[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18065-18067]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06496]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0028]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for 
Comment; Evaluation of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria Program

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, including extensions and reinstatement of 
previously approved collections. This document describes a collection 
of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval on an 
evaluation of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) program.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 31, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket No. NHTSA-
2022-0028 through any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Go to the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket Management, U.S. Department 
of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except on 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 notice. 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. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets via internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact John Siegler, National Center for 
Statistics and Analysis (NSA-221), (202) 366-1268, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, W55-233, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 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 such a 
document. Under OMB's regulation (at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an agency must 
ask for public comment on the following: (a) 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; (b) 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; (c) how to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (d) 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

[[Page 18066]]

collection of information for which the agency is seeking approval from 
OMB.
    Title: Evaluation of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria 
(MMUCC) Program.
    OMB Control Number: NEW.
    Form Number(s): NHTSA Form 1635 and NHTSA Form 1636.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: NHTSA is authorized by 49 
U.S.C. 30182 and 23 U.S.C. 403 to collect data on motor vehicle traffic 
crashes to aid in the identification of issues and the development, 
implementation, and evaluation of motor vehicle and highway safety 
countermeasures
    The MMUCC guideline identifies a minimum set of motor vehicle crash 
data variables and their attributes that States should consider 
collecting and including in their State crash data systems. MMUCC is a 
voluntary, minimum set of standardized data variables for describing 
motor vehicle traffic crashes. MMUCC promotes data uniformity within 
the highway safety community by creating a foundation for State crash 
data systems to provide the information necessary to improve highway 
safety. The crash data is used to identify issues, determine highway 
safety messages and strategic communication campaigns, optimize the 
location of selective law enforcement, inform decision-makers of needed 
highway safety legislation, and evaluate the impact of highway safety 
countermeasures. NHTSA developed MMUCC with the Governors Highway 
Safety Association in 1998 and have regularly updated the guidelines 
together, with the most recent fifth edition published in 2017.
    NHTSA is seeking approval to conduct a national survey of active 
law enforcement officers. The purpose of the survey would be to solicit 
officers' judgement about collecting the crash data variables described 
in the current fifth edition of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash 
Criteria (MMUCC) Guideline (DOT HS 812 433, July 2017) as well as to 
test officers' abilities to accurately collect both existing MMUCC 
variables and proposed new or modified variables.
    First, NHTSA will hire a contractor to contact police chiefs within 
the 397 sampling units used by NHTSA's Crash Reporting Sampling System 
(CRSS) to request the nomination of four law enforcement officers in 
their department who collect crash data to participate in the study. 
Specifically, NHTSA is requesting the police chiefs to provide 
personally identifiable information (PII) about the nominated law 
enforcement officers, including names and contact information (email, 
phone, and address) so that NHTSA can contact these officers to 
administer a survey on MMUCC data elements and arrange payment of an 
honorarium.
    Second, NHTSA will send the officers who were nominated to 
participate in this study a unique link to one of two online surveys, 
which will examine the feasibility of collecting the MMUCC crash data. 
The surveys will collect limited information about each respondent 
including the State where they work as a law enforcement officer, the 
extent of their training for collecting crash data, and the number of 
years the respondents have completed crash reports. The surveys will 
collect information about respondents' beliefs and abilities to 
accurately collect crash data according to the MMUCC guidelines. The 
surveys will ask respondents to rate the difficulty of accurately 
collecting specific MMUCC data elements, assess respondents ability to 
collect information using MMUCC data elements for fictitious crash 
scenarios, and ask for suggestions on how MMUCC data elements can be 
improved.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: States' adoption of MMUCC variables has been slow and 
inconsistent. Currently the variables collected on State's police crash 
reports alignment to MMUCC variables is less than 50 percent, NHTSA 
intends to conduct this information collection to learn why the 
alignment rate is so low. Before embarking on the sixth edition of 
MMUCC, NHTSA seeks to assess the feasibility of collecting the data 
variables in MMUCC and to identify problematic data variables and other 
factors that impede States from adopting the MMUCC variables.
    To assess the ability of law enforcement officers to accurately 
collect MMUCC crash data variables, NHTSA will conduct an electronic 
survey of a national sample of law enforcement officers who complete 
crash reports. The survey will ask respondents to review fictitious 
crash scenarios and collect the MMUCC data variables. In addition, law 
enforcement officers will be asked about their confidence to accurately 
collect MMUCC data variables and to provide suggestions for improving 
each data variable as needed. Examples of the types of crash data 
variables in MMUCC that law enforcement will be asked about include 
Direction of Travel, Sequence of Events, Type of Intersection, and 
Restraint System Use. The information collected will allow NHTSA to 
identify data variables in MMUCC that officers might interpret 
differently. The results will inform deliberations about the content of 
the next edition of MMUCC. A summary of this research will be published 
as an appendix to the next edition of MMUCC.
    Affected Public: Law enforcement.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: NHTSA will send a short letter to 
397 chief police officers to request they identify four police officers 
within their department to participate in the MMUCC survey. The total 
sample is 1,985 (397 police chiefs + 1,588 police officers).
    Frequency: NHTSA plans to conduct this data collection once to 
prepare for the sixth edition of MMUCC.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: To calculate the hour burden 
and labor cost associated with submitting the Evaluation of the Model 
Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria, NHTSA looked at wage estimates for 
Front Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives and Police and 
Sheriff's Patrol Officers who complete crash forms. NHTSA estimates the 
total opportunity costs associated with these burden hours by looking 
at the average wage for (1) Front line Supervisors of Police and 
Detectives and (2) Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers. The Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that the average hourly wage for Front 
line Supervisors of Police and Detectives (BLS Occupation Code 33-1012) 
\1\ is $46.72 and Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers (BLS Occupation 
code 33-3051) is $33.66.\2\ The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 
that wages represent 62.2 percent of total compensation for State and 
local government workers, on average.\3\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the 
hourly labor costs to be $75.11($46.72/.622) for Supervisors of Police 
and Sheriff's Patrol Officers and $54.12 ($33.66/622) for Police and 
Sheriff's Patrol Officers. NHTSA estimates that it will take about 10 
minutes (0.17 of an hour) for the police

