[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13360-13365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04932]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0009]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Uniform 
Procedures for State Highway Safety Grant Programs

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a reinstatement of a 
previously approved information collection.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
abstracted below will be submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes the nature of 
the information collection and its expected burden. This is a request 
for approval for reinstatement of a previously-approved collection of 
information for NHTSA's Highway Grant Program, which includes State 
Highway Safety Program grants, the National Priority Safety Program 
grants, and a separate grant on racial profiling data collection. The 
purpose of the information collection is to collect information 
necessary for NHTSA to issue grants to States. To receive grants, a 
State must submit a

[[Page 13361]]

Highway Safety Plan (HSP) that supports its qualifications for 
receiving grant funds. Specifically, the HSP consists of information on 
the highway safety planning process, performance report, performance 
plan, problem identification, highway safety countermeasure strategies, 
planned activities and funding amounts, certifications and assurances, 
and application materials that cover Section 405 grants and the 
reauthorized Section 1906 grant. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-
day comment period soliciting comments on the following information 
collection was published on February 9, 2021. NHTSA received three 
comments. A summary of the comments and NHTSA's response to those 
comments is provided below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 8, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection, including suggestions for reducing burden, 
should be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget at 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. To find this particular information 
collection, select ``Currently under Review--Open for Public Comment'' 
or use the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact Barbara Sauers, Regional Operations 
and Program Delivery, NRO-011, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC, 20590; Telephone: 202-366-0144. Please 
identify the relevant collection of information by referring to its OMB 
Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), a 
Federal agency must receive approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) before it collects certain information from the public and 
a person is not required to respond to a collection of information by a 
Federal agency unless the collection displays a valid OMB control 
number. In compliance with these requirements, this notice announces 
that the following information collection request will be submitted to 
OMB.
    Title: Uniform Procedures for State Highway Safety Grant Programs.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0730.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement of a previously approved information 
collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Length of Approval Requested: Three years from date of approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information:
    The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST), Public Law 
114-94, authorizes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
(NHTSA) to issue highway safety grants to States under Chapter 4 of 
Title 23, U.S.C. Specifically, these grant programs include the Highway 
Safety Program grants (23 U.S.C. 402 or Section 402), the National 
Priority Safety Program grants (23 U.S.C. 405 or Section 405) and a 
separate grant on racial profiling data collection contained in a 
previous authorization that was revised and restored under the FAST Act 
(Public Law 109-59, Sec. 1906 or Section 1906, as amended by Sec. 4011, 
Public Law 114-94).
    For all of these grants, as directed in statute, NHTSA uses a 
consolidated application process that relies on the Highway Safety Plan 
(HSP) that States \1\ submit under the Section 402 program as a single 
application. The information required to be submitted for these grants 
includes the HSP consisting of information on the highway safety 
planning process, performance report, performance plan, problem 
identification, highway safety countermeasure strategies, projects and 
funding amounts, certifications and assurances, and application 
materials that cover Section 405 grants and the reauthorized Section 
1906 grant.\2\ States also must submit an annual report evaluating 
their progress in achieving performance targets. In addition, as part 
of the statutory criteria for Section 405 grants covering the areas of 
occupant protection, traffic safety information system improvement and 
impaired driving countermeasures, States may be required to receive 
assessments of their State programs in order to receive a grant.\3\ 
States must provide information and respond to questions as part of the 
assessment process.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ While the grant programs are available for the 50 States, 
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 
American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on behalf of the Indian Country, 
NHTSA will refer to the respondents to the Uniform Procedures for 
State Highway Safety Grant Programs information collection as 
``States.''
    \2\ Section 405 grants cover the following: Occupant Protection 
Grants; State Traffic Safety Information System Improvements Grants; 
Impaired Driving Countermeasures Grants (including Alcohol-Ignition 
Interlock Grants and 24-7 Sobriety Program Grants); Distracted 
Driving Grants; Motorcyclist Safety Grants; State Graduated Driver 
Licensing Incentive Grants; and Nonmotorized Safety Grants. Section 
1906 is a separate racial profiling data collection grant.
    \3\ Under occupant protection grants, one criterion that a State 
with a lower belt use rate may use to receive a grant is to complete 
an assessment of its occupant protection program once every three 
years (23 U.S.C. 405(b)(3)(B)(ii)(VI)(aa)); and another criterion is 
a comprehensive occupant protection program that includes a program 
assessment conducted every five years as one of its elements (23 
U.S.C. 405(b)(3)(B)(ii)(V)(aa); 23 CFR 1300.21(e)(5)(i)). Under 
traffic safety system information system improvement grants, a State 
must have an assessment of its highway safety data and traffic 
records system once every 5 years in order to receive a grant (23 
U.S.C. 405(c)(3)(E)). Under impaired driving countermeasure grants, 
a State with high average impaired driving fatality rates must have 
an assessment of its impaired driving program once every 3 years in 
order to receive a grant. (23 U.S.C. 405(d)(3)(C)(i)(I)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Consistent with the statute, NHTSA has implemented a final rule 
that creates uniform procedures for States to apply for grant funds (83 
FR 3466, January 25, 2018). These procedures specify the information 
that is required to be submitted to receive a grant and the type of 
information required to verify performance under the grants.
    As indicated above, States may be required to receive an assessment 
of certain covered programs in order to be eligible for some grants 
under Section 405. Separate from these requirements, States also may 
request assessments in these areas at their discretion. NHTSA uses two 
different assessment approaches based on the traffic safety area 
covered. For occupant protection and impaired driving, assessments are 
based on NHTSA's Uniform Guidelines for State Highway Safety Programs, 
which are required by Congress and periodically updated through a 
process that seeks public comment.\4\ State programs are assessed 
against these uniform guidelines by a team of subject matter experts. 
The assessment team produces a final report with recommendations on how 
the State can improve the effectiveness of its program. As part of the 
process, States provide written materials in response to requests from 
the assessment team and participate in a comprehensive interview 
process. For traffic safety information systems, States respond to 
questions based on NHTSA's Traffic Records Program Assessment Advisory 
(DOT HS 812 601), which describes an ideal traffic records system. The 
questions cover nine topical areas and examine how well a State plans, 
collects, manages, and integrates information from several State 
traffic records systems.\5\ Responses are

