41362 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 157 / Monday, August 17, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Chemicals, Hazardous 

waste, Hazardous substances, 

Intergovernmental relations, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Superfund, Water 

pollution control, Water supply. 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 

9601–9657; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757, 3 CFR, 

1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923; 

3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 193. 

Dated: August 3, 2009. 

George Pavlou, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 2. 

[FR Doc. E9–19509 Filed 8–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Part 544 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2009–0050] 

RIN 2127–AK46 

Insurer Reporting Requirements; List 

of Insurers Required To File Reports 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: This document proposes to 

amend Appendices A, B and C of 49 

CFR Part 544, Insurer Reporting 

Requirements. The appendices list those 

passenger motor vehicle insurers that 

are required to file reports on their 

motor vehicle theft loss experiences. An 

insurer included in any of these 

appendices would be required to file 

three copies of its report for the 2006 

calendar year before October 25, 2009. 

If the passenger motor vehicle insurers 

remain listed, they must submit reports 

by each subsequent October 25. We are 

proposing to add and remove several 

insurers from relevant appendices. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted 

not later than October 16, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by DOT Docket No. NHTSA– 

2009–0050 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://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: West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

Instructions: For detailed instructions 

on submitting comments and additional 

information on the rulemaking process, 

see the Public Participation heading of 

the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

of this document. 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, 2000 (65 FR 

19477–78) or you may visit http:// 

DocketInfo.dot.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to the street 

address listed above. The Internet access 

to the docket will be at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for accessing the dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carlita Ballard, Office of International 

Policy, Fuel Economy and Consumer 

Programs, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, by 

electronic mail to 

Carlita.Ballard@dot.gov. Ms. Ballard’s 

telephone number is (202) 366–0846. 

Her fax number is (202) 493–2990. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 33112, Insurer 

reports and information, NHTSA 

requires certain passenger motor vehicle 

insurers to file an annual report with the 

agency. Each insurer’s report includes 

information about thefts and recoveries 

of motor vehicles, the rating rules used 

by the insurer to establish premiums for 

comprehensive coverage, the actions 

taken by the insurer to reduce such 

premiums, and the actions taken by the 

insurer to reduce or deter theft. Under 

the agency’s regulation, 49 CFR Part 

544, the following insurers are subject to 

the reporting requirements: 

(1) Issuers of motor vehicle insurance 

policies whose total premiums account 

for 1 percent or more of the total 

premiums of motor vehicle insurance 

issued within the United States; 

(2) issuers of motor vehicle insurance 

policies whose premiums account for 10 

percent or more of total premiums 

written within any one state; and 

(3) rental and leasing companies with 

a fleet of 20 or more vehicles not 

covered by theft insurance policies 

issued by insurers of motor vehicles, 

other than any governmental entity. 

Pursuant to its statutory exemption 

authority, the agency exempted certain 

passenger motor vehicle insurers from 

the reporting requirements. 

A. Small Insurers of Passenger Motor 

Vehicles 

Section 33112(f)(2) provides that the 

agency shall exempt small insurers of 

passenger motor vehicles if NHTSA 

finds that such exemptions will not 

significantly affect the validity or 

usefulness of the information in the 

reports, either nationally or on a stateby-state basis. The term ‘‘small insurer’’ 

is defined, in Section 33112(f)(1)(A) and 

(B), as an insurer whose premiums for 

motor vehicle insurance issued directly 

or through an affiliate, including 

pooling arrangements established under 

state law or regulation for the issuance 

of motor vehicle insurance, account for 

less than 1 percent of the total 

premiums for all forms of motor vehicle 

insurance issued by insurers within the 

United States. However, that section 

also stipulates that if an insurance 

company satisfies this definition of a 

‘‘small insurer,’’ but accounts for 10 

percent or more of the total premiums 

for all motor vehicle insurance issued in 

a particular state, the insurer must 

report about its operations in that state. 

In the final rule establishing the 

insurer reports requirement (52 FR 59; 

January 2, 1987), 49 CFR Part 544, 

NHTSA exercised its exemption 

authority by listing in Appendix A each 

insurer that must report because it had 

at least 1 percent of the motor vehicle 

insurance premiums nationally. Listing 

the insurers subject to reporting, instead 

of each insurer exempted from reporting 

because it had less than 1 percent of the 

premiums nationally, is 

administratively simpler since the 

former group is much smaller than the 

latter. In Appendix B, NHTSA lists 

those insurers required to report for 

particular states because each insurer 

had a 10 percent or greater market share 

of motor vehicle premiums in those 

states. In the January 1987 final rule, the 

agency stated that it would update 

Appendices A and B annually. NHTSA 

updates the appendices based on data 

voluntarily provided by insurance 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 157 / Monday, August 17, 2009 / Proposed Rules 41363 

1A.M. Best Company is a well-recognized source 

of insurance company ratings and information. 49 

U.S.C. 33112(i) authorizes NHTSA to consult with 

public and private organizations as necessary. 

