Fr- Nprm - 2019-09844

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 15, 2019 / Proposed Rules
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
49 CFR Part 576
[Docket No. NHTSA–2019–0035]
RIN 2127–AL81

Record Retention Requirement
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM).
AGENCY:

This proposal is being issued
pursuant to the Fixing America’s
Surface Transportation (FAST) Act
which requires the Secretary of
Transportation (Secretary) to extend the
period of time manufacturers of motor
vehicles, tires and child restraint
systems must retain records concerning
defects and malfunctions that may be
related to motor vehicle safety under the
National Traffic and Motor Vehicle
Safety Act (Safety Act). Section 24403 of
the FAST Act directs the Secretary to
issue a rule increasing the time of record
retention to a period not less than ten
years, instead of five years as presently
required under the regulatory
provisions. Pursuant to its delegated
authority, NHTSA is proposing to
update our regulations in accordance
with this mandate. This proposed
update is not intended to change the
scope of the existing rule, other than as
specifically described in this notice, but
is intended to aid in efficiently and
effectively improving the agency’s
ability to identify safety defects and
noncompliances.
DATES: You should submit comments
early enough to ensure that Docket
Management receives them not later
than July 15, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written
comments to the docket number
identified in the heading of this
document by any of the following
methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
online instructions for submitting
comments.
• Mail: Docket Management Facility,
U.S. Department of Transportation,
West Building Ground Floor, Rm. W12–
140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20590.
• Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S.
Department of Transportation, West
Building Ground Floor, Rm. W12–140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20590 between 9 a.m.

jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with PROPOSALS

SUMMARY:

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:43 May 14, 2019

Jkt 247001

and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
• Fax: (202) 493–2251.
Regardless of how you submit your
comments, please be sure you mention
the docket number of this document
located at the top of this notice in your
correspondence.
You may call the Docket at 202–366–
9826.
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 discussion below.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search
the electronic form of all comments
received into 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.
Confidential Information: If you wish
to submit any information under a claim
of confidentiality, you should submit
two copies of your complete
submission, including the information
you claim to be confidential business
information, and one copy with the
claimed confidential business
information deleted from the document,
to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the
address given below under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. In addition, you
should submit two copies, from which
you have deleted the claimed
confidential business information, to
Docket Management at the address
given above under ADDRESSES. When
you send a comment containing
information claimed to be confidential
business information, you should follow
the procedures set forth in 49 CFR part
512 and include a cover letter setting
forth the information specified in our
confidential business information
regulation. 49 CFR part 512.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments received, go to http://
www.regulations.gov and follow the
online instructions for accessing the
dockets or go to the street address listed
above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas Healy, Trial Attorney, Office of
the Chief Counsel, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC
20590 (telephone: 202–366–2992).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Executive Summary

PO 00000

Frm 00015

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

21741

II. Record Retention Requirements Under the
Safety Act Prior to the FAST Act
III. NHTSA’s Proposed Interpretation of the
FAST Act Record Retention Requirement
IV. Regulatory Analyses and Notices

I. Executive Summary
The FAST Act was signed into law on
December 4, 2015. Public Law 114–94.
Section 24403 of the FAST Act directs
the Secretary of Transportation to
amend the amount of time
manufacturers of motor vehicles, tires
and child restraint systems are required
to maintain records that contain
information concerning malfunctions
that may be related to motor vehicle
safety. In the final rule, the Secretary
must lengthen the time that
manufacturers must maintain these
records to not less than ten years from
the date the records were generated or
acquired. Public Law 114–94, sec.
24403(a). Based on NHTSA’s experience
investigating potential defects and
overseeing recalls, we have determined
that a ten-year records retention
requirement would ensure that the
agency’s investigative needs are meet
without unnecessarily burdening
manufacturers of motor vehicles and
equipment. In this NPRM, NHTSA is
proposing to extend the record retention
requirement for records required to be
maintained under 49 CFR 576.6 to ten
years.
Since the language of the statute
grants the Secretary discretion to extend
the period during which manufacturers
must retain record beyond ten years, we
also seek comment on whether there is
justification for extending the time that
manufacturers are required to maintain
the records specified in 49 CFR 576.6 to
fifteen, twenty or twenty-five years.
This rulemaking would not require
manufacturers to retain any new
information; it would merely require
manufacturers to retain information
they are already required to retain under
49 CFR part 576 for a longer period of
time. This rulemaking also would not
extend the time period that
manufacturers of motor vehicles and
motor equipment are required to retain
records underlying information reported
under 49 CFR part 579.
In accordance with the FAST Act, the
extended time period would apply to
records in manufacturers’ possession on
the effective date of the rule and records
generated or acquired in the future.
Public Law 114–94, sec. 24403(b).
Access to records concerning defects
and malfunctions that may be related to
motor vehicle safety is essential for
NHTSA to fulfill the Safety Act
objective of identifying safety-related
defects and noncompliances.

