[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 128 (Thursday, July 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39975-39977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14227]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. DOT-NHTSA-2020-0070]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for 
Comment; Automated Vehicle Transparency and Engagement for Safe Testing 
(AV TEST) Initiative

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a request for approval of a 
new information collection.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
invites public comments about our intention to request approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a new information 
collection. Before a Federal agency can collect certain information 
from the public, it must receive approval from 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. This document describes a collection of 
information for NHTSA's planned Automated Vehicle Transparency and 
Engagement for Safe Testing (AV TEST) Initiative for which NHTSA 
intends to seek OMB approval. The AV TEST Initiative involves the 
voluntary collection of information from entities testing vehicles 
equipped with automated driving systems (ADS) and from States and local 
authorities involved in the regulation of ADS testing. The purpose of 
this collection is to provide information to the public about ADS 
testing operations in the U.S. and applicable State and local laws, 
regulations, and guidelines.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 31, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket No. DOT-
NHTSA-2020-0070 through any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except on Federal holidays.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 
9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 
366-9322 before coming.
     Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name 
and docket number for this proposed collection of information. 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 https://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
     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. To be sure someone is there to help you, 
please call (202) 366-9322 before coming. Follow the online 
instructions for accessing the dockets via internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact Michael Frenchik, Office of Data 
Acquisition, Safety Systems Management Division (NSA-0130), Room W53-
303, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Mr. Frenchik's 
telephone number is (202) 366-0641.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
before an agency submits a proposed collection of information to OMB 
for approval, it must first publish a document in the Federal Register 
providing a 60-day comment period and otherwise consult with members of 
the public and affected agencies concerning each proposed collection of 
information. The OMB has promulgated regulations describing what must 
be included in

[[Page 39976]]

such a document. Under OMB's regulation (at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an agency 
must ask for public comment on the following: (i) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (ii) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (iii) how to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
(iv) how to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses. In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA 
asks for public comments on the following proposed collection of 
information:
    Title: Automated Vehicle Transparency and Engagement for Safe 
Testing (``AV TEST'') Initiative.
    OMB Control Number: New.
    Type of Request: Request for approval of a new information 
collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Affected Public: There are two information collection components to 
this request. The first affects entities engaged in testing of ADS 
vehicles, including original manufacturers of ADS vehicles and ADS 
vehicle equipment, and operators of ADS vehicles. The second affects 
local authorities regulating testing of ADS vehicles within their 
jurisdictions, including States, cities, counties, and other 
municipalities.
    Request Expiration Date of Approval: Three years from date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: The U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
(NHTSA) was established by Congress to save lives, prevent injuries, 
and reduce economic costs due to motor vehicle crashes through 
education, research, safety standards, and enforcement activity. DOT 
and NHTSA are fully committed to reaching an era of crash-free roadways 
through the deployment of innovative lifesaving technologies. The 
prevalence of automotive crashes in the United States underscores the 
urgency to develop and deploy lifesaving technologies that can 
dramatically decrease the number of fatalities and injuries on our 
Nation's roadways. NHTSA believes that Automated Driving System (ADS) 
technology, including technology contemplating no human driver at all, 
has the potential to significantly improve roadway safety in the United 
States. This technology remains substantially in development phases 
with companies across the United States performing varying levels of 
development, research, and testing relating to the performance of 
various aspects of ADS vehicle technologies. While much of these 
development operations occur in private facilities and closed-course 
test tracks, many stakeholders have progressed to conducting ADS 
vehicle testing on public roads or in public demonstrations. Moreover, 
to regulate such operations in their jurisdictions, many local 
authorities, such as States and cities, have passed laws governing ADS 
vehicle testing on public roads. These statutes, regulations, and 
ordinances vary, ranging from operational requirements to mandating the 
submission of periodic reports detailing ADS vehicle operation.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: The AV TEST Initiative seeks to enhance public education 
and engagement with public ADS vehicle testing by coalescing 
information regarding respondents' various testing operations or 
requirements into a centralized resource. This information collections 
seeks voluntarily-provided information from entities performing ADS 
testing about their operations and information from local authorities 
about requirements or recommendations for such operations. NHTSA will 
maintain a digital platform on its website that collects information 
from respondents and makes the information about ADS operations and 
applicable State and local requirements and recommendations available 
to members of the public.
    The program will support two main objectives. The first objective 
is to provide the public with access to geographic visualizations of 
testing at the national, State, and local levels. This information will 
be displayed on a graphic of the United States, with projects overlaid 
on the geographic areas in which the testing project is taking place. 
By clicking on a testing location, members of the public will be able 
see additional information about the operation and the ADS operator. 
Additional information may include basic information about the ADS 
operator, a brief statement about the entity, specific details of the 
testing activity, high-level (non-confidential) descriptions of the 
vehicles and technology, photos of the test vehicles, the dates on 
which testing occurs, frequency of vehicle operations, the number of 
vehicles participating in the project, the specific streets or areas 
comprising the testing routes, information about safety drivers and 
their training, information about engagement with the community and/or 
local government, weblinks to the company's websites with brief 
introductory statements, and a link to the company's Voluntary Safety 
Self-Assessment (VSSA).\1\
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    \1\ Voluntary Self-Assessments are described in Automated 
Driving Systems 2.0: A Vision for Safety, available at https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/13069a-ads2.0_090617_v9a_tag.pdf. VSSAs are covered by the PRA Clearance 
with OMB Control Number 2127-0723.
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    The second objective is to provide members of the public with 
information collected from States and local authorities that regulate 
ADS operations. State and local authorities will be asked to provide 
weblinks for specific ADS-related topics, such as statutes, 
regulations, or guidelines for ADS operations, privacy-related issues, 
emergency response policies and training, or other activities that 
cultivate ADS testing. The implementation of this program will provide 
a central resource for the aforementioned information concerning ADS 
testing across the United States.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: NHTSA anticipates that the 
Initiative will include up to 60 State or local government respondents 
and 40 ADS developer, ADS vehicle manufacturer, or ADS operator 
respondents per year.
    Frequency: Participation is completely voluntary and each 
participant will choose its respective degree of involvement and the 
frequency of its submissions. Therefore, the frequency of a 
participant's response may vary due to a variety of factors, such as 
the degree of the entity's participation in the initiative or the 
frequency with which each entity modifies its ADS testing operations 
or, in the case of local authorities, amends its regulations governing 
such operations.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: NHTSA estimates that the 
annual burden of participation will be approximately 48 hours for 
private industry respondents that include ADS operators, developers, or 
vehicle manufacturers. This total number of hours represents 
approximately four hours per month to perform data entry for testing 
projects (4 hours x 12 months = 48). Therefore, for the estimated 40 
ADS operator participants, the total burden is estimated to be 1,920 
hours per year (40 respondents x 48 hours).

