[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 2, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33617-33619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11689]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 572

[Docket No. NHTSA-2019-0023]
RIN 2127-AM13


Anthropomorphic Test Devices, HIII 5th Percentile Female Test 
Dummy; Incorporation by Reference

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

ACTION: Re-opening of comment period; availability of technical 
document.

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SUMMARY: In response to a request from the public, NHTSA is re-opening 
the comment period on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) issued in 
December 2019 for an additional 60 days. With this extension, the 
comment period will re-open today and close on August 3, 2020. NHTSA is 
also docketing a document describing procedures it has developed to 
measure SAE chest jackets already in use in the field in order to 
assess the uniformity of the jackets and to determine jacket dimensions 
and tolerances to be specified in the Final Rule.

DATES: You should submit your comments early enough to be received not 
later than August 3, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to the docket number identified in 
the heading of this document 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, 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. To be 
sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before 
coming.
     You may also call the Docket at 202-366-9826.
    Regardless of how you submit your comments, please mention the 
docket number of this document.
    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: all comments received, including any personal 
information provided, will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received in 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).
    Confidential Business Information: If you wish to submit any 
information under a claim of confidentiality, you should submit three 
copies of your complete submission, including the information you claim 
to be confidential business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, 
at the address given under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. In 
addition, you should submit two copies, from which you have deleted the 
claimed confidential business information, to the Docket at the address 
given above. When you send a comment containing information claimed to 
be confidential business information, you should include a cover letter 
setting forth the information specified in our confidential business 
information regulation (49 CFR part 512).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical issues, you may contact 
Mr. Peter G. Martin, Office of Crashworthiness Standards (telephone: 
202-366-5668). For legal issues, you may contact Mr. John Piazza, 
Office of Chief Counsel (telephone: 202-366-2992) (fax: 202-366-3820). 
Address: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 
Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Re-Opening of the Comment Period

    On December 26, 2019, NHTSA published a NPRM (84 FR 70916) to 
revise the chest jacket and spine box specifications for the Hybrid III 
5th Percentile Female Test Dummy (HIII-5F) set forth in Part 572, 
Anthropomorphic Test Devices. NHTSA proposed to adopt the jacket 
specifications described in SAE J2921, as well as several additional 
specifications for the jacket's contour that are not contained in SAE 
J2921. The NPRM comment period closed on February 24, 2020. Humanetics 
has requested a ninety-day extension to the NPRM comment period in 
order to collect data regarding the proposed additional chest jacket 
specifications while also ensuring a sufficient sample size. This 
request can be found in the docket for this rulemaking.\1\
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    \1\ NHTSA-2019-0023-0004.
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    NHTSA has considered Humanetics' request and believes that re-
opening the comment period for 60 days appropriately balances NHTSA's 
interest in providing the public with sufficient time to comment on the 
notice with its interest in completing this rulemaking in a timely 
manner. Accordingly, we are re-opening the comment period on the NPRM 
for an additional 60 days.

II. Availability of Technical Document

    The NPRM proposed chest jacket dimensions and tolerances. Separate

[[Page 33618]]

sets of dimensions and tolerances were proposed for the unworn jacket 
(on a table top) and the jacket as worn by an actual HIII-5F dummy. The 
nominal dimensions and tolerances proposed in the NPRM were derived 
from a sample of eight SAE jackets measured by NHTSA. The ``as worn'' 
measurements were taken in combination with various HIII-5F dummies, 
including older units (4 built by FTSS, 1 built by Denton) and newer 
units (2 built by Humanetics). Measurements were carried out at two 
different test labs.
    In the NPRM, we stated that we would continue to collect 
measurement data on newly purchased jackets to check whether the 
proposed dimensions and tolerances (including those derived from the 
drawings in SAE J2921 and the new section dimensions added by NHTSA) 
were being met by SAE jackets already in the field. We also stated that 
we would examine all measurement data provided to us, and explained 
that in the final rule we may adjust the dimensions and tolerances to 
assure that jackets in the field achieve an acceptable degree of 
conformity while still assuring a high level of uniformity.
    NHTSA has developed the procedure described in the docketed 
document, Measurement Procedure: Chest Jacket Dimensions, Hybrid III 
5th Female Test Dummy, for NHTSA staff and contractors to use in 
measuring SAE chest jackets, both unworn and as fitted to HIII-5F 
units, including new units built by Humanetics and older units built by 
FTSS and Denton. NHTSA will use these measurements to assess the 
uniformity of SAE jackets and to determine the jacket dimensions and 
tolerances to be specified in the Final Rule. The purpose of the 
procedures described in the docketed document is to ensure that these 
measurements are taken in a consistent manner. This measurement 
procedure should not be construed as a proposed requirement for 
conformity with Part 572 Subpart O, nor should it be construed as a 
configuration requirement for use of the dummy in NCAP or any FMVSS. 
NHTSA is docketing a copy of this document for the information of 
others who may wish to make similar measurements of the SAE jacket.

Public Participation

How do I prepare and submit comments?

     To ensure that your comments are correctly filed in the 
Docket, please include the Docket Number found in the heading of this 
document in your comments.
     Your comments must not be more than 15 pages long.\2\ 
NHTSA established this limit to encourage you to write your primary 
comments in a concise fashion. However, you may attach necessary 
additional documents to your comments, and there is no limit on the 
length of the attachments.
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    \2\ 49 CFR 553.21.
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     If you are submitting comments electronically as a PDF 
(Adobe) file, NHTSA asks that the documents be submitted using the 
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process, thus allowing NHTSA to 
search and copy certain portions of your submissions.
     Please note that pursuant to the Data Quality Act, in 
order for substantive data to be relied on and used by NHTSA, it must 
meet the information quality standards set forth in the OMB and DOT 
Data Quality Act guidelines. Accordingly, NHTSA encourages you to 
consult the guidelines in preparing your comments. DOT's guidelines may 
be accessed at https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/dot-information-dissemination-quality-guidelines.

Tips for Preparing Your Comments

    When submitting comments, please remember to:
     Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Explain why you agree or disagree, suggest alternatives, 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions you make and provide any 
technical information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     To ensure that your comments are considered by the agency, 
make sure to submit them by the comment period deadline identified in 
the DATES section above.
    For additional guidance on submitting effective comments, visit: 
https://www.regulations.gov/docs/Tips_For_Submitting_Effective_Comments.pdf.

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, you should submit three copies of your complete 
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential 
business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the address given 
above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. In addition, you should 
submit a copy, from which you have deleted the claimed confidential 
business information, to the docket at the address given above under 
ADDRESSES. When you send a comment containing information claimed to be 
confidential business information, you should include a cover letter 
setting forth the information specified in our confidential business 
information regulation. (49 CFR part 512)

Will the agency consider late comments?

    We will consider all comments received before the close of business 
on the comment closing date indicated above under DATES. To the extent 
possible, we will also consider comments that the docket receives after 
that date. If the docket receives a comment too late for us to consider 
in developing a final rule (assuming that one is issued), we will 
consider that comment as an informal suggestion for future rulemaking 
action.

How can I read the comments submitted by other people?

    You may read the comments received by the docket at the address 
given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the docket are indicated 
above in the same location. To be sure someone is there to help you, 
please call (202) 366-9322 before coming. You may also see the comments 
on the internet. To read the comments on the internet, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.
    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. 
You can arrange with the docket to be notified when others file 
comments in the docket. See www.regulations.gov for more information.


[[Page 33619]]


    Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 
1.95 and 501.4.
James Clayton Owens,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-11689 Filed 6-1-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P