[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 216 (Friday, November 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62876-62878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24634]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2019-0113]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for 
Comment; Vehicle Information for the General Public

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a reinstatement of a 
previously approved collection of information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
summarized below will be submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes the nature of 
the information collection,

[[Page 62877]]

Vehicle Information for the General Public, and its expected burden. A 
Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on the information collection was published on July 7, 2020. 
One comment was received in general support of this collection request.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 13, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection, including suggestions for reducing the burden, 
should be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget at 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. To find this particular information 
collection, select ``Currently under Review--Open for Public Comment'' 
or use the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact Ms. Johanna Lowrie, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, NHTSA, Room W43-410, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, 
Washington, DC 20590. Ms. Lowrie's telephone number is (202) 366-5269. 
Please identify the relevant collection of information by referring to 
its OMB Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), a 
Federal agency must receive approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) before it collects certain information from the public and 
a person is not required to respond to a collection of information by a 
Federal agency unless the collection displays a valid OMB control 
number. In compliance with these requirements, this notice announces 
that the following information collection request will be submitted 
OMB.
    Title: Vehicle Information for the General Public.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0629.
    Form Numbers: N/A.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement of a previously approved collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Length of Approval Requested: Three years.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: NHTSA's mission is to 
save lives, prevent injury, and reduce motor vehicle crashes. Consumer 
information programs are an important tool for improving vehicle safety 
through market forces. Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 32302, the Secretary of 
Transportation (NHTSA by delegation) is directed to provide to the 
public the following information about passenger motor vehicles: Damage 
susceptibility; crashworthiness, crash avoidance, and any other areas 
the Secretary determines will improve safety of passenger motor 
vehicles; and the degree of difficulty of diagnosis and repair of 
damage to, or failure of, mechanical and electrical systems. For more 
than 40 years, under its New Car Assessment Program, NHTSA has been 
providing consumers with vehicle safety information such as frontal and 
side crash test results, advanced crash avoidance technology system 
performance test results, rollover propensity, and the availability of 
a wide array of safety features provided on new model year vehicles. 
The information collection includes new model year vehicle information 
such as vehicle make, model, body style, certification style, projected 
sales volume, crashworthiness features, advanced crash avoidance 
technologies, crash avoidance technologies test data, vehicle setup 
information, and side air bag information.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: The consumer information collected will be used to 
disseminate vehicle safety information via the agency's www.nhtsa.gov 
website, in the ``Purchasing with Safety in Mind: What to look for when 
buying a new vehicle'' brochure, and in other consumer publications. 
Additionally, the Agency uses this information collection to respond to 
consumer inquiries, analyze rulemaking petitions, and provide technical 
assistance to Congress.
    60-Day Notice: A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting public comments on the following information 
collection was published on July 7, 2020 (85 FR 40733). NHTSA received 
one public comment stating general support of the collection request.
    Affected Public: Manufacturers that sell passenger cars and light 
truck vehicles (including sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, and 
vans) that have a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 10,000 pounds 
or less in the United States.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 21.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Number of Responses: 1.
    There are approximately 21 vehicle manufacturers that sell 
passenger cars and light truck vehicles (including sport utility 
vehicles, pickup trucks, and vans) in the United States with a Gross 
Vehicle Weight Rating of 10,000 pounds or less, that NHTSA requests 
annually to respond to this information request.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,995 hours.
    NHTSA estimates that these 21 vehicle manufacturers produce an 
aggregate of approximately 400 vehicle models each year, for an average 
of 19 models per manufacturer. NHTSA estimates the burden associated 
with this collection based on an expected 5 hours to prepare a response 
for each vehicle model. Therefore, NHTSA estimates the annual burden to 
be 95 hours per manufacturer (19 vehicle models x 5 hours) and 
estimates that the total burden will be approximately 1,995 hours per 
year (95 hours per manufacturer x 21 manufacturers). This is a slight 
recalculation from the 60-day notice in which NHTSA estimated the total 
burden to be 400 hours. However, as NHTSA needs to estimate the burden 
on a per response basis, NHTSA needed to change its calculation to 
estimate the total burden associated with each response (i.e., the 
average burden a manufacturer would spend providing responses for their 
vehicle models). Table 1 provides a summary of the estimated burden 
hours.

                                         Table 1--Burden Hour Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                           Estimated burden
                Number of respondents                  Annual responses      per response     Total burden hours
                                                                                (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21..................................................                 19                   5               1,995
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To calculate the labor cost associated with submitting the vehicle 
questionnaires, NHTSA looked at wage estimates for the type of 
personnel involved with compiling and submitting the documents. NHTSA 
estimates that the five hours for each vehicle model will involve 2.5 
hours of data entry (50% of the total), 2 hours for technical

[[Page 62878]]

information validation (40% of the total), and 0.5 hour for technical 
content approval (10% of the total). Therefore, NHTSA estimates that 
each submission will require 47.5 data entry hours, 38 technical 
information validation hours, and 9.5 technical content approval hours, 
for an annual total of 997.5 data entry hours, 798 technical 
information validation hours, and 199.5 technical content approval 
hours.
    NHTSA estimates the total labor costs associated with the data 
entry burden hours by looking at estimates from the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) for the average hourly wage for Business Operations 
Specialists (BLS Occupation code 13-1000) in the Motor Vehicle 
Manufacturing Industry. BLS estimates the average hourly wage is 
$39.46.\1\ The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that private 
industry workers' wages represent 70.4% of total labor compensation 
costs.\2\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the hourly labor costs to be 
$56.05 for data entry. Table 2 provides a summary of the labor costs 
associated with the burden hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See May 2020 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).
    \2\ See Table 1. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by 
ownership (Mar. 2021), available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm (accessed August 2, 2021).

                                Table 2--Labor Costs Associated with Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Average hourly     Total burden
                       Job function                            labor cost           hours       Total labor cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data Entry................................................            $56.05             997.5        $55,909.88
Technical Information Validation..........................             87.53               798         69,848.94
Technical Content Approval................................             94.22             199.5         18,796.89
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Estimated Annual Labor Cost Associated with Burden Hours..................................        144,555.71
                                                                                                      ($144,556)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: There are no costs associated 
with this collection other than the labor costs associated with the 
burden hours.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspects 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, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (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, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35; and delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.95 and DOT Order 1351.29.

Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2021-24634 Filed 11-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P