[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22574-22575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09511]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2025-0053]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for
Comment; 49 CFR Part 585; Phase-In Reporting Requirements
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a request for reinstatement
with modification of a previously approved information collection.
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SUMMARY: NHTSA invites public comments about our intention to request
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a
reinstatement with modification of a previously-approved 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 phase-in
reporting requirements as part of a final rule in which NHTSA amended
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant crash
protection.''
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 28, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket No. NHTSA-
2025-0053 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.
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 Ms. Carla Rush at (202) 366-1810.
Address: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC
20590. Please identify the relevant collection of information by
referring to its OMB Control Number.
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
[[Page 22575]]
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
collection of information for which the agency is seeking approval from
OMB.
Title: 49 CFR part 585; Phase-In Reporting Requirements.
OMB Control Number: 2127-0535.
Form Number(s): N/A.
Type of Request: Reinstatement with modification of a previously
approved information collection.\1\
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\1\ This information collection request (ICR) is to request a
reinstatement with modification of a previously approved information
collection for mandatory phase-in reporting for vehicle
manufacturers (OMB Control No. 2127-0535) and requesting that it be
renamed as ``49 CFR part 585; Phase-In Reporting Requirements.''
This ICR will be used to consolidate all phase-in reporting
requirements that are included in 49 CFR part 585 and was chosen
because the OMB Control Number is currently listed in 49 CFR 509 as
being associated with information collections contained in part 585.
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Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information: On August 22, 2024, NHTSA
published a final rule amending FMVSS No. 208, ``Occupant crash
protection.'' \2\ Among other requirements, FMVSS No. 208 mandates that
motor vehicles be equipped with advanced air bag systems capable of
deactivating or adjusting the force with which the air bags deploy
depending on size of the occupant seated in positions with frontal air
bags. Manufacturers must certify that their advanced air bag systems
comply with the requirements when certain child restraint systems
(CRSs) are installed in their vehicles with specific dummies listed in
the standard. These specific CRSs are listed in Appendix A-1 of FMVSS
No. 208, and the August 2024 final rule updated the list of CRSs listed
in Appendix A-1 to ensure the CRSs being used for testing are
representative of the current CRS market.
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\2\ 89 FR 67869.
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As part of the update to FMVSS No. 208, there is a phase-in of the
requirements for testing with the new CRSs listed in Appendix A-1. As
with all phase-ins, the agency is adopting a reporting and
recordkeeping requirement to facilitate the agency's enforcement of the
standard by aiding NHTSA in determining whether a manufacturer has
complied with the phase-in requirements during the phase-in period. The
reporting and recordkeeping requirements require that manufacturers
submit an annual production report to NHTSA that includes the number of
vehicles manufactured in the current production year and the production
of complying vehicles and retain records of compliance with the phase-
in requirements for five years. NHTSA estimates this collection will
impact 22 manufacturers each year and will have a total annual burden
of 22 hours and $0 in total annual cost.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information: The purpose of the reporting requirements is to aid NHTSA
in determining whether a manufacturer has complied with the phase-in
requirements during the phase-in period. Without the reporting
requirements, NHTSA would have no way of knowing whether a manufacturer
has complied with the phase-in requirements during the phase-in period.
Affected Public: The only required respondents for the reporting
requirements are applicable light vehicle manufacturers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: The agency expects 22 vehicle
manufacturers to be required to respond to the information collection
request.
Frequency: The final rule requires the following implementation
schedule: Forty percent of all of a manufacturer's light vehicles must
comply with the revised appendix by September 1, 2025, and all light
vehicles must be fully compliant no later than September 1, 2026. The
phase-in plan requires manufacturers to report achievement of the
annual production quota in the phase-in period. These requirements are
found in 49 CFR part 585, ``Phase-In Reporting Requirements.'' The
reporting and recordkeeping requirements require that manufacturers
submit an annual production report to NHTSA that includes the number of
vehicles manufactured in the current production year and the production
of complying vehicles and that they retain records of compliance with
the phase-in requirements for five years. The report is due within 60
days after the end of the production year ending August 31, 2026. After
the report is received, requirements will cease and no further report
will be required during that year.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: The annual burden involves the tasks
of collection of the information required by the annual report as well
as placing the information in a form suitable for record keeping and
data retrieval. Since almost all of the information required is already
recorded by the manufacturers as part of their production control and
tracking systems, a nominal assessment of half a burden hour per
respondent is estimated for data retrieval and report preparation and
half a burden hour per respondent for the record keeping of the data.
NHTSA estimates the labor costs associated with these labor hours
using hourly labor rates published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS). BLS estimates that hourly wages represent approximately 70.5
percent of total compensation for private industry workers.\3\ For the
labor costs associated with this ICR, NHTSA uses the mean hourly wage
of $40.64 per hour for ``Technical Writers'' (occupational code 27-
3042) for the Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry \4\ and applies the
70.5 percent factor to find the total compensation rate of $57.65 per
hour ($40.64 per hour divided by 0.705). The total annual labor cost
associated with the burden hours is estimated to be $1,268.20 (time
burden of 22 hours x $57.65 cost per hour).
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\3\ See Table 1. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by
ownership (Dec. 2024), available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf (accessed April 1, 2025).
\4\ See May 2023 National Industry-Specific Occupational
Employment and Wage Estimates, NAICS 336100--Motor Vehicle
Manufacturing, available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/naics4_336100.htm#27-0000 (accessed April 1, 2025).
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $0. There are no additional
costs to respondents other than the labor cost associated with the
burden hours described above.
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 1351.29A.
David Hines,
Acting Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2025-09511 Filed 5-27-25; 8:45 am]
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