[[Page 13362]]

evaluated by subject matter experts, and a final report is provided to 
the State with recommendations for improvement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ The Uniform Guidelines for State Highway Safety Programs are 
available online at https://one.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/whatsup/tea21/tea21programs/index.htm.
    \5\ The Traffic Records Program Assessment Advisory is available 
online at https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812601.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information:
    As noted above, the statute provides that the HSP is the 
application basis for grants each fiscal year. The information is 
necessary to determine whether a State satisfies the Federal criteria 
for grant awards. The annual report tracks progress in achieving the 
aims of the grant program. The information is necessary to verify 
performance under the grants and to provide a basis for improvement. As 
specified in statute, States may be required to receive an assessment 
of certain covered programs. In other instances, States may opt to 
receive an assessment in order to use that assessment as one of several 
options to qualify for a grant under Section 405. The information 
provided by a State allows subject matter experts to provide 
recommendations for the purpose of improving the covered areas.

Public Comments

    A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
public comments on the information collection was published on February 
9, 2021 (86 FR 8832). NHTSA received three comments from the Governors 
Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the Tennessee Highway Safety Office, 
and an anonymous commenter. Comments addressed the timing of the 
Highway Safety Program applications and Annual Report, estimated burden 
hours, and the inclusion of other activities in the burden estimates.

General

    In general, commenters indicated support for the agency's 
collection of information and its use of a single, unified annual 
Highway Safety Plan. Commenters also included other topics unrelated to 
this PRA which will be addressed separately.