E:\FR\FM\15MYP1.SGM

15MYP1

21742

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 15, 2019 / Proposed Rules

jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with PROPOSALS

II. Record Retention Requirements
Under the Safety Act Prior to the FAST
Act
Part 576 requires manufacturers of
motor vehicles, tires, and child restraint
systems to retain ‘‘all documentary
materials, films, tapes, and other
information-storing media that contain
information concerning defects and
malfunctions that may be related to
motor vehicle safety.’’ 49 CFR 576.6.
These records must be maintained for
use in the investigation and disposition
of defects related to motor vehicle safety
or noncompliance with Safety Act
requirements. 49 CFR 576.2. The
requirement applies to motor vehicle
manufacturers for records generated or
acquired after August 16, 1969 and to
motor vehicle equipment manufacturers
for records in their possession,
generated, or acquired on or after
August 9, 2002. 49 CFR 576.3.
Manufacturers of motor vehicles, child
restraint systems, and tires must
currently keep the records required to
be maintained by 49 CFR 576.6 for five
years after they are generated or
acquired. 49 CFR 576.5(a).
Manufacturers of motor vehicles and
motor vehicle equipment must also keep
documents underlying reporting
required by 49 CFR part 579 for five
years after they are generated or
acquired. 49 CFR 576.5(b). However;
according to 49 CFR 576.5(c),
manufacturers of motor vehicles and
motor vehicle equipment are not
required to keep copies of documents
reported to NHTSA as required by 49
CFR parts 573, 577, and 579. No
manufacturer is required to keep
duplicates according to 49 CFR 576.7.
III. NHTSA’s Proposed Retention
Requirement
The FAST Act vests authority in the
Secretary to increase the required time
manufacturers must retain records
under the Safety Act. Pursuant to 49
CFR 1.95 and 501.8, this authority has
been delegated to NHTSA. The
provision of the FAST Act requiring an
extension of the record retention
requirement applicable to motor vehicle
and motor vehicle equipment
manufacturers gave the Secretary
discretion to determine the amount of
time records are kept as long as the time
is ‘‘a period not less than ten years.’’
Public Law 114–94, sec. 24403(a).
NHTSA has determined that ten years is
the appropriate length of time that
manufacturers of motor vehicles, tires,
and child restraints should be required
to retain records concerning defects and
malfunctions that may be related to
motor vehicle safety.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:43 May 14, 2019

Jkt 247001

When a trend in consumer complaints
or other data indicates a potential
safety-related defect, NHTSA relies on
information included in manufacturers’
records, along with other agency data, to
determine whether or not to open a
formal defect investigation (as
authorized by title 49 U.S.C. chapter
301—Motor Vehicle Safety). Our
proposed approach to extend the time
manufacturers of motor vehicles, tires
and child restraint systems must retain
records is based on NHTSA’s experience
with the increasing age of motor
vehicles and motor vehicle equipment
and the importance of records from
manufacturers, balanced against our
desire to avoid unnecessarily burdening
manufacturers of motor vehicles and
motor vehicle equipment.
Based on our evaluation of the
foregoing factors, NHTSA is proposing
to extend the records retention period
for records required to be maintained
under 49 CFR 576.6 to ten years.
NHTSA contends that a records
retention period of ten years will ensure
that manufacturers will preserve records
that NHTSA needs to conduct defect
and noncompliance investigations
without imposing an undue record
retention burden on manufacturers.
Increases in the age of the vehicle
fleet since the time the five-year records
retention requirement was established
in 1974 1 and Congress’ extension of the
period during which vehicle and
equipment manufacturers are required
to provide a free remedy under 49
U.S.C. 30120 to fifteen years after first
purchase both support extending the
record retention period in part 576. The
average age of the United States light
vehicle fleet has been trending upward
reaching 11.6 years in 2016.2 In 1974
the average age of passenger cars was
5.7 years and the average age of trucks
was 7 years.3 As of 2015, there are 44
million vehicles on the road between
sixteen and twenty-four years old and
1 39

