[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52840-52842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18492]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0028]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Evaluation of 
the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria Program

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a new information 
collection.

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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 a new 
information collection to survey a national sample of law enforcement 
and its expected burden. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day 
comment period soliciting comments on the following information 
collection was published on March 29, 2022. NHTSA received two 
comments. As explained in this document, neither of the comments 
necessitates revisions to the information collection or burden 
estimates.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 28, 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 John Siegler, National Center for 
Statistic and Analysis (NSA-221), (202) 366-1268, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, W55-233, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, Please 
identify the relevant collection of information by referring to its OMB 
Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 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 
OMB.
    A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
public comments on the following information collection was published 
on March 29, 2022 (87 FR 18065).
    Title: Evaluation of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria 
Program.
    OMB Control Number: New.
    Form Number:
    Type of Request: New Information collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Length of Approval Requested: Three years.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: NHTSA is authorized by 49 
U.S.C. 30182 and 23 U.S.C. 403 to collect data on motor vehicle traffic 
crashes to aid in the identification of issues and the development, 
implementation, and evaluation of motor vehicle and highway safety 
countermeasures.
    The MMUCC guideline identifies a minimum set of motor vehicle crash 
data variables and their attributes that States should consider 
collecting and including in their State crash data systems. MMUCC is a 
voluntary, minimum set of standardized data variables for describing 
motor vehicle traffic crashes. MMUCC promotes data uniformity within 
the highway safety community by creating a foundation for State crash 
data systems to provide the information necessary to improve highway 
safety. The crash data is used to identify issues, determine highway 
safety messages and strategic communication campaigns, optimize the 
location of selective law enforcement, inform decision-makers of needed 
highway safety legislation, and

[[Page 52841]]

evaluate the impact of highway safety countermeasures. NHTSA developed 
MMUCC with the Governors Highway Safety Association in 1998 and have 
regularly updated the guidelines together, with the most recent fifth 
edition published in 2017.
    NHTSA is seeking approval to conduct a voluntary national survey of 
active law enforcement officers. The purpose of the survey would be to 
solicit officers' judgement about collecting the crash data variables 
described in the current fifth edition of the Model Minimum Uniform 
Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Guideline (DOT HS 812 433, July 2017) as well as 
to test officers' abilities to accurately collect both existing MMUCC 
variables and proposed new or modified variables.
    First, NHTSA will hire a contractor to contact police chiefs within 
the 397 sampling units used by NHTSA's Crash Reporting Sampling System 
(CRSS) to request the nomination of four law enforcement officers in 
their department who collect crash data to participate in the study. 
Specifically, NHTSA is requesting the police chiefs to provide 
personally identifiable information (PII) about the nominated law 
enforcement officers, including names and contact information (email, 
phone, and address) so that NHTSA can contact these officers to 
administer a survey on MMUCC data elements and arrange payment of an 
honorarium.
    Second, NHTSA will send the officers who were nominated to 
participate in this study a unique link to one of two online surveys, 
which will examine the feasibility of collecting the MMUCC crash data. 
The surveys will collect limited information about each respondent 
including the State where they work as a law enforcement officer, the 
extent of their training for collecting crash data, and the number of 
years the respondents have completed crash reports. The surveys will 
collect information about respondents' beliefs and abilities to 
accurately collect crash data according to the MMUCC guidelines. The 
surveys will ask respondents to rate the difficulty of accurately 
collecting specific MMUCC data elements, assess respondents ability to 
collect information using MMUCC data elements for fictitious crash 
scenarios, and ask for suggestions on how MMUCC data elements can be 
improved.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: States' adoption of MMUCC variables has been slow and 
inconsistent. Currently the variables collected on State's police crash 
reports alignment to MMUCC variables is less than 50 percent, NHTSA 
intends to conduct this information collection to learn why the 
alignment rate is so low. Before embarking on the sixth edition of 
MMUCC, NHTSA seeks to assess the feasibility of collecting the data 
variables in MMUCC and to identify problematic data variables and other 
factors that impede States from adopting the MMUCC variables.
    To assess the ability of law enforcement officers to accurately 
collect MMUCC crash data variables, NHTSA will conduct an electronic 
survey of a national sample of law enforcement officers who complete 
crash reports. The survey will ask respondents to review fictitious 
crash scenarios and collect the MMUCC data variables. In addition, law 
enforcement officers will be asked about their confidence to accurately 
collect MMUCC data variables and to provide suggestions for improving 
each data variable as needed. Examples of the types of crash data 
variables in MMUCC that law enforcement will be asked about include 
Direction of Travel, Sequence of Events, Type of Intersection, and 
Restraint System Use. The information collected will allow NHTSA to 
identify data variables in MMUCC that officers might interpret 
differently. The results will inform deliberations about the content of 
the next edition of MMUCC. A summary of this research will be published 
as an appendix to the next edition of MMUCC.
    60-Day Notice: NHTSA published a 60-day notice in the Federal 
Register on March 29, 2022 (87 FR 18065), requesting comments on 
NHTSA's intention to request approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for a new information collection to survey a national 
sample of law enforcement officers on their knowledge and understanding 
of MMUCC. NHTSA received two comments on the 60-day notice. One 
organization, Trucking with the Schmitt's, asked about the expense of 
the data collection and recommended data to collect for crashes 
involving commercial motor vehicles. The National Association of Mutual 
Insurance Companies (NAMIC) wrote a letter in support of NHTSA's 
proposed collection of information, stating that the information 
collection is necessary and appropriate and that it believes that the 
information collected will have significant practical utility. Neither 
of the comments necessitate a revision of the scope of the information 
collection or the estimates of the annual cost or burden hours. NHTSA 
notes that this information collection only seeks information to better 
understand why alignment to current MMUCC variables is low and how to 
improve alignment. Therefore, considering additional data variables 
regarding CMV is outside the scope of this ICR. NHTSA also notes that 
the estimated cost to the Federal government associated with this 
information collection is $441,852.74.
    Affected Public: Law enforcement.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: NHTSA will send a short letter to 
397 chief police officers to request they identify four police officers 
within their department to participate in the MMUCC survey. The total 
sample is 1,985 (397 police chiefs + 1,588 police officers).
    Frequency: NHTSA plans to conduct this data collection once to 
prepare for the sixth edition of MMUCC.
    Number of Responses: 1,985.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: To calculate the hour burden 
and labor Costs associated with submitting the Evaluation of the Model 
Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria, NHTSA looked at wage estimates for 
Front Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives and Police and 
Sheriff's Patrol Officers who complete crash forms. NHTSA estimates the 
total opportunity costs associated with these burden hours by looking 
at the average wage for (1) Front line Supervisors of Police and 
Detectives and (2) Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers. The Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that the average hourly wage for Front 
line Supervisors of Police and Detectives (BLS Occupation Code 33-1012) 
\1\ is $46.72 and Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers (BLS Occupation 
code 33-3051) is $33.66.\2\ The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 
that wages represent 62.2 percent of total compensation for State and 
local government workers, on average.\3\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the 
hourly labor costs to be $75.11($46.72/.622) for Supervisors of Police 
and Sheriff's Patrol Officers and $54.12 ($33.66/622) for Police and 
Sheriff's Patrol Officers. NHTSA estimates that it will take about 10 
minutes (0.17 of an hour) for the police chiefs to nominate four law 
enforcement officers who investigate motor vehicle crashes, resulting 
in 67.49 (0.17 x 397)

