65498 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 218 / Friday, November 12, 2004 / Notices 

any of the entities over which the 

agency exercises regulatory authority. 

Recent trends lead the agency to 

estimate that NHTSA will receive 

approximately 450 requests for 

confidential treatment in 2004 and 

subsequent years. Large manufacturers 

make the vast majority of requests for 

confidential treatment. 

Abstract: NHTSA’s Confidential 

Business Information (CBI) rule, 

coupled with case law, has governed the 

submission of requests for confidential 

treatment of information for over 20 

years. Recently, NHTSA amended the 

regulation to simplify and update it to 

reflect developments in the law and to 

address the application of the rule to the 

early warning reporting requirements. 

See 68 FR 44209 (July 28, 2003) and 69 

FR 21409 (April 21, 2004). 

Estimated Annual Burden: Using the 

above estimate of approximately 450 

requests for confidentiality per year, 

with an estimated eight hours of 

preparation to collect and provide the 

information, at an assumed rate of $25 

an hour, the annual estimated cost of 

collecting and preparing the information 

necessary for 450 complete requests for 

confidential treatment is about $90,000 

(8 hours of preparation × 450 requests 

× $25). Adding in a postage cost of 

$1732.50 (450 requests at a cost of $3.85 

for postage), we estimate that it will cost 

$91,732.50 a year for persons to prepare 

and submit the information necessary to 

satisfy the confidential business 

information provisions of 49 CFR part 

512. 

Requesters are not required to keep 

copies of any records or reports 

submitted to us. As a result, the cost 

imposed to keep records would be zero 

hours and zero costs. 

Number of Respondents: We estimate 

that there will be approximately 450 

requests per year. 

Summary of the Collection of 

Information: Any entity seeking 

confidential treatment for information 

submitted to the agency will be required 

to request confidential treatment from 

the agency and to justify that request. To 

obtain confidential treatment of 

submitted information, the submitting 

entity must comply with the 

requirements in NHTSA’s CBI 

regulation and satisfy the requirements 

for one of the exemptions provided 

under the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b).

ADDRESSES: Send comments, within 30 

days, to the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, 725 17th 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, 

Attention NHTSA Desk Officer. 

Comments Are Invited on: 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; the accuracy of 

the Department’s estimate of the burden 

of the proposed information collection; 

ways to enhance the quality, utility and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 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. 

A Comment to OMB is most effective if 

OMB receives it within 30 days of 

publication.

Issued on November 5, 2004. 

Jacqueline Glassman, 

Chief Counsel.

[FR Doc. 04–25137 Filed 11–10–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

Reports, Forms and Record Keeping 

Requirements; Agency Information 

Collection Activity Under OMB Review

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice 

announces that the Information 

Collection Request (ICR) abstracted 

below has been forwarded to the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and comment. The ICR describes 

the nature of the information collections 

and their expected burden. The Federal 

Register Notice with a 60-day comment 

period was published on August 10, 

2004 (69 FR 48562–48563).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before December 13, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Debbie Parker, NHTSA, NVS–220, 

Washington, DC 20590, phone 202–366–

1768.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

Title: 49 CFR 556, Exemption for 

Inconsequential Defect or 

Noncompliance. 

OMB Number: 2127–0045. 

Type of Request: Reinstatement, 

without change, of a previously 

approved collection which has expired. 

Abstract: The National Highway 

Traffic Safety Administration’s statute at 

49 U.S.C. 30118, Notification of defects 

and noncompliance, and 49 U.S.C. 