FR 30045 (Aug. 20, 1974).
Getting Older: Average Age of Light
Cars and Trucks in U.S. Rises Again in 2016 to 11.6
Years, HIS Markit Says, IHS Markit (Nov. 22, 2016),
https://news.ihsmarkit.com/press-release/
automotive/vehicles-getting-older-average-age-lightcars-and-trucks-us-rises-again-201 (last visited
Sept. 19, 2018).
3 Average Age of Automobiles and Trucks in Use,
1970–1999, Fed. Highway Admin., https://
www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/line3.htm (last
visited Sept. 19, 2018). From 1977 to 2017 the
average of medium and heavy duty trucks increased
from 11.6 years to 17.3 years and the average age
of recreational vehicles increased from 4.5 years to
15.8 years. See Average Age of Automobiles and
Trucks in Operation in the United States, Bureau
of Transp. Statistics, https://www.bts.gov/content/
average-age-automobiles-and-trucks-operationunited-states (last visited Sept. 19, 2018) .
2 Vehicles

PO 00000

Frm 00016

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

an additional 14 million vehicles that
are at least twenty-five years old.4
NHTSA has tentatively concluded
that extending the records retention
requirements for records required to be
maintained under 49 CFR 576.6 to ten
years would ensure that NHTSA has
access to records pertaining to an
investigation since the record retention
period begins the date the records were
generated. It is NHTSA’s experience that
in the vast majority of cases, the records
most pertinent to a defect investigation
will be those generated in the previous
ten years because those are the records
more likely to show an emerging defect
trend.
While justified in this instance based
on the age of the vehicle fleet, a ten-year
long records retention period is of
significant length when compared to
records retention periods of similar
scope of other operating administrations
with in US DOT 5 and federal agencies
that regulate motor vehicles and child
products.6 The agency believes it should
only move beyond the ten-year period
required in the FAST Act if it has clear
evidence that additional time is needed.
NHTSA tentatively concludes that the
benefits of extending the records
retention period beyond ten years do
not outweigh any burden or costs to
manufacturers that would result in a
lengthened retention period.
In addition to extending the record
retention period applicable to
manufacturers of motor vehicles, the
FAST Act also requires us to extend the
records retention requirements
applicable to child restraint and tire
manufacturers. While Congress did not
provide discretion to establish a shorter
records retention period for child
restraint system and tire manufacturers,
the manner in which these items differ
from motor vehicles means that the
costs and burdens of extending the
records retention period in Part 576 for
manufacturers of child restraints and
4 Average age of cars on U.S. roads breaks record,
USA Today (July 29, 2015), http://
www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/07/29/newcar-sales-soaring-but-cars-getting-older-too/
30821191/ (last visited May 11, 2018) (citing an IHS
Automotive study).
5 The Federal Railroad Administration requires
railroads to retain records on employee injuries and
illnesses and highway user injuries for five years
after the end of the calendar year to which they
relate. 49 CFR 225.27. The Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration requires companies to retain
certain records related to employee drug and
alcohol testing for five years. 49 CFR 382.401.
6 The Consumer Product Safety Commission
requires manufacturers of products subject to a
children’s product safety rule to maintain records
on certification testing and design changes for five
years. 16 CFR 1107.26. The Environmental
Protection Agency requires manufacturers to retain
records related to certification testing for a period
of five years. 40 CFR 600.005.

E:\FR\FM\15MYP1.SGM

15MYP1

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 15, 2019 / Proposed Rules

jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with PROPOSALS

tires will be different than the costs and
burdens to motor vehicle manufacturers.
Like motor vehicle manufacturers,
manufacturers of child restraint systems
are required to provide a free remedy for
fifteen years after purchase.7 49 U.S.C.
30120(g). However, manufacturers of
child restraint systems typically label
the restraint with an expiration date
after which the manufacturer
recommends that caregivers no longer
use the restraint. The expiration date
provided by the manufacturer is usually
six to seven years after the date of
manufacture of the restraint.
Manufacturers of tires are required to
provide a free remedy for a period of
five years after the purchase of the tire.
We seek comments on the costs and
burdens of the proposed rule to
manufacturers of child restraints and
tires.
NHTSA has previously considered
extending the records retention
requirements in part 576 to correspond
with the free remedy period in the
Safety Act and declined to do so. After
issuing a final rule in 1995 to increase
the records retention requirement in
part 576 from five years to eight years
to correspond to the free remedy period
in effect at the time, NHTSA rescinded
the rule and restored the five-year
records retention requirement.8 At the
time, NHTSA determined that the costs
of extending the records requirement to
eight years outweigh the benefits.9
When the Transportation Recall
Enhancement, Accountability, and
Documentation Act, Public Law 106–
414, extended the free remedy period
applicable to motor vehicles and
equipment to ten years, NHTSA
proposed extending the record retention
requirements in part 576 applicable to
motor vehicle manufacturers and child
restraint manufacturers from five years
to ten years.10 The comments received
in response to the proposal asserted that
there was no justification for extending
the records retention requirement to ten
years and that records generated in the
last five years are the records most
relevant to discovering a defect.11 In
deciding to retain the existing retention
period at that time, NHTSA concluded
that the agency’s investigative needs
were adequately met by the five-year
records retention period.
7 While there are limits in the Safety Act on the
period for which manufacturers are required to
provide a free remedy, there is no limit on the time
for which NHTSA can order a manufacturer to
notify consumers of a defect.
8 61 FR 274 (Jan. 4, 1996).
9 Id.
10 67 FR 45873, 45868 (July 10, 2002).
11 Id.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:43 May 14, 2019

