[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 30, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18469-18470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06728]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0068]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for 
Comment; Petitions for Hearings on Notification and Remedy of Defects

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a request for extension of a 
currently approved information collection.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
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 and its expected burden. This ICR is for a 
request for extension of NHTSA's currently approved information 
collection for petitions for hearings on notification and remedy of 
defects. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period 
soliciting comments on the ICR was published on January 18, 2022. No 
comments were received.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 29, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection, including suggestions for reducing 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 Nicholas LaBruna, Recall Management 
Division (NEF-107), Room W46-438, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, 
Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-1781. Please identify the 
relevant collection of information by referring to its OMB Control 
Number (2127-0039).

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: Petitions for Hearings on Notification and Remedy of 
Defects.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0039.
    Form Numbers(s): N/A.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 Years from the date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: NHTSA reviews filed 
complaints from vehicle owners and other information related to alleged 
defects or noncompliances to decide whether to open an investigation. 
Should a manufacturer determine or NHTSA decide, through testing, 
inspection, investigation or research, that a motor vehicle or motor 
vehicle equipment contains a defect related to motor vehicle safety or 
does not comply with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety 
standard (FMVSS),

[[Page 18470]]

Section 30118 of title 49 of the United States Code requires the 
manufacturer of motor vehicles or replacement equipment to notify 
NHTSA, owners, purchasers, and dealers of the safety defect or 
noncompliance. Section 30120 requires the manufacturer to remedy, 
without charge, the defect or non-compliance and specifies the ways in 
which a noncompliance or defect can be remedied. Sections 30118(e) and 
30120(e) of title 49 specify that any interested person may petition 
the Secretary of Transportation (NHTSA by delegation) to hold a hearing 
to determine whether a manufacturer of motor vehicles or motor vehicle 
equipment has reasonably met its obligation to notify owners, 
purchasers, and dealers of vehicles or equipment of a safety-related 
defect or noncompliance with a FMVSS in the manufacturer's products and 
to remedy that defect or noncompliance.
    To implement these statutory provisions, NHTSA promulgated 49 CFR 
part 557, Petitions for Hearings on Notification and Remedy of Defects. 
Part 557 establishes procedures for the submission and disposition of 
petitions for hearings on the issues of whether the manufacturer has 
reasonably met its obligation to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers 
of safety-related defects or noncompliance, or to remedy such defect or 
noncompliance free of charge.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: Persons who believe that a manufacturer has been deficient 
in notifying owners, purchasers, or dealers of a safety related defect 
or noncompliance with FMVSS, or has not remedied the problem in 
accordance with statutory requirements, may petition the agency 
pursuant to 49 CFR part 557. The agency uses the information collected 
in the petition, and may use other information available to it, to 
determine whether a hearing is necessary to determine whether a 
manufacturer has reasonably met its obligation to notify owners, 
purchasers, and dealers of the safety defect or noncompliance with 
FMVSS, or to remedy that defect or noncompliance. Should the agency, on 
the basis of information provided at that hearing or other information, 
determine the manufacturer has not reasonably met its obligations, the 
agency orders the manufacturer to take specified action to bring itself 
into compliance with those obligations.
    60-Day Notice: A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting public comments on the following information 
collection was published on January 18, 2022 (87 FR 2664). No comments 
were received.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other interested persons.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1 respondent.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1 hour.
    When NHTSA last sought approval for the extension of this 
information collection, the agency estimated it would receive one 
petition a year and estimated that, with an estimated one hour of 
preparation time for each petition, the total annual burden for this 
collection would be 1 hour. The agency now believes that a more 
accurate estimate would be 0 petitions and 0 burden hours each year, 
based on the agency not receiving of any such petitions submitted in 
recent years. However, NHTSA continues to estimate that the time to 
prepare a petition is 1 hour and, to account for the possibility of 
receiving a petition in a given year, NHTSA estimates the total annual 
burden of this collection to be 1 hour (1 petition x 1 hour to 
prepare).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $7.95.
    NHTSA estimates that the only cost burden to respondents (i.e., 
petitioners) except for the time invested (opportunity cost) associated 
with the time to submit the petition will be postage costs. NHTSA 
estimates that each mailed response is estimated to cost $7.95 
(priority flat rate envelope from USPS). Therefore, the total cost for 
the estimated 1 request per year is $7.95.
    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 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) 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 appropriate 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, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.

Stephen Ridella,
Director, Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA.
[FR Doc. 2022-06728 Filed 3-29-22; 8:45 am]
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