[[Page 39977]]

    NHTSA estimates that the annual burden of participation will be 
approximately 10 hours for State or local authorities because the 
amount of information requested is more limited and also less likely to 
require frequent updating. Therefore, for the estimated 60 State or 
local authority participants, the total burden is estimated to be 600 
hours per year.
    The total annual burden for the entire information collection 
request is estimated to 2,520 hours (1,920 hours + 600 hours).
    The labor cost associated with this collection of information is 
derived by (1) applying the appropriate average hourly labor rate 
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, (2) dividing by either 
0.701 \2\ (70.1%), for private industry workers, or 0.623 (62.3%), for 
state and local government workers, to obtain the total cost of 
compensation, and (3) multiplying by the estimated burden hours for 
each respondent type.
    Labor costs associated with original manufacturers of ADS Vehicles 
or ADS vehicle equipment and operators of ADS vehicles are estimated to 
be $60.96 per hour for ``Project Management Specialists,'' Occupation 
Code 13-1198, ($42.73 \3\ per hour / 0.701). The estimated labor cost 
per private industry respondent is estimated to be $2,926.08 per year 
($60.96 x 48 hours). Therefore, the total annual labor cost for private 
industry to participate in the AV TEST Initiative is estimated to be 
$117,043.
    Labor costs associated with local and regional authorities, such as 
States, counties, and cities are estimated to be $60.84 per hour for 
``Legal Support Workers,'' Occupation Code 23-2099, ($37.90 \4\ per 
hour / 0.623). The labor cost per regional authority respondent is 
estimated to be $608.40 per year ($60.84 x 10 hours). Therefore, the 
total annual labor cost for regional authorities to participate in the 
AV TEST Initiative is estimated to be $36,504 per year.
    The total annual labor costs for all respondents, private industry 
and regional authorities together, are estimated to be $153,547 per 
year. See Table 1 below for a summary of estimated annual burden hours 
and estimated labor costs.

                                          Table 1--Summary of Estimated Burden Hours and Estimated Labor Costs
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                                                                           Annual  hours                   Annual labor    Total annual
                     Respondent type                         Number of          per         Labor cost       cost per        estimated     Total annual
                                                            respondents     respondent       per hour       respondent     burden hours     labor costs
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Original Manufacturer of ADS Vehicles or ADS Vehicle                  40              48          $60.96       $2,926.08           1,920     $117,043.20
 Equipment and Operators of ADS Vehicles................                                                                                         117,043
State or Local Authority................................              60              10           60.84          608.40             600          36,504
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    Total All Respondents...............................             100  ..............  ..............  ..............           5,000         153,547
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Costs: NHTSA estimates that there 
will be no costs to respondents other than costs associated with burden 
hours.
    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 proper performance of 
the functions of the Department, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate 
of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be 
collected; 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.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.
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    \2\ See Table 1. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by 
ownership (Dec. 2019), available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm (accessed May 4, 2020).
    \3\ See May 2019 National Industry-Specific Occupational 
Employment and Wage Estimates, NAICS 336100--Motor Vehicle 
Manufacturing, available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_336100.htm#15-0000 (accessed May 4, 2020).
    \4\ See May 2019 National Occupational Employment and Wage 
Estimates by ownership, Federal, state, and local government, 
available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/999001.htm#23-0000 
(accessed May 4, 2020).

    Issued on June 26, 2020.
Chou-Lin Chen,
Associate Administrator, National Center for Statistics and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2020-14227 Filed 7-1-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P