Timing of Highway Safety Plan Application and Annual Report

    Commenters raised issues with the timing of the HSP application. 
Tennessee commented that the ``deadline is so early in the year'' and 
that ``States need time to look at the previous year's uncertified FARS 
data (State data) to determine issue areas to address for the upcoming 
grant year and the most current certified FARS data.'' Furthermore, the 
comment noted that the deadline of July 1 necessitates the use of 
amendments to supply information not available at the time of the 
application.
    While NHTSA recognizes the potential difficulty in submitting 
applications by the July 1 application date, NHTSA does not have 
discretion to adjust the application deadline. The July 1 application 
date is set forth in statute.\6\ However, NHTSA would like to reiterate 
that while FARS data is to be used to report progress on the core 
performance targets, States can use other sources of data to help 
determine their targets and priority problem areas. It is correct that 
States that do not know which projects will be funded at the time of 
application will need to follow up by providing a list of projects in 
an amendment to their application; however, States can provide this 
list in any format they choose as long as the four required data 
elements are included (project agreement number, subrecipient, amount 
of federal funds, and eligible use of funds). While NHTSA believes that 
this type of list is common and exists as a normal business practice in 
most States (and the majority of States (68%) provided a list with 
their 2021 application) we agree that extra time may be needed. 
Accordingly, we have adjusted our estimated burden hours (see below).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ 23 U.S.C. 402(k)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Commenters also raised concerns regarding the timing of the annual 
report. GHSA commented that it is challenging to meet the due date for 
the annual report due to it coinciding with year-end closeout and the 
winter holidays. They also noted the new option in the revised 2 CFR 
200 \7\ that allows NHTSA to extend the closeout and reporting deadline 
from 90 days to 120 days beginning with FY22. The timing of the annual 
report is set forth in NHTSA's regulation at 23 CFR 1300.35 and was 
created to align with the 90-day government-wide timing requirements 
that existed at the time our regulation was published in 2018. As GHSA 
notes, the government-wide regulation has since been updated to allow a 
longer, 120-day time frame for closeout and reporting; NHTSA will take 
this into consideration when we next revise our own implementing 
regulation. Another commenter said that automating the annual report 
could help reduce the burden.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See 85 FR 49506 (Aug. 13, 2020), effective November 12, 
2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Estimated Burden Hours

    Both GHSA and the anonymous commenter stated that they believe 
NHTSA under-estimated the burden of time involved in developing the HSP 
and annual report. One State that supplied comments to GHSA suggested 
that preparing the HSP, including both the Section 402 and 405 grant 
programs, likely takes over 400 hours. In support, GHSA commented that 
``HSP development involves not just planning within the SHSO but 
interaction with other partners as well to select projects and develop 
agreements.'' GHSA acknowledged, however, the difficulty of developing 
an estimate across States since the number will ``differ significantly 
from State to State.'' They added that States do not track time spent 
meeting these requirements and ``are involved in preparing HSPs and 
Annual Reports intermittently over time in addition to implementing 
programs and performing other duties.''
    NHTSA agrees that an average may not be reflective of the 
experience of some States. While our initial burden hour estimate is 
not too dissimilar from GHSA's (380 vs 400), after meeting to discuss 
the details of their comments, we agree that more time should be added 
to account for HSP planning activities which were not part of our 
original estimate. We agree that working with partners is necessary for 
planning and carrying out the program, but these activities are also 
normal every-day program planning and operation activities that are not 
solely needed for the application process. In response to GHSA's 
comment and after further review of the issues, we have increased the 
estimate for the HSP application to 410 hours. We also revised our 
estimate for completing the annual report. One State reported to GHSA 
that it could take 100-120 hours. While we believe this estimate is 
high, we have increased our estimate to 80 hours, which is an increase 
of 40 hours from our original estimate.
    GHSA also noted that the time burden required for an assessment is 
significant. While no commenters provided any estimates for how long 
assessments take, they expressed that assessments are similar to 
conference planning and include preparing materials, scheduling 
participants, making travel arrangements, arranging for audio visual, 
and coordination of facilities. NHTSA's estimate only covered the 
background material collection, responding to questions and 
participating in interviews during the assessment week. In response to 
these comments, NHTSA has increased the estimated burden hours for 
occupant protection and impaired driving assessments to 88 hours. For 
traffic records assessments, NHTSA continues to estimate that the 
burden hours for a traffic records assessment will be 123

[[Page 13363]]

hours per respondent because these assessments are conducted virtually 
and involve submission of information submitted via email as opposed to 
through interviews.