30120, Remedies for defects and 

noncompliance, generally requires 

manufacturers of motor vehicles and 

items of replacement equipment to 

conduct a notification and remedy 

campaign (recall) when their products 

are determined to contain a safetyrelated defect or a noncompliance with 

a Federal motor vehicle safety standard 

(FMVSS). Those sections require a 

manufacturer of motor vehicles or motor 

vehicle equipment to notify distributors, 

dealers, and purchasers if any of the 

manufacturer’s products are determined 

to either contain a safety-related defect 

or fail to comply with an applicable 

FMVSS. The manufacturer is under a 

concomitant obligation to remedy such 

defect or noncompliance. Pursuant to 49 

U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), 

Exemptions, a manufacturer may seek 

an exemption from these notification 

and remedy requirements on the basis 

that the defect or noncompliance is 

inconsequential as it relates to motor 

vehicle safety. NHTSA exercised this 

statutory authority to excuse 

inconsequential defects or 

noncompliances when it promulgated 

49 CFR Part 566, Exemption for 

Inconsequential Defect or 

Noncompliance. This regulation 

establishes the procedures for 

manufacturers to submit exemption 

petitions to the agency and the 

procedures the agency will use in 

evaluating those petitions. Part 556 

allows the agency to ensure that 

inconsequentiality petitions are both 

properly substantiated and efficiently 

processed. 

Affected Public: Businesses or other 

for-profit entities. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 200.

ADDRESSES: Send comments, within 30 

days, to the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, 725–17th 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, 

Attention NHTSA Desk Officer. 

Comments are invited on: 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; the accuracy of 

the Department’s estimate of the burden 

of the proposed information collection; 

ways to enhance the quality, utility and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 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. 

A comment to OMB is most effective if 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 218 / Friday, November 12, 2004 / Notices 65499

OMB receives it within 30 days of 

publication.

Issued on: November 8, 2004. 

Kenneth N. Weinstein, 

Associate Administrator for Enforcement.

[FR Doc. 04–25208 Filed 11–10–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2004–19529; Notice 1] 

Toyota Motor North America, Inc., 

Receipt of Petition for Decision of 

Inconsequential Noncompliance 

Toyota Motor Corporation has 

determined that the daytime running 

lamps (DRLs) on certain vehicles it 

manufactured in 1998–2005 do not 

comply with S5.5.11(a) of 49 CFR 

571.108, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 

Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, ‘‘Lamps, 

reflective devices, and associated 

equipment.’’ Toyota Motor North 

America, Inc. (Toyota), on behalf of 

Toyota Motor Corporation, has filed an 

appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR 

part 573, ‘‘Defect and Noncompliance 

Reports.’’

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 

30120(h) and on behalf of Toyota Motor 

Corporation, Toyota has petitioned for 

an exemption from the notification and 

remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. 

Chapter 301 on the basis that this 

noncompliance is inconsequential to 

motor vehicle safety. 

This notice of receipt of Toyota’s 

petition is published under 49 U.S.C. 

30118 and 30120 and does not represent 

any agency decision or other exercise of 

judgment concerning the merits of the 

petition. 

A total of approximately 75,355 

model year 1998–2005 Lexus LX470 

vehicles are affected. S5.5.11(a) of 

FMVSS No. 108 requires that

* * * each such lamp: (1) Has a luminous 

intensity not less than 500 candela at test 

point H–V, nor more than 3,000 candela at 

any location in the beam, when tested in 

accordance with Section S11 of this standard, 

unless it is: * * * (ii) An upper beam 

headlamp intended to operate as a DRL, 

whose luminous intensity at test point H–V 

is not more than 7,000 candela, and which 

is mounted not higher than 864 mm above 

the road surface as measured from the center 

of the lamp with the vehicle at curb weight.

The DRLs on the LX470s are provided 

by the upper beam headlamps operating 

at a lower intensity, with each lamp 

having a maximum luminous intensity 

of roughly 4,720 candela at the 

maximum point in the beam. However, 

the specification of the height above the 

road surface as measured from the 

center of the lamps with the vehicles at 

curb weight is 895 mm, and therefore 

the DRLs exceed the maximum 

luminous intensity specified in 

S5.5.11(a)(1)(ii) of FMVSS No. 108. 

Toyota believes that the 

noncompliance is inconsequential to 

motor vehicle safety and that no 

corrective action is warranted. Toyota 

states the following in its petition.

