[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 193 (Tuesday, October 6, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 60320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25377]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0070]
RIN 2127-AL57


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Rear Impact Protection, 
Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment Single Unit Trucks

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; reopening of comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: This document reopens the comment period for a July 23, 2015 
advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) that NHTSA issued in 
response to a petition for rulemaking from Ms. Marianne Karth and the 
Truck Safety Coalition relating to rear impact (underride) guards. The 
original comment period closed September 21, 2015. The agency is 
reopening the comment period for 30 days.

DATES: The comment closing date for the July 23, 2015 ANPRM (Docket No. 
NHTSA-2015-0070; 80 FR 43663) is November 5, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by the DOT Docket 
Number) by any of the following methods: the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     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 or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern 
Time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    Regardless of how you submit your comments, please mention the 
docket number of the ANPRM (Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0070).
    You may also call the Docket at 202-366-9324.
    Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the discussion 
under the ``Submission of Comments'' heading of the July 23, 2015 ANPRM 
(80 FR at 43679). Note that all comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided.
    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://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical issues, you may contact 
Robert Mazurowski, Office of Crashworthiness Standards (telephone: 202-
366-1012) (fax: 202-493-2990). For legal issues, you may contact 
Deirdre Fujita, Office of Chief Counsel (telephone: 202-366-2992) (fax: 
202-366-3820). The address for these officials is: National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 23, 2015, NHTSA published an ANPRM 
(80 FR 43663) pertaining to a petition for rulemaking from Ms. Marianne 
Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition (petitioners) regarding possible 
amendments to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSSs) 
relating to rear impact (underride) guards (FMVSS Nos. 223 and 224). 
The petitioners requested that NHTSA require underride guards on 
vehicles not currently required by the FMVSSs to have guards, notably, 
single unit trucks, and improve the standards' performance requirements 
for all guards. The ANPRM requested comment on NHTSA's estimated cost 
and benefits of requirements for underride guards on single unit 
trucks, and for retroreflective material on the rear and sides of the 
vehicles to improve the conspicuity of the vehicles to other 
motorists.\1\ NHTSA provided a 60-day comment period for the ANPRM, 
which closed September 21, 2015.
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    \1\ As noted in the ANPRM (80 FR at 43664), in the near future 
NHTSA will be issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking on improving 
the standards' performance requirements for guards on all vehicles 
subject to the standards.
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Reopening of Comment Period

    NHTSA is reopening the comment period for the ANPRM for 30 days.\2\ 
NHTSA believes that a 30 day period is sufficient and balances the 
interests of encouraging public participation in the rulemaking process 
with the desire to not unnecessarily delay key decisions by NHTSA about 
the rulemaking and attainment of the potential societal benefits 
associated with a final rule.
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    \2\ The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) 
submitted a comment to the docket requesting a ``90-day extension'' 
of the comment period for the ANPRM. The request did not meet 
NHTSA's requirements for timely submissions of petitions for 
extension of the time to submit comments (see 49 CFR 553.19). The 
agency's reopening of the comment period does not result from 
NRMCA's untimely petition. NHTSA also notes that NRMCA's requested 
90 day period is excessively long. NRMCA did not explain why 90 
additional days, on top of the 60 days originally provided, are 
needed to respond to the ANPRM.
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    Accordingly, the public comment closing dates for DOT Docket No. 
NHTSA-2015-0070 (RIN 2127-AL57) is reopened for 30 days as indicated in 
the DATES section of this document. NHTSA notes that the 30 day period 
is in addition to the time that has passed since the original September 
21 comment closing date until today. Thus, all in all, more than 30 
days has been provided. It is further noted that the agency will 
consider late comments to the extent possible.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117 and 30166; 
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.95.

Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2015-25377 Filed 10-5-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P