[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 151 (Thursday, August 6, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46930-46939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19118]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 541

[Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0067]


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) 2013, including 
theft rates for existing passenger motor vehicle lines manufactured in 
model year (MY) 2013.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 5, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket No. NHTSA-2015-
0067 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

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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. Carlita Ballard, Office of 
International Policy, Fuel Economy and Consumer Programs, NHTSA, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Ms. Ballard's telephone 
number is (202) 366-5222. Her fax number is (202) 493-2990.

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.
    NHTSA obtains, from the most reliable source, accurate and timely 
theft data, and publishes the data for review and comment in accordance 
with 49 U.S.C. 33104(b)(4). This document reports the preliminary theft 
data for CY 2013 the most recent calendar year for which data are 
available.
    In calculating the 2013 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 2013 theft rate for each 
vehicle line was calculated by dividing the number of reported thefts 
of MY 2013 vehicles of that line stolen during calendar year 2013 by 
the total number of vehicles in that line manufactured for MY 2013, 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 2013 theft data show an increase in the vehicle 
theft rate when compared to the theft rate experienced in CY/MY 2012 
(For 2012 theft data, see 79 FR 70115, November 25, 2014). The 
preliminary theft rate for MY 2013 passenger vehicles stolen in 
calendar year 2013 increased to 1.1562 thefts per thousand vehicles 
produced, an increase of 2.37 percent from the rate of 1.1294 thefts 
per thousand vehicles experienced by MY 2012 vehicles in CY 2012. For 
MY 2013 vehicles, out of a total of 211 vehicle lines, ten 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 ten vehicle lines with a theft rate higher than 3.5826, nine 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 2013, which is slightly 
inconsistent with the general theft rate trend over the past several 
years. Historically, the data have shown an overall decreasing trend, 
with periods of increase from one year to the next (Figure 1). While 
the theft rate data show only a slight increase in the overall theft 
rate for CY/MY 2013, the agency welcomes any comments on the increase 
in the overall theft rate for this period.

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    In Table 1, NHTSA has tentatively ranked each of the MY 2013 
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 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 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.

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    Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 
1.95.
Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2015-19118 Filed 8-5-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P