[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 20, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43378-43380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15470]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. DOT-NHTSA-2022-0011]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for 
Comment; Record Retention

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on an extension of a currently 
approved information collection

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
invites public comments about our intention to request approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of a 
currently approved information collection. Before a Federal agency can 
collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval 
from (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit 
public comment on proposed collections of information, including 
extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections. This 
document describes a collection of information for which NHTSA intends 
to seek OMB approval. The information collection is for mandatory 
record retention requirements.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by September 19, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket No. DOT-
NHTSA-2022-0011 through any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Go to the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket Management Facility, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except on Federal holidays. To be sure someone is there 
to help you please (202) 366-9322 before coming.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this notice. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.) You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2020 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit https://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets via internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact Paul Simmons, Office of Defect 
Investigation (NEF-110), (202) 366-2315, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, email [email protected].

[[Page 43379]]

Please identify the relevant collection of information by referring to 
its OMB Control Number 2127-0042.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before an agency submits a proposed 
collection of information to OMB for approval, it must first publish a 
document in the Federal Register providing a 60-day comment period and 
otherwise consult with members of the public and affected agencies 
concerning each proposed collection of information. The OMB has 
promulgated regulations describing what must be included in such a 
document. Under OMB's regulation (at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an agency must 
ask for public comment on the following: (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) how to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (d) how to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic 
submission of responses. In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA 
asks for public comments on the following proposed collection of 
information for which the agency is seeking approval from OMB.
    Title: Record Retention--49 CFR part 576.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0042.
    Form Number(s): N/A.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Summary of the Collection of Information
    Under 49 U.S.C. Section 30166(e), NHTSA ``reasonably may require a 
manufacturer of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment to keep 
records, and a manufacturer, distributor or dealer to make reports, to 
enable [NHTSA] to decide whether the manufacturer, distributor, or 
dealer has complied or is complying with this chapter or a regulation 
prescribed under this chapter.''
    To ensure that NHTSA will have access to this type of information, 
the agency exercised the authority granted in 49 U.S.C. Section 
30166(e) and promulgated 49 CFR part 576 Record Retention, initially 
published on August 20, 1974 and most recently amended on July 10, 2002 
(67 FR 45873), requiring manufacturers 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. 
Manufacturers are also required to retain for five years the underlying 
records related to early warning reporting (EWR) information submitted 
under 49 CFR part 579. The information collections support NHTSA's 
mission by increasing the effectiveness of NHTSA's investigations into 
potential safety related defects.

Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information

    The records that are required to be retained per 49 CFR part 576 
are used to promptly identify potential safety-related 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 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's Auto Safety Hotline. The complaints filed with the 
manufacturer give the agency a fair indication of how widespread the 
potential problem may be.
    If the manufacturer did not retain its records, NHTSA would be 
unable to enforce the statutory requirements that the manufacturer 
notify the agency and other persons of a safety-related defect when the 
manufacturer ``learns'' of the defect, and notify the agency and other 
persons of a noncompliance when it ``decides in good faith'' that the 
noncompliance exists. Without access to the manufacturer's records, it 
would be impossible for anyone other than the manufacturer to show when 
or if that manufacturer had obtained knowledge of a potential defect or 
had determined in good faith that the noncompliance did or did not 
exist. Without access to manufacturers' records, NHTSA's examinations 
of potential defects and non-compliances would be seriously 
handicapped. NHTSA could conduct surveys of vehicle owners or use other 
means to learn of problems with vehicles and equipment, but any of 
these other methods would require significantly more information 
collections by the agency and necessitate a larger staff of the 
agency's Office of Defect Investigations.
    Affected Public: Manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle 
equipment.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,030.
    NHTSA estimates that approximately 1,030 manufacturers of vehicles 
and equipment (including tires, child restraint systems and trailers) 
are required to maintain records under Part 576.
    Frequency: As needed.
    Number of Responses: 1,030.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 40,225.
    NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for each vehicle, tire, and 
child restraint manufacturer to be 40 hours for a subtotal of 40,200 
hours (1,005 respondents x 40 hours). In addition, there are 
approximately 23,660 equipment manufacturers (excluding tires, child 
seat restraint systems and trailer manufacturers) whose record 
retention requirements under Part 576 are limited to the documents 
underlying their Part 579 reporting requirements. Their Part 579 
requirements include only the reporting of incidents involving deaths. 
Therefore, based on the number of death reports submitted to date by 
these equipment manufacturers, we estimate that an additional 25 
equipment manufacturers have record retention requirements imposed by 
Part 576. We estimate that it will take one hour each to maintain the 
necessary records each year for a subtotal burden of 25 hours (25 
respondents x one hour). Accordingly, NHTSA estimates that the total 
annual burden hours is 40,225 hours ((1,005 respondents x 40 hours) + 
(25 respondents x 1 hour)).
    To calculate the labor cost associated with maintaining, NHTSA 
looked at wage estimates for the type of personnel involved with 
compiling and submitting the documents. NHTSA estimates the total labor 
costs associated with these burden hours by looking at the average wage 
for clerical workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates 
that the

[[Page 43380]]

average hourly wage for office clerks (BLS Occupation code 43-9061) in 
the Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry is $20.98.\1\ The Bureau of 
Labor Statistics estimates that private industry workers' wages 
represent 70.2% of total labor compensation costs.\2\ Therefore, NHTSA 
estimates the hourly labor costs to be $29.89 and NHTSA estimates the 
total labor cost associated with the 40,225 burden hours to be 
$1,202,325.25. Table 1 provides a summary of the estimated burden hours 
and labor costs associated with those submissions.
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    \1\ May 2020 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment 
and Wage Estimates, NAICS 336100--Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, 
available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/2020/may/naics4_336100.htm#43-0000 (accessed March 25, 2022).
    \2\ See Table 1. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by 
ownership (Mar. 2020), available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_06182020.pdf (accessed March 25, 2022).

                                            Table 1--Burden Estimates
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                                                      Average
    Annual  responses       Estimated burden per   hourly labor   Labor cost per   Total burden     Total labor
                                  response             cost          response          hours           costs
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1,030....................  39.05 hours..........          $29.89       $1,167.31          40,225   $1,202,325.25
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $0.
    NHTSA estimates that there are no costs resulting from this 
collection of information other than labor costs associated with the 
burden hours.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspects of 
this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Department, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate 
of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.

Stephen Ridella,
Director, Office of Defect Investigation.
[FR Doc. 2022-15470 Filed 7-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P