Other Comments

    While commenting on the 60-day notice, GHSA took the opportunity to 
include comments regarding other aspects of the grant program, not 
necessarily related to the information collection request. Some of the 
comments addressed aspects of the grant program which cannot be changed 
since they are part of the grant program regulation (23 CFR 1300) or 
statutes. NHTSA acknowledges these additional topics raised that are 
unrelated to this information collection request and will respond to 
them separately through other means.
    Affected Public:
    This collection impacts the fifty-seven entities that are eligible 
to apply for grants under the NHTSA Highway Grant Program (the fifty 
States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin 
Islands, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on behalf of the Indian 
Country).
    This collection also impacts the subject matter experts and 
administrative assistants who are involved in assessments for the grant 
program. These subject matter experts are recruited by NHTSA based on 
recommendations from NHTSA Regional Offices and the State Highway 
Safety Offices. All new occupant protection and impaired driving 
assessors complete an e-learning course, Conducting Highway Safety 
Program Assessments.The course is self-paced and entirely on-line. Each 
impaired driving and occupant protection assessment team consists of 
five (5) assessors and an administrative assistant. For traffic records 
assessments, NHTSA uses a contractor to recruit and train the assessors 
for the online traffic records assessment conducted using NHTSA's 
Traffic Records Improvement Program Reporting System (TRIPRS). All 
subject matter experts are current or former members of State Traffic 
Records Coordinating Committees. There are between 10 to 14 assessors 
for each traffic records assessment.
    Estimated Number of Respondents:
    There are 57 potential State respondents (the fifty States, the 
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, 
and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on behalf of the Indian Country).
    NHTSA estimates there will be approximately 260 assessors per year. 
This estimate includes assessors and administrative assistants. Each 
occupant protection or impaired driving assessment involves five (5) 
subject matter experts and one (1) administrative assistant. NHTSA 
estimates that 13 occupant protection and impaired driving assessments 
will be completed each year, for a total of 78 respondents. Each 
traffic records assessment involves approximately thirteen (13) subject 
matter experts. NHTSA estimates that 14 traffic records assessments are 
completed each year, for a total of 182 traffic records assessors.
    Frequency:
    Applications for grant funding and annual reporting are submitted 
once a year and assessments are conducted once every three or five 
years.
    Number of Responses:
    NHTSA estimates that it will receive 57 Section 402 grant 
applications, 56 Section 405 grant applications (except for impaired 
driving countermeasures, motorcyclist safety and nonmotorized grants), 
and 52 Section 405 impaired driving countermeasures, motorcyclist 
safety and nonmotorized grant applications. These estimates are based 
on the number of eligible respondents each year for each of the grants.
    NHTSA estimates that there will be 9 State responses for 
assessments for Section 405 occupation protection grants, 14 State 
responses for assessments for Section 405 traffic safety information 
system improvement grants, and 4 State responses for assessments for 
Section 405 impaired driving countermeasures grants annually. Further, 
NHTSA estimates that there will be 54 subject matter expert responses 
for Section 405 occupation protection grants, 182 subject matter expert 
responses for assessments for Section 405 traffic safety information 
system improvement grants, and 24 subject matter expert responses for 
assessments for Section 405 impaired driving countermeasures grants.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 39,550.
    The estimated burden hours for the grant application and annual 
report part of the collection of information are based on all eligible 
respondents each year for each of the grants:
     Section 402 grants: 57 (fifty States, the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs);
     Section 405 Grants (except Impaired Driving 
Countermeasures, Motorcyclist Safety and Nonmotorized Grants) and 
Section 1906 Grant: 56 (fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 
Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands); and
     Section 405, Impaired Driving Countermeasures, 
Motorcyclist Safety and Nonmotorized Grants: 52 (fifty States, the 
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico).
    Under the grant application and annual report requirements for 
Sections 402 and 405, we estimate that it will take each respondent 
approximately 490 hours to collect, review and submit the required 
information to NHTSA (220 burden hours for 402 grant applications, 190 
for 405 and 1906 grant applications, and 80 hours for annual 
reports).\8\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for 
Section 402 grant applications to be 12,540 hours (57 respondents x 220 
hours), the total annual burden for Section 405 and 1906 grant 
applications to be 10,640 hours (56 respondents x 190 hours), and the 
total annual burden for annual reports to be 4,560 (57 respondents x 80 
hours).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ Please note that the burden estimates for 405 and 1906 
applications are based on every applicant applying for a grant under 
all program areas. Marginally, this may overestimate the total 
burden as all applicants will not apply for a grant in each program 
area each year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The estimated burden hours for the assessment part of the 
collection of information are based on the average number of State 
assessments that are carried out each year in each of the covered grant 
areas: \9\ NHTSA estimates that there will be 9 assessments for Section 
405 occupant protection grants, 14 assessments for the Section 405 
traffic safety information system improvement grants, and 4 assessments 
for the Section 405 impaired driving grant each year. Based on this 
information and the hours listed below, the estimated annual burden 
hours for all State respondents is 2,866 hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ Assessment average is based on the total number of 
assessments conducted each year and divided by the number of years 
since the inception of assessment requirements for certain grants 
under MAP-21, Public Law 112-141.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As the requirements for the program assessments vary, the burden 
for each type is calculated separately. For traffic safety information 
system improvement grants, we estimate that it takes 123 hours to 
respond to questions under the assessment. For occupant protection and 
impaired driving countermeasures grants, we estimate that it takes 88 
hours to provide the required information and

