[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45620-45622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18705]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket Number NHTSA-2019-0027]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for 
Comment; State Notification to Consumers of Motor Vehicle Recall Status

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
abstracted below will be forwarded to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review, and requests comments on the ICR. A Federal 
Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the 
following information collection was published on May 7, 2019. Three 
comments were received and a summary of those comments, and NHTSA's 
response, can be found in the Abstract portion of this notice.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 30, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the burden estimate, including 
suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Office for the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexander Ansley, Program Support 
Division, Office of Defects Investigation (NEF-110), (202) 493-0481, 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, W48-336, Washington, DC 
20590. Please identify the relevant collection of information by 
referring to its OMB Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Before a Federal agency can collect certain 
information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal 
agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of 
information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously 
approved collections. The OMB has promulgated regulations describing 
what must be included in such a document. In compliance with these 
requirements, NHTSA asks for public comments on the following proposed 
collection of information:
    Title of Collection: State Notification to Consumers of Motor 
Vehicle Recall Status.
    OMB Control Number: New.
    Type of Request: New information collection request.
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Form Number: OMB SF 424, OMB SF 424A, and OMB SF 424B.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of 
approval.
    Abstract: NHTSA is responsible for reducing deaths, injuries and 
economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. This is 
accomplished by, among other things, setting safety performance 
standards for motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment, investigating 
safety defects, and taking appropriate enforcement action when motor 
vehicles and motor vehicle equipment are noncompliant or contain safety 
defects.
    The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. 30101, 
et. seq., as amended (the Safety Act), requires a motor vehicle 
manufacturer to notify the owners and purchasers of its vehicles of a 
safety-related defect, or that the vehicle does not comply with an 
applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard.\1\ A vehicle 
manufacturer must provide notice of a recall, in a manner prescribed 
through regulation by NHTSA, to each person registered under State law 
as the owner and whose name and address are reasonably ascertainable by 
the manufacturer through State records or other available sources or, 
if a registered owner is not notified through State registration 
information, to the most recent purchaser known to the manufacturer.\2\
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    \1\ 49 U.S.C. 30118.
    \2\ 49 U.S.C. 30119(d).
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    In order to identify owners of vehicles subject to a safety-related 
recall and provide notification to them, a motor vehicle manufacturer 
typically contracts with a third party that obtains vehicle 
registration data for the affected vehicles from State motor vehicle 
administrations. The motor vehicle manufacturer then notifies owners 
and purchasers by U.S. Mail about the safety recall and, among other 
things, how to obtain a remedy to fix the defect or noncompliance.\3\ 
To obtain a remedy, the consumer must then present the recalled motor 
vehicle to an authorized dealer for the dealer to remedy the defect or 
noncompliance. 49 U.S.C. 30120.
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    \3\ 49 U.S.C. 30119(d) and 49 CFR part 577.
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    Recall completion rates can and do vary widely depending on a 
variety of factors such as the age and type of vehicle, as well as 
owners' perception of relative risk.\4\ Considering this wide range, 
regardless of completion averages, there are at any time tens of 
millions of vehicles on the road with unremedied safety defects or 
noncompliances, each one creating a safety risk. NHTSA and the motor 
vehicle industry have sought to improve notice of safety-related 
defects to owners and to develop ways to increase the rate at which 
owners complete the remedy identified in the notice.
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    \4\ NHTSA, Report to Congress: ``Vehicle Safety Recall 
Completion Rates Report'' (2018). A copy of the Vehicle Safety 
Recall Completion Rates Report is located on NHTSA's website at: 
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/18-3122_vehicle_safety_recall_completion_rates_report_to_congress-tag.pdf.
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    In 2016, in accordance with Section 24105 of the Fixing America's 
Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, Public Law 114-94, NHTSA announced a 
pilot

[[Page 45621]]