Toyota conducted subjective evaluations of 

the glare from the DRLs using 19 contractors 

for the subject vehicles under various 

conditions, and confirmed that glare from the 

subject vehicles is the same or better than 

vehicles that were modified to meet the 

maximum DRL luminous intensity permitted 

by the standard at the height limit of 864 

mm. Toyota evaluated the glare from the 

subject vehicles’ DRLs by observing them 

through the rearview mirror of a small 

passenger car as well as directly, as from an 

oncoming vehicle. According to Toyota’s 

evaluation, the subject vehicles received 

overall ratings above 5 (‘‘lamps are just 

acceptable’’). Accordingly, in the scale, 

higher numbers indicate less glare.

Toyota indicates in its petition that a 

rating of 1 indicates ‘‘The headlamps are 

unbearable,’’ while the highest rating of 

9 indicates ‘‘The headlamps are just 

noticeable.’’

Toyota further states,

Toyota calculated the luminous intensity 

of light from the DRLs striking the rearview 

mirror of the preceding vehicle mounted 

1,120 mm (44 inches) above the ground and 

6.1 m (20 feet) in front of the DRL. We also 

indicated the allowable range of the 

regulation. * * * The assessment mirror 

height of 44 inches and distance of 20 feet 

are the same used in NHTSA’s own 

evaluation as described in the final rule 

published in the Monday, January 11, 1993 

Federal Register (58 FR 3500). * * * [W]e can 

confirm that luminous intensity from the 

subject vehicle DRL (4,720 candela, 895 mm 

high) is below the maximum luminous 

intensity of allowable range up to 864 mm 

high.

Toyota says in its petition that the 

subject vehicles meet all requirements 

of the Canadian motor vehicle 

standards, and that it has received no 

customer complaints or reports that 

allege a crash, injury or fatality due to 

problems arising from DRL glare by 

these vehicles. 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments on the petition described 

above. Comments must refer to the 

docket and notice number cited at the 

beginning of this notice and be 

submitted by any of the following 

methods. Mail: Docket Management 

Facility, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Nassif Building, Room 

PL–401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 

Washington, DC, 20590–0001. Hand 

Delivery: Room PL–401 on the plaza 

level of the Nassif Building, 400 

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC. It 

is requested, but not required, that two 

copies of the comments be provided. 

The Docket Section is open on 

weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except 

Federal Holidays. Comments may be 

submitted electronically by logging onto 

the Docket Management System Web 

site at http://dms.dot.gov. Click on 

‘‘Help’’ to obtain instructions for filing 

the document electronically. Comments 

may be faxed to 1–202–493–2251, or 

may be submitted to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: go to http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

The petition, supporting materials, 

and all comments received before the 

close of business on the closing date 

indicated below will be filed and will be 

considered. All comments and 

supporting materials received after the 

closing date will also be filed and will 

be considered to the extent possible. 

When the petition is granted or denied, 

notice of the decision will be published 

in the Federal Register pursuant to the 

authority indicated below. 

Comment closing date: December 13, 

2004.

(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: 

delegations of authority at CFR 1.50 and 

501.8)

Issued on: November 5, 2004. 

Kenneth N. Weinstein, 

Associate Administrator for Enforcement.

[FR Doc. 04–25215 Filed 11–10–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 34600] 

Progressive Rail, Incorporated—Lease 

and Operation Exemption—Rail Lines 

of Wisconsin Central, Ltd. 

Progressive Rail, Incorporated (PGR), 

a Class III rail carrier, has filed a verified 

notice of exemption under 49 CFR 

1150.41 to lease from Wisconsin 

Central, Ltd. and operate 23.97 miles of 

rail line consisting of (1) the AlmenaCameron Branch that extends between 

milepost 80.88 at or near Almena and 

milepost 97.80 at or near Cameron, a 

distance of 16.92 miles in Barron 

County, WI, and (2) the Rice LakeCameron Branch that extends between 

milepost 49.0 at or near Cameron and 

milepost 56.05 at or near Rice Lake, a