[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37843-37845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12296]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
[Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0012]
RIN 2127-AM54
Side Underride Guards; Extension of Comment Period
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA);
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment
period.
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SUMMARY: NHTSA received two requests to extend the comment period for
the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding side
underride guards that NHTSA published on April 21, 2023. The comment
period for the ANPRM was scheduled to end on June 20, 2023. NHTSA is
extending the comment period for the ANPRM by 30 days.
DATES: The comment period for the ANPRM published on April 21, 2023, at
88 FR 24535, is extended to July 20, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to the docket number identified in
the heading of this document by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
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: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number. Note that all comments received will be posted without
change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act discussion below. We
will consider all comments received before the close of business on the
comment closing date indicated above. To the extent possible, we will
also consider comments filed after the closing date.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov at any time or to
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140,
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal Holidays. Telephone: 202-366-9826.
Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits
comments from the public to better inform its decision-making process.
DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal
information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as
described in
[[Page 37844]]
the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed
at www.transportation.gov/privacy. In order 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. Whether or not commenters identify themselves, all
timely comments will be fully considered.
Confidential Business Information: If you wish to submit any
information under a claim of confidentiality, you must submit your
request directly to NHTSA's Office of the Chief Counsel. Requests for
confidentiality are governed by 49 CFR part 512. NHTSA is currently
treating electronic submission as an acceptable method for submitting
confidential business information to the agency under part 512. If you
would like to submit a request for confidential treatment, you may
email your submission to Dan Rabinovitz in the Office of the Chief
Counsel at [email protected] or you may contact him for a
secure file transfer link. At this time, you should not send a
duplicate hardcopy of your electronic CBI submissions to DOT
headquarters. If you claim that any of the information or documents
provided to the agency constitute confidential business information
within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), or are protected from
disclosure pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1905, you must submit supporting
information together with the materials that are the subject of the
confidentiality request, in accordance with part 512, to the Office of
the Chief Counsel. Your request must include a cover letter setting
forth the information specified in our confidential business
information regulation (49 CFR 512.8) and a certificate, pursuant to
Sec. 512.4(b) and part 512, appendix A. In addition, you should submit
a copy, from which you have deleted the claimed confidential business
information, to the Docket at the address given above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For technical issues: Ms. Lina Valivullah, National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building,
Washington, DC 20590 (telephone) 202-366-8786, (email)
[email protected].
For legal issues: Ms. Callie Roach, Office of the Chief Counsel,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE, West Building, Washington, DC 20590, (telephone) 202-366-2992,
(email) [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 21, 2023, NHTSA published an ANPRM
responding to section 23011(c) of the November 2021 Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), commonly referred to as the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law (BIL), which directs the Secretary to conduct
research on side underride guards to better understand their overall
effectiveness, and assess the feasibility, benefits, costs, and other
impacts of installing side underride guards on trailers and
semitrailers. The BIL further directs the Secretary to report the
findings of the research in a Federal Register notice to seek public
comment. The ANPRM also responds to a petition for rulemaking from Ms.
Marianne Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition (TSC). The comment period
for the ANPRM was scheduled to end on June 20, 2023.
Comment Period Extension Requests
On May 9, 2023, NHTSA received a joint request from Eric Hein,
Stephen Bingham, Aaron Kiefer, Jerry Karth, and Lois Durso asking NHTSA
to extend the comment period for the ANPRM. The requestors state that
60 days does not provide adequate time to prepare robust and
substantive comments on such an important issue, and that they are
preparing to conduct additional crash tests of side underride guards
that will involve considerable stakeholder involvement, planning, and
subsequent analysis. The requestors indicate that extending the comment
period by no less than 30 days would provide the opportunity to develop
comprehensive, well informed, and data-based input for NHTSA's
consideration.
The requestors also noted their concern that there were two
additional reports missing from the docket that were referenced in the
report titled, ``Side Impact Guards for Combination Truck-Trailers:
Cost-Benefit Analysis,'' referred to hereafter as the Cost-Benefit
Analysis Report (CBAR). The requestors request immediate posting of
this information to the docket and state that a full and proper
analysis cannot be conducted until this additional information is
released for review.
As to the first report, a sentence on page 1 of CBAR states that
``[t]he effects of speed limit, vehicle age, occupant age, belt use,
and road surface conditions on occupant fatalities are also discussed
in this study'' (emphasis added). The ``study'' refers to a NHTSA
analysis conducted for the CBAR. As mentioned in the report, the code
NHTSA used for compiling data for the analysis is found in Appendix A
of the CBAR. The relevant data from the analysis is available in
Section II.A of the CBAR. While the CBAR included NHTSA's analysis of
speed limit and restraint use, the data and analysis regarding vehicle
age, occupant age, and road surface conditions were removed from the
CBAR because they did not add any new information on crash outcomes
with respect to underride. Inadvertently, the introductory statement on
page 1 and language used elsewhere in the document were not modified
accordingly. For completeness, we have now submitted the supplementary
information and analysis to the docket, NHTSA-2023-0012. Since these
factors do not affect crash outcomes with respect to underride, the
additional information does not change the analysis or results of the
CBAR.
As to the second report, a sentence on page B-2 of the CBAR refers,
in part, to an ``Evaluation of Vehicle Underride and Associated
Fatalities in Light Vehicle Crashes into the Side of Truck Trailers
Report.'' This refers to a draft NHTSA report the agency prepared and
later decided to incorporate into the CBAR. The methodology, data, and
analysis for the referenced study may be found in Section II.B of the
CBAR. Inadvertently, the reference in Appendix B was not updated
accordingly.
NHTSA received a second request to extend the comment period on May
23, 2023, from the American Trucking Associations (ATA). ATA requests a
30-day extension to the comment period to ensure ATA has sufficient
time to coordinate with its members to develop comments on the complex
issues presented in the notice. ATA notes that the ANPRM requested
specific feedback on side underride guard interactions with road
features, loading docks, port operations, and other types of
operations, and ATA seeks additional time to work with its members to
gather examples of these interactions.
Agency Decision
Pursuant to 49 CFR 553.19 and after thorough consideration of these
requests, NHTSA has determined that the requestors have provided
sufficient justification for an extension, and that the extension is
consistent with the public interest. NHTSA agrees that allowing
additional time for the public and its stakeholders to provide robust
and substantive comments on this complex issue will better inform
NHTSA. A 30-day extension appropriately balances NHTSA's interest in
providing the public with sufficient time to review the docket and
comment on the complex questions raised in the ANPRM with its interest
in obtaining specific feedback from stakeholders in a timely manner.
The
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extension will also provide sufficient time for commenters to review
the supplementary information that we have submitted to the docket.
Accordingly, NHTSA is granting the aforementioned request and extending
the comment period by 30 days.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117, and 30166;
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.95.
Sophie Shulman,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2023-12296 Filed 6-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P