[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 40 (Monday, March 3, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 11030]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03347]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0088]
RIN 2127-AK96
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Bus Rollover Structural
Integrity
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notification of enforcement discretion.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that NHTSA will not take enforcement
action against regulated entities for failing to comply with the Bus
Rollover Structural Integrity final rule and the Bus Rollover
Structural Integrity final rule; partial grant of petitions for
reconsideration until March 20, 2025.
DATES: This notice of enforcement discretion is effective from December
30, 2024 to March 20, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical issues, you may contact
Mr. Dow Shelnutt, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, Telephone: (202)
366-8779, Facsimile: (202) 493-2739. For legal issues, you may contact
Mr. Matthew Filpi, Office of the Chief Counsel, Telephone: (202) 366-
2992, Facsimile: (202) 366-3820. The mailing address of these officials
is: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
Electronic Access and Filing: This document, the notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM), all comments received, the final regulatory
evaluation (FRE), and all background material may be viewed online at
www.regulations.gov using the docket number listed above. Electronic
retrieval help and guidelines are available on the website. It is
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. An electronic copy of
this document may also be downloaded from the Office of the Federal
Register's website at www.federalregister.gov and the Government
Publishing Office's website at www.Govinfo.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 29, 2021, NHTSA issued a final
rule titled ``Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Bus Rollover
Structural Integrity.'' 86 FR 74270. The final rule established FMVSS
No. 227, a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that subjects
over-the-road buses (motorcoaches) and other large buses to a rollover
test, and requires applicable buses provide a ``survival space'' to
protect occupants from possible collapse of the bus structure around
them. The final rule also prohibits emergency exits from opening during
the rollover test. This rule became effective December 30, 2024.
On November 13, 2023, NHTSA issued a final rule titled ``Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Bus Rollover Structural Integrity,''
which partially granted petitions for reconsideration to the December
2021 final rule. 88 FR 77523. This final rule amended the definition of
``transit bus'' and revised the maximum allowable weight of objects
intruding into the survival space during the rollover test described in
the paragraph above. This rule became effective on December 30, 2024.
On January 20, 2025, the President issued a memorandum titled,
``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,'' 90 FR 8249 (Jan. 28, 2025), to
direct executive departments and agencies to consider postponing for 60
days the effective date for any rules that had been published in the
Federal Register but had not taken effect for the purpose of reviewing
any questions of fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise. While
not explicitly subject to the President's memorandum, NHTSA is
providing notice that it will exercise its enforcement discretion and
not enforce the provisions of the Bus Rollover Structural Integrity
final rule and Bus Rollover Structural Integrity final rule; petitions
for reconsideration until March 20, 2025, to allow the officials
appointed or designated by the President to review the final rule to
ensure that it is consistent with the law and Administration policies.
Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR
1.95 and 501.5.
Peter Simshauser,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2025-03347 Filed 2-28-25; 8:45 am]
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