[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 225 (Thursday, November 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 92281-92283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27130]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[DOT-NHTSA-2024-0074]
Speed Measuring Device Conformity--RADAR
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Transition of the NHTSA managed Down The Road (DTR)
Radar Speed Measuring Device (SMD) Conforming Products List (CPL)
program to an industry-based Verification Program.
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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
provides notice to the public that the Conforming Products List (CPL)
maintained and updated by NHTSA for Down The Road (DTR) radar speed
measuring devices will be discontinued. A new industry-based product
Verification Program has been developed to confirm that DTR radar speed
measuring devices conform to certain minimum specifications. The new
industry-based product Verification Program will provide manufacturers
the flexibility to confirm conformance with any testing entity as long
as the entity can fulfill the requirements for testing and verifying
device compliance with the established performance specifications,
testing protocols and laboratory accreditation requirements of the
industry-based Verification Program. To afford manufacturers time to
transition to the new program, NHTSA will maintain the CPL for one year
after the date of this notice.
Under the new Verification Program, a DTR radar speed measuring
device manufacturer can use an accredited testing entity to verify that
its speed measuring device conforms to an established performance
standard and will be placed on a verified products list maintained by
the Verification Program. Please refer to the NIST website for a list
of available Verification Programs: https://www.nist.gov/mml/mmsd/security-technologies-group/down-road-dtr-radar. The new Verification
Program will provide manufacturers with a proven method of
demonstrating compliance to the minimum performance specifications,
will empower end-users to make better purchasing decisions, and benefit
manufacturers as products can quickly gain market acceptance.
Accordingly, as of the date of this publication, NHTSA will no
longer perform CPL processing under the Interim Administrative Guide
for the Traffic Enforcement Technologies Program.
DATES: Comments are due by within 30 days of this announcement.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the docket number in
the heading of this document by any of the following methods:
Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions
for submitting comments on the electronic docket site by clicking on
``Help'' or ``FAQ''.
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. Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays. To be sure someone
is there to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before coming.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and the
Docket number for this Notice. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided. Please see the Privacy heading below.
Privacy Act: Anyone can 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.). DOT's complete Privacy
Act Statement can be
[[Page 92282]]
viewed on the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR
19477-78) or by visiting https://www.dot.gov/privacy.html.
Docket: For access to the docket to read comments received, go to
http://www.regulations.gov, or the street address listed above. Follow
the online instructions for accessing the dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith D. Williams, Enforcement and
Justice Services Division, NPD-220, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590;
Telephone; (202) 366-8137.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The use of enforcement technologies is a major component of many
traffic safety programs. Traffic Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR)
technology has been used in the United States to detect speeding
motorists since the late 1940s. Over time, radar speed-measuring
devices have evolved from large, unwieldy stationary models to compact
and sophisticated units capable of monitoring the speeds of moving
vehicles while operating in either a stationary or moving mode. These
technological advances, as well as the development of other traffic
enforcement technologies, have greatly enhanced the mobility,
efficiency, and effectiveness of enforcement of speed limits.
Speed measuring device performance specifications ensure that
devices are accurate and reliable when properly operated and
maintained. Law enforcement agencies have historically been encouraged
to utilize a CPL as a criteria for determining which speed measuring
devices they choose to procure.
Filling a gap for a need of nationally recognized performance
standards for law enforcement traffic radar speed measuring devices, in
1977, NHTSA entered into an interagency agreement with the Law
Enforcement Standards Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards
(NBS) to develop performance standards for law enforcement speed
measuring devices. Further, at that time, concurrence between operator
training requirements and technological advances had not been
maintained.
In December 1980, NHTSA published a proposed rulemaking for Down-
the-Road (DTR) Radar performance standards specifications, 49 FR 2097.
After a thorough review of comments received in response to the
proposed rulemaking for performance standards for radar speed measuring
devices (see 46 FR 2097-2120), NHTSA decided not to regulate in the
area because the benefits of the proposed rule could be achieved
without the issuance of a federal regulation. Instead of a performance
standard, NHTSA engaged with the United States Department of Commerce,
National Bureau of Standards, now known as the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST), to develop model performance
specifications. A technical report was published in March 1982 entitled
``Model Performance Specifications for Police Traffic Radar Devices''
under NHTSA report number DOT HS 806-191. States and local law
enforcement were free to adopt these specifications to guide their
purchase of DTR radar devises.
In late 1990s, the International Association of Chiefs of Police
(IACP), through a Cooperative Agreement with NHTSA, formed the
Enforcement Technologies Advisory Technical Subcommittee (ETATS), which
brought together manufacturers, practitioners, law enforcement, and
other stakeholders to update and/or revise the specifications and
provide laboratory services to test and validate compliance of DTR
radar units against the minimum performance specifications. Under the
cooperative agreement, the IACP/ETATS produced an update to the 1982
Model Performance Specifications titled Speed Measuring Device
Performance Specifications: Down the Road Radar Module (DOT HS 812
266).
