[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]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

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

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

[[Page 37845]]

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