Jkt 247001

Lengthening the record retention
period in part 576 beyond ten years
would result in manufacturers being
required to retain records generated late
in the life of a vehicle, likely well after
any defect trend has emerged. NHTSA
also contends that manufacturers have
an incentive to retain relevant records
longer than required by part 576 in
order to properly document the scope of
any potential recalls and for other
business purposes. Based on NHTSA’s
experience investigating potential
defects and overseeing recalls, we have
found that many manufacturers of motor
vehicles and equipment currently retain
some of the records subject to this rule
for periods of time longer than the
current five-year minimum.
As the length of time that vehicles
remain on the road has increased in
recent years, the amount of information
generated and retained by vehicle
manufacturers has also increased.12
Extending the records retention
requirement increases the total volume
of information that must be stored either
electronically or physically. NHTSA
expects most records retained under
part 576 to be in electronic format.
While NHTSA anticipates the costs of
electronic storage attributable to this
proposal to be minimal, NHTSA does
not believe that there is currently
justification to extend the records
retention requirements in part 576
beyond the length required by the FAST
Act. For these reasons, NHTSA believes
that extending the records retention
period in part 576 to ten years best
achieves NHTSA’s need to preserve
access to records for investigations
while minimizing any costs to
manufacturers of retaining records.
In addition to requiring manufacturers
of motor vehicles, child restraint
systems, and tires to retain all records
involving information concerning
malfunctions that may be related to
motor vehicle safety, Part 576 also
requires motor vehicle and motor
vehicle equipment manufacturers to
retain all the records underlying
information reported under 49 CFR part
579. Part 579 requires that motor
vehicle, child restraint system and tires
manufacturers with certain production
volumes report production information;
information on incidents involving
death and injury; and the number of
property damage claims, warranty
claims, consumer claims and field
reports received by the manufacturer.13
12 See Confidential Business Information. 81 FR
57, 51 (Jan. 4, 2016) (discussing the increase in
volume of electronic information submitted to
NHTSA during defect investigations).
13 Child restraint system manufacturers are not
required to report the number of property damage

PO 00000

Frm 00017

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

21743

49 CFR 579.21–26. Motor vehicle, tire
and child restraint manufacturers who
do not meet the production thresholds
to be required to report production
information and the number of property
damage claims, warranty claims,
consumer claims and field reports they
receive and manufacturers of other
motor vehicle equipment are required to
report incidents involving death. 49
CFR 579.27.
NHTSA is not extending the period
for which manufacturers are required to
retain records underlying information
reported to NHTSA pursuant to 49 CFR
part 579 in this rulemaking. NHTSA
contends that most of the records
related to part 579 reporting that
manufacturers of motor vehicles, tires,
and child restraint systems are required
to retain pursuant to 49 CFR 576.5(b)
must also be retained under 49 CFR
576.6. Thus, the effects of extending the
time that records underlying
information reported under part 579
must be retained would be limited to
motor vehicle equipment manufacturers
who do not manufacturer child restraint
systems or tires. NHTSA does not
anticipate that the benefits to NHTSA’s
programs of extending the record
retention requirements for the motor
vehicle equipment manufacturers that
do not have record retention
responsibilities under 49 CFR 576.6
would outweigh the added burdens to
these manufacturers of retaining
records.
NHTSA requests comment on
manufacturers’ current records retention
practices. NHTSA also requests
comments on the burden of increasing
the records retention period for records
required to be maintained by 49 CFR
576.6 to fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five
years, any costs that might be associated
with storage of electronic records, and
the total volume of records retained
pursuant to part 576 by a manufacturer.
IV. Regulatory Analyses and Notices
A. Executive Order 12866, Executive
Order 13563, and DOT Regulatory
Policies and Procedures
NHTSA has considered the impact of
this rulemaking action under Executive
Order 12866, Executive Order 13563,
and the DOT’s regulatory policies and
procedures. This proposed rule was not
reviewed by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) under Executive
Order 12866, ‘‘Regulatory Planning and
Review.’’ It is not considered to be
significant under Executive Order 12866
claims they received and tire manufacturers are
only required to report the number of property
damage claims and warranty adjustments.