[[Page 52842]]

hours for 397 police chiefs. From pilot testing the survey instruments 
with six former law enforcement officers who work at NHTSA, the agency 
estimates that it will take the law enforcement officers one hour to 
complete the survey. Therefore, 1,588 hours for 1,588 law enforcement 
officers. NHTSA estimates the total hourly compensation cost for police 
chiefs to be $5,069.17 ($75.11 x 67.49 hours). NHTSA estimates the 
total hourly compensation cost for law enforcement officers to be 
$85,942.56 ($54.12 x 1,588 hours). Table 1 provides a summary of the 
estimated burden hours and labor costs associated with those 
respondents.
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    \1\ See May 2020 National Occupational Employment and Wage 
Estimates. National Estimates for First-Line Supervisors of Police 
and Detectives. Available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/2020/may/oes331012.htm (accessed July 1, 2021).
    \2\ See May 2020 National Occupational Employment and Wage 
Estimates. National Estimates for Police and Sheriff's Patrol 
Officers. Available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/2020/may/oes333051.htm (accessed July 1, 2021).
    \3\ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation--March 2020, 
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_06182020.pdf. 
Accessed 12/21/2021.

                                            Table 1--Burden Estimates
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                                                                Average     Labor cost     Total
                                Responses   Estimated burden     hourly        per         burden    Total labor
                                              per response     labor cost    response      hours        costs
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Police Chiefs nomination of            397  0.17 hour (10          $75.11       $12.76        67.49    $5,069.17
 law enforcement officer for                 minutes).
 study participation.
Survey of Law Enforcement            1,588  1 hour..........        54.12        54.12     1,588.00    85,942.56
 Officers.
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    Total....................        1,985  ................  ...........  ...........     1,655.49    91,011.73
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: This collection is not expected 
to result in any increase in costs to respondents other than the 
opportunity cost associated with the burden hours. Both the police 
chiefs who will nominate respondents and the law enforcement officers 
completing the survey on MMUCC possess the information needed to 
complete each survey.
    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 1351.29A.

Chou-Lin Chen,
Associate Administrator for the National Center for Statistics and 
Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2022-18492 Filed 8-26-22; 8:45 am]
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