With the conclusion of the cooperative agreement, the ETATS was
disbanded. Thereafter, NHTSA administered the CPL pursuant to NHTSA
produced guidance titled Interim Administrative Guide for the Traffic
Enforcement Technologies Program. See: https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/interim_admin_guide_-_nov_29_2016.pdf.
Since the conclusion of the IACP cooperative agreement, NHTSA has
worked with NIST to develop a new industry-based verification program
by which DTR Radar devices could be tested and verified against a
minimum performance standard. NIST engaged the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), who, through its Instrumentation and
Measurement Society, established the TC-41 Traffic Enforcement
Technologies technical committee and the DTR Radar Working Group. The
DTR Radar Working Group brought together manufacturers, scientists, law
enforcement and other stakeholders to develop, through a consensus
process, documentary standards, minimum performance specifications and
associated test methods for DTR radar devices. The DTR Radar Working
Group was also tasked with preparing a framework for establishing
criteria, including comprehensive and consistent processes, to address
conformity assessment through a verification process of DTR Radar
devices (see https://ieee-ims.org/technical-committee/tc-41). As a
result of these efforts, IEEE published IEEE Standard 2450, The
Performance of Down-the-Road Radar Used in Traffic Speed Measurements
(IEEE Standard) on November 5, 2019. The IEEE Standard specifies the
baseline performance requirements and associated test procedures for
DTR radar speed-measuring devices used by law enforcement agencies to
enforce vehicle speed limit laws.
Verification processes for DTR Radar devices are focused on product
effectiveness and include the following primary components:
Verification, Inspection, Testing, Accreditation, Surveillance,
Supplier's Declaration of Conformity, Registration, and Quality
Management Systems.
II. Objective
This notice supports NHTSA's mission to save lives, prevent
injuries, and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes,
through education, research, safety standards, and enforcement. NHTSA
has established through research and practice that law enforcement and
the work of our Nation's law enforcement officers are critical to the
prevention and reduction of traffic-related fatalities and injuries.
Traffic enforcement must have equity--the consistent, fair, just, and
impartial treatment of all people--at its foundation. The use of
accurate and reliable speed measuring devices to enforce vehicle speed
limit laws is crucial in reducing speeding-related crashes.
To ensure that DTR radar devices are reliable and accurate, NHTSA
has historically supported efforts to maintain and publish a CPL. The
objective of this notice is two-fold. First, to notify the public that
a new industry-based verification program, based on the IEEE Standard,
is available to manufacturers. Second, NHTSA notifies the public that
the NHTSA Traffic Enforcement Technologies Program will be discontinued
due to the establishment of the industry-based verification program.
[[Page 92283]]
III. Transition to the Industry-Based Verification Program
While today NHTSA is announcing that it will discontinue the
Traffic Enforcement Technologies Program and no longer maintain a CPL,
it will maintain the CPL for one year after the date of publication of
this notice to permit manufacturers with devices on the current CPL
time to enter devices into the industry-based verification program.
Accordingly, as of November 21, 2025 NHTSA will retire the CPL that it
maintained through the Interim Administrative Guide for the Traffic
Enforcement Technologies Program. Manufacturers that prefer a
verification of DTR radar devices they produce may engage the industry-
based verification program developed by NIST.
IV. Industry-Based Verification Program
Manufacturers of DTR Radar devices may, at their expense, obtain
product verification through third-party verification programs
conducted by entities that are accredited pursuant to the International
Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical
Commission (ISO/IEC) Standard 17065 (see https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso-iec:17065:ed-1:v1:en to learn more about becoming an
accredited verification entity). Accredited verification entities must
perform the required testing in conformance with the standard developed
by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is
listed as the 2450-2019--IEEE Standard for the Performance of Down-the-
Road Radar Used in Traffic Speed Measurements, published November 5,
2019 (see https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/2450/6920/). A list of
entities that are accredited verification entities to IEEE Standard
2450-2019 is located here https://www.nist.gov/mml/mmsd/security-technologies-group/down-road-dtr-radar. The IEEE standard is the
baseline for verification requirements and associated test procedures
for down-the-road (DTR) traffic radar speed-measuring devices. A DTR
radar device that is found to meet the IEEE standard will be added to a
verified product listing, that is a list of product models that have
demonstrated compliance to applicable performance requirements and
specifications. Unmanned radar speed-measuring devices, automated speed
enforcement, or DTR radar range measurements are not covered in this
standard.
The industry-based verification program includes initial and
surveillance performance requirements and the use of the Verification
Mark to be placed on all verified units. The testing entity will
provide documentation to the manufacturer that its product meets the
IEEE standard. The industry-based Verification Program will maintain a
verified product list on its website for products that meet the
performance specifications. More information about the Down-the-Road
Radar Devices verification program, including information related to
entities that are accredited to IEEE Standard 2450-2019, is located
here: https://www.nist.gov/mml/mmsd/security-technologies-group/down-road-dtr-radar.
Authority: 23 U.S.C. 403; 49 CFR 1.95; 49 CFR 501.8.
Nanda Narayanan Srinivasan,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2024-27130 Filed 11-20-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P