E:\FR\FM\15MYP1.SGM

15MYP1

21744

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 15, 2019 / Proposed Rules

jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with PROPOSALS

or the Department’s regulatory policies
and procedures.
This proposal would amend 49 CFR
part 576 to require motor vehicle, tire,
and child restraint systems
manufacturers to maintain records for a
longer period than the currently
required five-year time period. This
proposed rule would not require
manufacturers to maintain any records
they are not already required to
maintain, but instead is designed to
lengthen the time manufacturers retain
certain records. Extending the period of
time to ten years is expected to lead to
various unquantifiable benefits such as
formalizing manufacturers’ records
retention practices and ensuring that, in
all instances, records that must be
retained under section 576.6 are
available in the case of a NHTSA
investigation for a minimum of ten
years.
Based on NHTSA’s experience
conducting investigations and
overseeing recalls, NHTSA contends
that most manufacturers of motor
vehicles subject to this proposal already
retain records for a longer period than
currently specified in part 576. It is
NHTSA’s position that those
manufacturers of motor vehicles or
equipment who do currently retain
records for longer than ten years would
be able to adjust their record retention
systems in response to this rulemaking
with minimal cost. Because we expect
any costs, benefits, or savings associated
with this rulemaking to be minimal, we
have not prepared a separate economic
analysis for this rulemaking.
B. Executive Order 13771
Executive Order 13771, titled
‘‘Reducing Regulation and Controlling
Regulatory Costs,’’ directs that, unless
prohibited by law, whenever an
executive department or agency
publicly proposes for notice and
comment or otherwise promulgates a
new regulation, it shall identify at least
two existing regulations to be repealed.
In addition, any new incremental costs
associated with new regulations shall, to
the extent permitted by law, be offset by
the elimination of existing costs. Only
those rules deemed significant under
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866,
‘‘Regulatory Planning and Review,’’ are
subject to these requirements. As
discussed above, this rule is not a
significant rule under Executive Order
12866 and, accordingly, is not subject to
the offset requirements of 13771.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
In compliance with the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.,
NHTSA has evaluated the effects of this

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:43 May 14, 2019

Jkt 247001

action on small entities. I hereby certify
that this proposed rule would not have
a significant impact on a substantial
number of small entities. The proposed
rule would affect manufacturers of
motor vehicles, tires and child restraint
systems, a few of which may qualify as
small entities. Such manufacturers are
expected to have fewer records, because
they produce fewer motor vehicles, tires
and child restraint systems than the
larger manufacturers. Accordingly, the
burden imposed on smaller
manufacturers to retain these records
should be small. In fact, NHTSA
believes there would be some years
during which the small manufacturers
would not be required to retain any
records under this regulation.
Additionally, this proposed rule will
merely extend how long manufacturers
keep the required records, amounting to
a minimal impact on small businesses.
Thus, NHTSA believes that the
regulation does not impose a significant
burden on small manufacturers.
D. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)
NHTSA has examined today’s rule
pursuant to Executive Order 13132 (64
FR 43255, Aug. 10, 1999) and concluded
that no additional consultation with
States, local governments, or their
representatives is mandated beyond the
rulemaking process. The agency has
determined that the rulemaking would
not have sufficient federalism
implications to warrant consultation
with State and local officials or the
preparation of a federalism summary
impact statement. The proposed rule
would apply to manufacturers of motor
vehicles and motor vehicle equipment
and would not have a substantial direct
effect on the States, on the relationship
between the national government and
the States, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government. Thus,
Executive Order 13132 is not implicated
and consultation with State and local
officials is not required.
E. National Environmental Policy Act
NHTSA has analyzed this proposed
rule for the purposes of the National
Environmental Policy Act. The agency
has determined that the implementation
of this action will not have any
significant impact on the quality of the
human environment.
F. Paperwork Reduction Act
Under the procedures established by
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501, et. seq.), Federal
agencies must obtain approval from the
OMB for each collection of information
they conduct, sponsor, or require