[[Page 18067]]

chiefs to nominate four law enforcement officers who investigate motor 
vehicle crashes, resulting in 67.49 (0.17 x 397) hours for 397 police 
chiefs. From pilot testing the survey instruments with six former law 
enforcement officers who work at NHTSA, the agency estimates that it 
will take the law enforcement officers one hour to complete the survey. 
Therefore, 1,588 hours for 1,588 law enforcement officers. NHTSA 
estimates the total hourly compensation cost for police chiefs to be 
$5,069.17 ($75.11 x 67.49 hours). NHTSA estimates the total hourly 
compensation cost for law enforcement officers to be $85,942.56 ($54.12 
x 1,588 hours). Table 1 provides a summary of the estimated burden 
hours and labor costs associated with those respondents.
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    \1\ See May 2020 National Occupational Employment and Wage 
Estimates. National Estimates for First-Line Supervisors of Police 
and Detectives. Available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes331012.htm (accessed July 1, 2021).
    \2\ See May 2020 National Occupational Employment and Wage 
Estimates. National Estimates for Police and Sheriff's Patrol 
Officers. Available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes333051.htm 
(accessed July 1, 2021).
    \3\ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation-March 2020, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_06182020.pdf. Accessed 12/
21/2021.

                                                                Table 1--Burden Estimates
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                                                                                                     Average
                                                   Responses    Estimated  burden per  response   hourly labor   Labor cost   Total burden   Total labor
                                                                                                       cost     per response      hours         costs
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Police Chiefs nomination of law enforcement               397  0.17 hour (10 minutes)...........        $75.11        $12.76         67.49     $5,069.17
 officer for study participation.
Survey of Law Enforcement Officers.............         1,588  1 hour...........................         54.12         54.12      1,588.00     85,942.56
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    Total......................................         1,985  .................................  ............  ............      1,655.49     91,011.73
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: This collection is not expected 
to result in any increase in costs to respondents other than the 
opportunity cost associated with the burden hours. Both the police 
chiefs who will nominate respondents and the law enforcement officers 
completing the survey on MMUCC possess the information needed to 
complete each survey.
    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; (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.

Chou-Lin Chen,
Associate Administrator for the National Center for Statistics and 
Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2022-06496 Filed 3-28-22; 8:45 am]
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