will 
continue to file relevant information as it becomes available for 
inspection in the docket after the closing date, and it is recommended 
that interested persons continue to examine the docket for new 
material.
    Those persons desiring to be notified upon receipt of their 
comments in the rules docket should enclose a self-addressed, stamped 
postcard in the envelope with their comments. Upon receiving the 
comments, the docket supervisor will return the postcard by mail.
    Privacy Act: 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://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
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    Authority:  Under authority delegated in 49 CFR part 1.95.

David M. Hines,
Acting Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2014-18443 Filed 8-4-14; 8:45 am]
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