PO 00000

Frm 00018

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

through regulations. A person is not
required to respond to a collection of
information by a Federal agency unless
the collection displays a valid OMB
clearance number. This proposal would
lengthen the time that manufacturers
must retain certain records, which is
considered to be an information
collection requirement, as that term is
defined by the OMB in 5 CFR part 1320.
In compliance with the PRA, we
announce that NHTSA is seeking
comment on a revision of a currently
approved collection.
Agency: National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Title: 49 CFR part 576, Record
Retention.
Type of Request: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
OMB Control Number: 2127–0042.
Form Number: The collection of this
information uses no standard form.
Requested Expiration Date of
Approval: Three years from the date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of
Information: Manufacturers must retain
certain records for a period of five years
from which they were created or
acquired. 49 CFR part 576. NHTSA
requires manufacturers of motor
vehicles, tires, and child restraint
systems to retain one copy of all records
that contain information concerning
malfunctions that may be related to
motor vehicle safety for a period of five
calendar years after the record is
generated or acquired by the
manufacturer under 49 CFR part 576.
Manufacturers of motor vehicles and
equipment must also retain for five
years the underlying records related to
early warning reporting (EWR)
information submitted under 49 CFR
part 579. The proposed rule would
amend part 576 to require the
manufacturers of motor vehicles, tires
and child restraint systems to retain all
records that contain information
concerning malfunctions that may be
related to motor vehicle safety for ten
years instead of five.
Description of the Need for the
Information and Use of the Information
The information collection supports
the Department’s Strategic goal of safety.
The records that are required to be
retained per 49 CFR part 576 are used
to promptly identify potential safetyrelated defects in motor vehicles and
motor vehicle equipment in the United
States. When a trend in incidents arising
from a potentially safety-related defect
is discovered, NHTSA relies on this
information, along with other agency
data, to determine whether or not to
open a formal defect investigation (as

E:\FR\FM\15MYP1.SGM

15MYP1

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 15, 2019 / Proposed Rules
authorized by Title 49 U.S.C. chapter
301—Motor Vehicle Safety). NHTSA
normally becomes aware of possible
safety-related defects because it receives
consumer complaints.
Agency experience has shown that
manufacturers receive significantly
more consumer complaints than does
the agency. This is because the
consumer with the product does not
know whether their particular vehicle or
equipment has a problem that is
common with an entire group of
vehicles or equipment. Whereas
consumers know the manufacturer of
their vehicle or equipment, relatively
few know how to file a complaint with
the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. Complaints filed with
the manufacturer give the agency a fair
indication of how widespread the
potential problem may be.
Additionally, consumer complaints
may contain information relating to
older vehicles and equipment that
becomes increasingly useful to NHTSA
over time. A ten-year period of record
retention aids the agency in identifying
possible safety-related defects in aging
vehicles which may become apparent
through manufacturers’ records. Since
vehicle life is ever increasing, the
records related to older vehicles remain
pertinent. The value of the information
in records relating to aging vehicles may
increase over time as NHTSA or
manufacturers may become aware of
newly emerging safety-related defects.
Extending the records retention
requirement to ten years will ensure that
NHTSA has access to records relevant to
NHTSA’s investigative needs.

jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with PROPOSALS

Description of the Likely Respondents
(Including Estimated Number, and
Proposed Frequency of Response to the
Collection of Information)
Approximately one thousand
manufacturers of motor vehicles and
equipment (including tires and child
restraint systems) are required to
maintain records. Part 576 requires the
manufacturers to retain only one copy of
all records concerning malfunctions that
may relate to motor vehicle safety. The
manufacturers are permitted to store
this information by any means they
wish and transfer the information from
one means of storage to another as often
as they wish. No information is
submitted to the government under this
regulation, and NHTSA does not
conduct routine enforcement activities
to ensure that the manufacturers have
retained these records.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:43 May 14, 2019

