[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56251-56253]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14546]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 572

[Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0031]
RIN 2127-AM20


Anthropomorphic Test Devices; THOR 50th Percentile Adult Male 
Test Dummy; Incorporation by Reference

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

ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM).

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SUMMARY: This document announces the availability of documents 
supplementing NHTSA's September 2023 notice of proposed rulemaking to 
amend NHTSA's regulations to include an advanced crash test dummy, the 
Test Device for Human Occupant Restraint 50th percentile adult male.

DATES: The documents referenced in this notification will be available 
in the docket as of July 9, 2024.You should submit your comments early 
enough to be received not later than August 8, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments electronically to the docket 
identified in the heading of this document by visiting the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Alternatively, you can file comments using the following methods:
     Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure someone is 
there to help you, please call (202) 366-9826 before coming.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number or Regulatory Information Number (RIN) for this 
rulemaking. 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 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.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov. You may also 
access the docket at 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 Federal Holidays. Telephone: (202) 366-9826.
    Confidential Business Information: If you claim that any of the 
information in your comment (including any additional documents or 
attachments) constitutes confidential business information within the 
meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) or is protected from disclosure pursuant 
to 18 U.S.C. 1905, please see the detailed instructions given under the 
Public Participation heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 
of this document.
    Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, to www.regulations.gov, as 
described in the system of records notice, DOT/ALL-14 FDMS, accessible 
through www.dot.gov/privacy. To facilitate comment tracking and 
response, we encourage commenters to provide their name, or the name of 
their organization; however, submission of names is completely 
optional. 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 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues, you may contact 
Mr. Garry Brock, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, Telephone: (202) 
366-1740; Email: [email protected]; Facsimile: (202) 493-2739. For 
legal issues, you may contact Mr. John Piazza, Office of Chief Counsel, 
Telephone: (202) 366-2992; Email: [email protected]; Facsimile: (202) 
366-3820. The address of these officials is: the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, 
DC, 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 7, 2023, NHTSA published a 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend NHTSA's regulations to 
include an advanced crash test dummy, the Test Device for Human 
Occupant Restraint (THOR) 50th percentile adult male (THOR-50M). The 
dummy represents an adult male of roughly average height and weight and 
is designed for use in frontal crash tests. The documentation for the 
dummy, including detailed design information, engineering drawings, 
qualification tests, and procedures for assembly and inspection, would 
be incorporated by reference in 49 CFR part 572, Anthropomorphic Test 
Devices.
    This document notices the availability of additional research 
reports and a memorandum of understanding that are being placed in the 
research and rulemaking dockets, respectively. These documents are 
briefly described below.

Research Reports

    The NPRM referenced a variety of research NHTSA had conducted to 
support the development of the THOR-50M dummy. Most of this research 
was published or made available in the research docket before the NPRM 
was published. However, the NPRM noted that research in several areas 
was ongoing and that additional research reports would be docketed 
after the NPRM was published.
    That research has been completed and NHTSA is now docketing the 
associated research reports. As we did for other research reports and 
documentation referenced in the NPRM, these reports are being placed in 
the research docket, Docket No. NHTSA-2019-0106, and not the docket for 
this rulemaking.\1\ Nevertheless, NHTSA intends these documents to be 
included as part of the rulemaking record for this rulemaking action. 
The following documents are being docketed:
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    \1\ As we explained in the NPRM, NHTSA did not place the dummy 
documentation and related research reports in the docket for this 
rulemaking action to avoid potential confusion from having identical 
documents docketed at different times in different dockets. A 
memorandum explaining this determination was docketed along with the 
NPRM.
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     ``Comparison of the THOR-50M IR-TRACC Measurement Device 
to an Alternative S-Track Measurement Device''
     ``Analysis of THOR-50M Alternate Configurations in Gold 
Standard Sled Testing''
     ``Development of an Alternative Shoulder for the THOR-
50M''
     ``THOR-50M In-dummy Data Acquisition System Evaluation''

Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Intellectual Property of 
Humanetics