program to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a State 
process to inform consumers of open motor vehicle recalls at the time 
of motor vehicle registration. The grant was conditioned upon a State 
having the capability to use a vehicle identification number (VIN) to 
identify whether the specific vehicle was subject to an open safety 
recall. In 2017, NHTSA awarded the Maryland Motor Vehicle 
Administration a grant to provide vehicle owners and lessees notice of 
open safety related recalls on their vehicles. Maryland began notifying 
vehicle owners and lessees in the Spring of 2018.
    Since the start of the Maryland notification program, several 
States have expressed an interest in partnering with NHTSA to provide 
similar recall notification to consumers in their states. The Maryland 
Pilot Program offers a promising effort to increase consumer awareness 
to repair open safety recalls (and an opportunity to measure the 
effectiveness of such notification) and NHTSA believes that additional 
notification by State DMVs would increase consumer awareness of open 
safety recalls and increase the repair rate of recalled vehicles, 
thereby reducing the risk of a crash or injury due to a noncompliance 
or safety defect. Under its existing authority provided in the Safety 
Act, NHTSA is offering this opportunity to further develop this State 
to consumer notification to increase awareness of open recalls.
    NHTSA encourages applicants to be creative and innovative when 
developing a proposal (application) for this grant. NHTSA is interested 
in proposals that provide vehicle owners and lessees with frequent 
notifications at touchpoints between the State and the vehicle. For 
example, NHTSA is interested in proposals that may offer options at the 
time of vehicle registration and other unique notification methods (or 
even follow-up notification). One potential option is to have 
notification at the time of registration and at motor vehicle emissions 
and/or safety inspection stations. A State is free to propose a process 
to make use of the functionality that may exist through its inspection 
stations or other intersection between the State and the consumer's 
vehicle. NHTSA does not want to discourage innovative approaches, 
provided they satisfy the program requirements of notification at the 
intersection of a vehicle owner or lessee and the State.
    NHTSA is also interested in proposals that provide an analysis of 
recall completion data on an ongoing basis to assist in program 
evaluation, or assessment of owners' attitudes toward a particular 
recall notification protocol. In particular, NHTSA is interested in 
ways for a State to identify the motor vehicles that were remedied 
following notification of an open recall by the State. NHTSA looks 
forward to reviewing resourceful approaches that will motivate owners 
to remedy open recalls.
    While this funding opportunity will be made available to all 
states, NHTSA anticipates an estimated twenty (20) state applications. 
NHTSA will require these applications not exceed 25 pages (not 
including resumes or appendices). NHTSA will also require OMB Standard 
Form (SF) 424 (including 424 ``Application for Federal Assistance,'' 
424A ``Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs,'' and 424B 
``Assurances for Non-Construction Programs''), with the required 
information filled in and certified assurances signed. NHTSA estimates 
the burden for completing these applications at 3,200 hours total (160 
hours x 20 state applicants = 3,200 hours) to allow each applicant 
thirty (30) days to conduct the necessary research, design their 
program, and complete the application package.
    In response to its 60-day notice posted on May 7, 2019, NHTSA 
received three (3) comments related to this proposed collection. The 
Ohio Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) 
commented in support of the proposed funding opportunity noting that 
they have ``begun exploratory phases for implementing such a program 
and are hoping to have a pilot project operational by January 1, 
2020.'' Ohio's BMV briefly outlined its intended program to notify both 
new registrants and owners renewing their registrations of outstanding 
safety recalls. While Ohio's BMV did not specifically comment on the 
proposed burden of applying for such a funding opportunity, it did note 
that the long-term feasibility of such a program may be dependent of 
the availability of Federal funds.
    The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) also filed a 
comment in support of the proposed funding opportunity, stating that it 
``supports NHTSA's intent to solicit a new round of applications for 
state recall notification pilot programs, especially given the 
``attention-getting'' nature of state registration notices and the fact 
that registration renewals cover almost all vehicles with open 
recalls.'' Considering NHTSA only issued one (1) voluntary grant to the 
state of Maryland during a similar program in 2016, NADA did specify 
three concerns regarding the burden estimated for states to apply for 
such a grant program.
    (1) NADA suggested NHTSA should review, and, where possible reduce, 
the burdens related to the funding opportunity.
    (2) NADA suggested NHTSA contact all state DMVs to inform them of 
the available voluntary funding opportunity.
    (3) NADA suggested that NHTSA should discuss solutions to any 
potential barriers with the American Association of Motor Vehicle 
Administrators (AAMVA).
    NHTSA thanks NADA for its comment in support of the proposed 
funding opportunity for a state recall notification program. NHTSA 
notes, however, that the proposed application forms outlined in the 60-
day notice are the forms required by OMB for all funding opportunities, 
in accordance with 2 CFR part 200. NHTSA intends to publish the Request 
for Applications (RFA) for this opportunity to www.grants.gov and will 
ensure stakeholders are notified about its availability, once posted. 
NHTSA appreciates all comments from stakeholders concerning application 
barriers, as requested in this notice. During the application process, 
NHTSA may address questions from applicants.
    The third comment was filed by The Center for Auto Safety (CAS) who 
stated ``The Center is fully supportive of this funding opportunity and 
agrees the proposed collection of information is necessary for the 
Department's ability to fulfil its statutory mission of keeping 
consumers safe on the road. CAS outlined the standard recall 
notification process, carried-out by vehicle manufacturers, and noted 
that the state of Maryland, under a similar funding opportunity issued 
in 2016, has seen over 150,000 recall remedies performed since 
initiating their state recall notification program. CAS did not comment 
on the proposed burden estimates for applying for such a funding 
opportunity.
    Affected Public: State vehicle registration authorities.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 20.
    Frequency: One-time.
    Number of Responses: 20.
    While this funding opportunity will be made available to all 
states, NHTSA anticipates an estimated twenty (20) state applications.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 3,200.
    NHTSA estimates the burden for completing these applications at 
3,200 hours total (160 hours x 20 state applicants = 3,200 hours) to 
allow each

[[Page 45622]]

applicant thirty (30) days to conduct the necessary research, design 
their program, and complete the application package.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $96,153.85.
    NHTSA estimated the total annual cost associated with the labor 
hours using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' mean wage estimate for 
Office and Administrative Support Occupations (Standard Occupational 
Classification #43-0000 from May 2018) of $18.75.\5\ Therefore, NHTSA 
estimates the hourly wage associated with the estimated 3,200 burden 
hours to be $60,000 (3,200 hours x $18.75 per hour = $60,000). The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that for State and local 
government workers, wages represent 62.4% of total compensation.\6\ 
Therefore, the total cost associated with this collection is estimated 
to be $96,153.85. NHTSA does not expect respondents to incur any other 
costs in responding to this information collection.
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    \5\ Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2018, 43-0009 Office 
and Administrative Support Occupations (Major Group), Bureau of 
Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes430000.htm, last accessed August 14, 2019.
    \6\ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation-March 2019, Bureau 
of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf, last accessed August 14, 2019.
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    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the Department's 
performance, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimated burden; (c) 
ways for the Department to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of 
the information collection; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    A comment to OMB is most effective if OMB receives it within 30 
days of publication.

    Authority:  The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.95.

Stephen A. Ridella,
Director, Office of Defects Investigation.
[FR Doc. 2019-18705 Filed 8-28-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P