Jkt 247001

Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting
and Recordkeeping Burden Resulting
From the Collection of Information
To the extent that there is an
‘‘average’’ record retention, we estimate
the manufacturers’ burden at 40 hours
each for a subtotal of 40,000 hours
(1,000 respondents × 40 hours). In the
case of record retention by large
manufacturers, which often consists of
thousands of pages of records, on
average, it would probably take about
over 40 hours to properly retain the
records. On the other hand, the typical
small business that must retain only a
single record should only need about
five (5) minutes to fully comply with the
regulation. Some small manufacturers
may not have to retain any records at
all. We believe that 40 hours per
manufacturer is a reasonable estimate of
the recordkeeping burden given the
difference in the amount of time it takes
for different manufacturers to retain
records. We believe that the
modifications to this collection will not
increase the burden of recordkeeping, as
manufacturers are only required to keep
records already maintained for a longer
time; manufacturers are not required to
retain any new records.
In addition, there are approximately
23,600 equipment manufacturers
(excluding tires and child seat restraint
systems manufacturers) whose record
retention requirements under part 576
are limited to the documents underlying
their part 579 reporting requirements.
The manufacturers’ part 579
requirements include only the reporting
of incidents involving deaths. Based on
the number of death reports submitted
to date by these equipment
manufacturers, we estimate that an
additional 20 equipment manufacturers
have record retention requirements
imposed by part 576. We estimate that
it will take one hour each to maintain
the necessary records for a subtotal
burden of 20 hours (20 respondents ×
one hour). We are not modifying the
records retention requirements for these
manufacturers, so the record keeping
burden will not increase. Accordingly,
the estimate of total annual burden
hours is 40,020 hours (1,000
respondents × 40 hours plus 20
respondents × 1 hour) for 49 CFR part
576.
The agency estimates that the hourly
cost associated with the burden hours of
40,020 is approximately $20 per hour.
This is somewhat higher than the usual
assumed hourly cost, reflecting the fact
that although some of these hours
would be computer time, a number of
the hours may be clerical time.
Accordingly, the agency estimates that

PO 00000

Frm 00019

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

21745

the total annual cost associated with the
burden hours is $804,000 (40,020
annual burden hours × $20 per hour).
Because the proposed revision to this
information collection would not
increase the burden hours of the
collection, the costs associated with the
burden hours for the collection also are
not expected to increase as result of this
proposal.
Comments Are Invited on
• Whether the Department’s estimate
for the burden of record retention is
accurate.
• Whether there are any costs for
electronic storage of records.
• The volume of records retained
pursuant to part 576.
• What the burden of record retention
becomes if the rulemaking requires
manufacturers to retain records for a
period of ten, fifteen, twenty, or twentyfive years.
A comment to OMB is most effective
if OMB receives it within 30 days of
publication. Send comments to the
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, 725 17th Street NW,
Washington, DC 20503, Attn: NHTSA
Desk Officer. PRA comments are due
within 30 days following publication of
this document in the Federal Register.
The agency recognizes that the
collection of information contained in
today’s proposed rule may be subject to
revision in response to public
comments.
G. National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act
Under the National Technology
Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995
(NTTAA) (Pub. L. 104–113), ‘‘all Federal
agencies and departments shall use
technical standards that are developed
or adopted by voluntary consensus
standards bodies, using such technical
standards as a means to carry out policy
objectives or activities determined by
the agencies and departments.’’ The
amendment in today’s proposed rule
would extend the time manufacturers
retain records, and does not involve any
voluntary consensus standards as it
relates to NHTSA or this rulemaking.
H. Executive Order 12988 (Civil Justice
Reform)
With respect to the review of the
promulgation of a new regulation,
section 3(b) of Executive Order 12988,
‘‘Civil Justice Reform’’ (61 FR 4729, Feb.
7, 1996), requires that Executive
agencies make every reasonable effort to
ensure that the regulation: (1) Clearly
specifies the preemptive effect; (2)
clearly specifies the effect on existing

E:\FR\FM\15MYP1.SGM

15MYP1

21746

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 15, 2019 / Proposed Rules

Federal law or regulation including all
provisions repealed, circumscribed,
displaced, impaired, or modified; (3)
provides a clear legal standard for
affected conduct rather than a general
standard, while promoting
simplification and burden reduction; (4)
clearly specifies the retroactive effect, if
any; (5) specifies whether
administrative proceedings are to be
required before parties may file suit in
court; (6) adequately defines key terms;
and (7) addresses other important issues
affecting clarity and general
draftsmanship under any guidelines
issued by the Attorney General. This
document is consistent with that
requirement.
Pursuant to this Order, NHTSA has
considered these issues and determined
that this proposed rule would not have
any retroactive or preemptive effect. The
proposed rule would only apply to
documents in manufacturers’ possession
at the time the rule goes into effect and
documents generated or acquired by
manufacturers in the future. NHTSA
notes further that there is no
requirement that individuals submit a
petition for reconsideration or pursue
other administrative proceeding before
they may file suit in court.
I. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4) requires
agencies to prepare a written assessment
of the costs, benefits, and other effects
of proposed or final rules that include
a Federal mandate likely to result in the
expenditure by State, local, or tribal
governments, in the aggregate, or by the
private sector, of more than $100
million annually (adjusted for inflation
with base year of 1995). This proposed
rule would not result in expenditures by
State, local, or tribal governments, in the
aggregate, or by the private sector in
excess of $100 million annually
(adjusted for inflation with base year of
1995).

jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with PROPOSALS

J. Executive Order 13211
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355,
May 18, 2001) applies to any
rulemaking that: (1) Is determined to be
economically significant as defined
under Executive Order 12866, and is
likely to have a significantly adverse
effect on the supply of, distribution of,
or use of energy; or (2) that is designated
by the Administrator of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs as a
significant energy action. This
rulemaking is not subject to Executive
Order 13211.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:43 May 14, 2019

Jkt 247001

K. Regulation Identifier Number (RIN)
The Department of Transportation
assigns a regulation identifier number
(RIN) to each regulatory action listed in
the Unified Agenda of Federal
Regulations. The Regulatory Information
Service Center publishes the Unified
Agenda in April and October of each
year. You may use the RIN contained in
the heading at the beginning of this
document to find this action in the
Unified Agenda.
L. Public Participation
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 docket
number of this document in your
comments. Your comments must not be
more than 15 pages long.14 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.
Please submit your comments by any
of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments
on the electronic docket site by clicking
on ‘‘Help’’ or ‘‘FAQ.’’
• Mail: Docket Management Facility,
M–30, U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building, Ground
Floor, Rm. W12–140, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
• Hand Delivery or Courier: West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
• Fax: (202) 493–2251.
If you are submitting comments
electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, we
ask that the documents submitted be
scanned using Optical Character
Recognition (OCR) process, thus
allowing the agency to search and copy
certain portions of your submissions.15
Please note that pursuant to the Data
Quality Act, in order 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
14 See

49 CFR 553.21.
character recognition (OCR) is the
process of converting an image of text, such as a
scanned paper document or electronic fax file, into
computer-editable text.
15 Optical

PO 00000

Frm 00020

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

accessed at https://
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_
reproducible. DOT’s guidelines may be
accessed at https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/
sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/subject_areas/
statistical_policy_and_research/data_
quality_guidelines/html/
guidelines.html.
How can I be sure that my comments
were received?
If you submit your comments by mail
and wish Docket Management 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, Docket Management will
return the postcard by mail.
How do I submit confidential business
information?
If you wish to submit any information
under a claim of confidentiality, you
should submit three copies of your
complete submission, including the
information you claim to be confidential
business information, to the Chief
Counsel, NHTSA, at the address given
above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. When you send a comment
containing information claimed to be
confidential business information, you
should include a cover letter setting
forth the information specified in our
confidential business information
regulation.16
In addition, you should submit a
copy, from which you have deleted the
claimed confidential business
information, to the Docket by one of the
methods set forth above.
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 received after that date.
Therefore, if interested persons believe
that any new information the Agency
places in the docket affects their
comments, they may submit comments
after the closing date concerning how
the agency should consider that
information for the final rule. If a
comment is received 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.
16 See

E:\FR\FM\15MYP1.SGM

49 CFR part 512.

15MYP1

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 15, 2019 / Proposed Rules
How can I read the comments submitted
by other people?

jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with PROPOSALS

You may read the materials placed in
the docket for this document (e.g., the
comments submitted in response to this
document by other interested persons)
at any time by going to http://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for accessing the dockets.
You may also read the materials at the
Docket Management Facility by going to
the street address given above under
ADDRESSES. The Docket Management
Facility is open between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.

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).
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 576
Motor vehicle safety, Tires, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons discussed in the
preamble, NHTSA proposes to amend
49 CFR part 576 as follows:

M. Privacy Act Statement

PART 576—RECORD RETENTION

Anyone is able to search the
electronic form of all comments

■

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:43 May 14, 2019

Jkt 247001

§ 576.5

Basic requirements.

(a) Each manufacturer of motor
vehicles, child restraint systems, and
tires shall retain, as specified in § 576.7
of this part, all records described in
§ 576.6 of this part for a period of ten
calendar years from the date on which
they were generated or acquired by the
manufacturer.
*
*
*
*
*
Issued in Washington, DC, under authority
delegated in 49 CFR 1.95 and 501.5.
Heidi Renate King,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019–09844 Filed 5–14–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

1. Amend § 576.5 by revising
paragraph (a) to read as follows:

PO 00000

Frm 00021

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 9990

21747

E:\FR\FM\15MYP1.SGM

15MYP1