    NHTSA is also placing in the rulemaking docket a memorandum of

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understanding between NHTSA and Humanetics concerning the use of 
Humanetics proprietary information in NHTSA rulemaking activities. 
Humanetics is a global industrial technology group (including Human 
Solutions, Avalution, mg-sensors, ADT-LabTech, Fibercore, HITEC Sensor 
Development, and OpTek Systems) that, among other things, develops and 
manufacturers crash test dummies and components used in those dummies.
    As NHTSA explained in the NPRM, portions of the shoulder assembly 
specified in the 2018 drawing package (referred to as the SD-3 
shoulder) are covered by a patent issued to Humanetics. NHTSA has 
generally avoided specifying in part 572 patented components or 
copyrighted designs without either securing agreement from the rights-
holder for the free use of (or reasonable license to) the item or 
developing an alternative unencumbered by any rights claims. In the 
NPRM, NHTSA explained the reasons for taking this position. Among other 
things, proprietary components may be modified by the proprietary 
source such that the original is no longer available, and the new part 
no longer fits. The proprietary source also may alter the part in ways 
that change the response of the dummy, such that dummies with the newer 
part do not provide the same response as dummies with the older 
part.\2\
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    \2\ See Section VIII of the NPRM.
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    NHTSA therefore designed, built, and tested an alternative design 
for a part of the shoulder assembly referred to as the shoulder pivot 
assembly that is not subject to any intellectual property claims. The 
proposed drawing package (the 2023 drawing package) included 
specifications for the SD-3 shoulder pivot assembly as well as the 
alternate shoulder pivot assembly so that NHTSA could use either one. 
In the NPRM, NHTSA specifically solicited comment on whether the final 
drawing package should include the SD-3 shoulder, the alternate 
shoulder, or both.
    After the NPRM was published, NHTSA staff discussed with Humanetics 
the disposition of its intellectual property claims on various 
anthropomorphic test devices, including the THOR-50M.\3\ Humanetics' 
designs and drawings may include information that is subject to patent 
rights and/or copyrights. Based on these discussions, NHTSA and 
Humanetics reached the following understanding with respect to 
Humanetics proprietary information used either in an NPRM or final 
rule. (Below we briefly summarize this understanding; the full terms 
can be found in the Memorandum of Understanding.)
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    \3\ These discussions were a continuation of discussions NHTSA 
and Humanetics have had over the past several years regarding the 
use of its proprietary information in NHTSA rulemaking activities.
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    Under the Memorandum of Understanding, for proprietary information 
used as part of a NHTSA proposed rulemaking under part 572, NHTSA may 
use such information as long as the information includes language 
notifying the public that the design and/or drawings are property of 
Humanetics and are being provided by Humanetics to support evaluation 
and comment related to NHTSA's rulemaking process. Under the proposed 
rulemaking, design drawings may not be copied or used for any other 
purposes without the written consent of Humanetics and no license would 
be granted to any patented designs.
    Under the Memorandum of Understanding, for proprietary information 
used in a final rule issued under part 572, no restrictions will apply 
to copyrighted design and drawings upon the effective date of the final 
rule, and all restrictive notices used in a proposal document will be 
removed in the final rule. Similarly, no restrictions will apply to the 
patented design upon the effective date of the final rule if the final 
rule does not specify the use of another design as an alternative to 
the patented design. Specifically, Humanetics will provide to NHTSA for 
each applicable patent either a notice of abandonment of that patent to 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office or a letter stating that 
that patent will not be enforced against any third-party use. Likewise, 
if no alternative design is specified, all restrictive notices used in 
the proposal document associated with the use of the patented design 
will be removed as part of the publication of the final rule. In that 
circumstance, Humanetics will provide NHTSA a notice confirming that no 
restrictions on patented designs will apply.
    Based on the comments received to date, NHTSA notes a general 
preference for a single open-source shoulder design over a single 
proprietary shoulder or alternative designs. In line with these 
comments, and subject to the understanding reached with Humanetics, 
NHTSA has tentatively concluded that it would be preferable if the 
final rule specifies only the SD-3 shoulder. In addition, specifying 
only one shoulder design will help make the dummy responses more 
uniform. NHTSA seeks comment on this tentative conclusion.

How do I prepare and submit comments?

    Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your 
comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the agency 
name and the docket number or RIN in your comments.
    Your comments must not be more than 15 pages long. (49 CFR 553.21). 
We 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. There is no limit on the length 
of the attachments.
    If you are submitting comments electronically as a PDF (Adobe) 
file, NHTSA asks that the documents be submitted using the Optical 
Character Recognition process, thus allowing NHTSA to search and copy 
certain portions of your submissions.
    Please note that pursuant to the Data Quality Act, for substantive 
data to be relied upon and used by the agency, it must meet the 
information quality standards set forth in the OMB and DOT Data Quality 
Act guidelines. Accordingly, we encourage you to consult the guidelines 
in preparing your comments. OMB's guidelines may be accessed at https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/dot-information-dissemination-quality-guidelines.

How can I be sure that my comments were received?

    If you wish the Docket 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, the Docket will 
return the postcard by mail.

How do I submit confidential business information?

    You should submit a redacted ``public version'' of your comment 
(including redacted versions of any additional documents or 
attachments) to the docket using any of the methods identified under 
ADDRESSES. This ``public version'' of your comment should contain only 
the portions for which no claim of confidential treatment is made and 
from which those portions for which confidential treatment is claimed 
have been redacted. See below for further instructions on how to do 
this.
    You also need to submit a request for confidential treatment 
directly to the Office of Chief Counsel. Requests for confidential 
treatment are governed by 49 CFR part 512. Your request must set forth 
the information specified in part

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512. This includes the materials for which confidentiality is being 
requested (as explained in more detail below); supporting information, 
pursuant to part 512.8; and a certificate, pursuant to part 512.4(b) 
and part 512, appendix A.
    You are required to submit to the Office of Chief Counsel one 
unredacted ``confidential version'' of the information for which you 
are seeking confidential treatment. Pursuant to part 512.6, the words 
``ENTIRE PAGE CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION'' or ``CONFIDENTIAL 
BUSINESS INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN BRACKETS'' (as applicable) must 
appear at the top of each page containing information claimed to be 
confidential. In the latter situation, where not all information on the 
page is claimed to be confidential, identify each item of information 
for which confidentiality is requested within brackets: ``[ ].''
    You are also required to submit to the Office of Chief Counsel one 
redacted ``public version'' of the information for which you are 
seeking confidential treatment. Pursuant to part 512.5(a)(2), the 
redacted ``public version'' should include redactions of any 
information for which you are seeking confidential treatment (i.e., the 
only information that should be unredacted is information for which you 
are not seeking confidential treatment).
    NHTSA is currently treating electronic submission as an acceptable 
method for submitting confidential business information to the agency 
under part 512. Please do not send a hardcopy of a request for 
confidential treatment to NHTSA's headquarters. The request should be 
sent to Dan Rabinovitz in the Office of the Chief Counsel at 
[email protected]. You may either submit your request via email 
or request a secure file transfer link. If you are submitting the 
request via email, please also email a courtesy copy of the request to 
John Piazza at [email protected].

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. 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.

    Issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.95 and 501.5.
Sophie Shulman,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024-14546 Filed 7-8-24; 8:45 am]
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