[[Page 13364]]

respond to questions under an assessment.
    Commenters did not question NHTSA's estimates for labor cost. For 
the costs associated with respondents preparing application materials 
NHTSA used the estimated average wage for ``Management Analysts,'' 
Occupation Code 13-1111. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 
the average hourly wage for management analysts in State and local 
government is $31.95.\10\ The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 
wages for State and local government workers represent 61.8% of total 
compensation costs.\11\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the hourly labor 
costs to be $51.70 and estimates that hourly labor cost associated with 
preparing materials to be $24,056 per respondent. If all eligible 
States applied for and received grants for all programs (and including 
the annual number of assessment responses required from States), the 
total labor costs on all State respondents would be $1,582,329.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ See May 2019 National Industry-Specific Occupational 
Employment and Wage Estimates, NAICS 336100--Motor Vehicle 
Manufacturing, available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_999200.htm (accessed January 6, 2021).
    \11\ See Table 1. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by 
ownership, available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    These estimates are based on every eligible respondent submitting 
the required information for every available grant. However, not all 
States apply for and receive a grant each year under each of these 
programs. In addition, under Section 405 grants, some requirements 
permit States to submit a single application covering multiple years 
allowing States to simply recertify in subsequent years.

                                          Table 1--Estimated Burden Hours and Labor Costs for State Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                           Burden hours
         Information collection                     Frequency                Number of          per        Hourly labor     Total labor    Total burden
                                                                            respondents     respondent         costs           costs           hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section 402 Grant Application..........  Yearly.........................              57             220          $51.70        $648,318          12,540
405 and 1906 Grant Applications........  Yearly.........................              56             190           51.70         550,088          10,640
Annual Report..........................  Yearly.........................              57              80           51.70         235,752           4,560
405b Assessment........................  Every 3 years..................               9              88           51.70          40,946             792
405c Assessment........................  Every 5 years..................              14             123           51.70          89,027           1,722
405d Assessment........................  Every 3 years..................               4              88           51.70          18,198             352
                                                                         -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals.............................  ...............................  ..............  ..............  ..............      $1,582,329          30,606
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition to the burden hours for State respondents, this 
information collection also involves burden hours for subject matter 
experts who assess the States and burden hours for administrative 
assistants. NHTSA estimates the burden on subject matter experts based 
on the number assessments that will be performed each year, the number 
of individuals involved with each assessment, and the estimated time 
for each assessor. As stated above, NHTSA estimates that there will be 
9 assessments for Section 405 occupant protection grants, 14 
assessments for the Section 405 traffic safety information system 
improvement grants, and 4 assessments for the Section 405 impaired 
driving grant each year. Each impaired driving and occupant protection 
assessment team consists of five (5) assessors and an administrative 
assistant. For traffic records assessments, there are between 10 to 14 
assessors. For purposes of estimate the total annual burden hours, 
NHTSA estimates that there will be approximately 13 assessors for each 
traffic records assessment.
    For occupant protection and impaired driving assessments NHTSA 
estimates that assessors spend approximately 80 hours of work on each 
assessment, based on the following assumptions: 46 hours for the 
interviews and panel discussions and 34 hours for pre- and post- 
assessment activities, to include reviewing: (1) Briefing book 
materials; (2) resources on the State Highway Safety Office's website, 
and (3) reviewing comments and/or suggestions submitted from the State 
after their review of the assessment final report.In addition, an 
administrative assistant is expected to spend approximately 46 hours 
preparing for the interviews and panel discussions and 18 hours for 
pre- and post- assessment activities, to include coordinating 
logistics, assisting team members and editing the document. Therefore, 
NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for Section 405b (occupant 
protection) assessment subject matter experts to be 4,176 hours ((5 SME 
x 80 hours x 9 assessments) + (1 Admin x 64 hours x 9 assessments)) and 
the total annual burden for Section 405d (impaired driving) assessment 
subject matter experts to be 1,856 hours ((5 SME x 80 hours x 4 
assessments) + (1 Admin x 64 hours x 4 assessments)).
    For traffic records assessments (Section 405c), NHTSA estimates 
that each subject matter expert will spend approximately 16 hours on an 
assessment. Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for 
traffic records subject matter experts to be 2,912 hours (13 SME x 16 
hours x 14 assessments).
    To calculate the cost associated with the assessors time, NHTSA 
uses the costs paid to the assessors. For occupant protection and 
impaired driving assessments, the State pays each subject matter expert 
$2,700, which translates to $33.75 per hour and pays each 
administrative assistant $2,100, which translates to $32.80 per hour. 
For traffic records assessments NHTSA pays each assessor $2,100 for 
their time, or $131.25 per hour. Table 2 provides a summary of the 
burden hours for subject matter expert respondents.

[[Page 13365]]



                                  Table 2--Estimated Burden Hours and Labor Costs for Subject Matter Expert Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                Number of   Burden hours
         Information collection               Number of  respondents  per      assessments       per       Hourly labor     Total labor    Total burden
                                                      assessment                per year     respondent        costs           costs           hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
405b Assessment (every 3 years).........  5 SME.............................             9            80          $33.75        $121,500           3,600
                                          1 Admin...........................  ............            64           32.80          18,893             576
405c Assessment (every 5 years).........  13 SME............................            14            16          131.25         382,200           2,912
405d Assessment (every 3 years).........  5 SME.............................             4            80           33.75          54,000           1,600
                                          1 Admin...........................  ............            64           32.80           8,397             256
                                                                             ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................  ..................................  ............  ............  ..............         584,990           8,944
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Accordingly, NHTSA estimates the total burden hours for this 
information collection request is 39,550 hours and the associated labor 
costs is estimated to be $2,167,319.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $422,500.
    Apart from the costs incurred by States for labor associated with 
the burden hours, States are expected to incur other costs in 
conjunction with the assessments. There are other costs involved 
related to conducting the event such as subject matter expert stipend, 
travel and per diem. These costs are approximately $32,500 per occupant 
protection and impaired driving assessment. For the thirteen planned 
assessments, the cost is estimated to be $422,500.
    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 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) 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 appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of 
responses.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.

    Issued on March 3, 2022.
Barbara F. Sauers,
Acting Associate Administrator for Regional Operations and Program 
Delivery.
[FR Doc. 2022-04932 Filed 3-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P