2Automotive Fleet Magazine and Auto Rental 

News are publications that provide information on 

the size of fleets and market share of rental and 

leasing companies. 

companies to A.M. Best.1 A.M. Best 

publishes in its State/Line Report each 

spring. The agency uses the data to 

determine the insurers’ market shares 

nationally and in each state. 

B. Self-Insured Rental and Leasing 

Companies 

In addition, upon making certain 

determinations, NHTSA grants 

exemptions to self-insurers, i.e., any 

person who has a fleet of 20 or more 

motor vehicles (other than any 

governmental entity) used for rental or 

lease whose vehicles are not covered by 

theft insurance policies issued by 

insurers of passenger motor vehicles, 49 

U.S.C. 33112(b)(1) and (f). Under 49 

U.S.C. 33112(e)(1) and (2), NHTSA may 

exempt a self-insurer from reporting, if 

the agency determines: 

(1) The cost of preparing and 

furnishing such reports is excessive in 

relation to the size of the business of the 

insurer; and 33112(e)(1) and (2), 

(2) the insurer’s report will not 

significantly contribute to carrying out 

the purposes of Chapter 331. 

In a final rule published June 22, 1990 

(55 FR 25606), the agency granted a 

class exemption to all companies that 

rent or lease fewer than 50,000 vehicles, 

because it believed that the largest 

companies’ reports sufficiently 

represent the theft experience of rental 

and leasing companies. NHTSA 

concluded that smaller rental and 

leasing companies’ reports do not 

significantly contribute to carrying out 

NHTSA’s statutory obligations and that 

exempting such companies will relieve 

an unnecessary burden on them. As a 

result of the June 1990 final rule, the 

agency added Appendix C, consisting of 

an annually updated list of the selfinsurers subject to Part 544. Following 

the same approach as in Appendix A, 

NHTSA included, in Appendix C, each 

of the self-insurers subject to reporting 

instead of the self-insurers which are 

exempted. 

NHTSA updates Appendix C based 

primarily on information from 

Automotive Fleet Magazine and Auto 

Rental News.2

C. When a Listed Insurer Must File a 

Report 

Under Part 544, as long as an insurer 

is listed, it must file reports on or before 

October 25 of each year. Thus, any 

insurer listed in the appendices must 

file a report before October 25, and by 

each succeeding October 25, absent an 

amendment removing the insurer’s 

name from the appendices. 

II. Proposal 

1. Insurers of Passenger Motor Vehicles 

Appendix A lists insurers that must 

report because each had 1 percent of the 

motor vehicle insurance premiums on a 

national basis. The list was last 

amended in a final rule published on 

August 18, 2008 (73 FR 48151). Based 

on the 2006 calendar year data market 

shares from A. M. Best, NHTSA 

proposes to remove Auto Club Southern 

California Group and add Auto Club 

Enterprise Insurance Group to 

Appendix A. 

Each of the 19 insurers listed in 

Appendix A are required to file a report 

before October 25, 2009, setting forth 

the information required by Part 544 for 

each State in which it did business in 

the 2006 calendar year. As long as these 

19 insurers remain listed, they will be 

required to submit reports by each 

subsequent October 25 for the calendar 

year ending slightly less than 3 years 

before. 

Appendix B lists insurers required to 

report for particular States for calendar 

year 2006, because each insurer had a 

10 percent or greater market share of 

motor vehicle premiums in those States. 

Based on the 2006 calendar year data for 

market shares from A.M. Best, we 

propose to remove Farm Bureau of 

Idaho from Appendix B. 

The eight remaining insurers listed in 

Appendix B are required to report on 

their calendar year 2006 activities in 

every State where they had a 10 percent 

or greater market share. These reports 

must be filed by October 25, 2009, and 

set forth the information required by 

Part 544. As long as these eight insurers 

remain listed, they would be required to 

submit reports on or before each 

subsequent October 25 for the calendar 

year ending slightly less than 3 years 

before. 

2. Rental and Leasing Companies 

Appendix C lists rental and leasing 

companies required to file reports. 

Subsequent to publishing the August 18, 

2008 final rule (see 73 FR 48151), the 

agency was informed by Emkay, Inc., 

(Emkay) that it was a motor vehicle 

leasing company offering financial, fleet 

management and consulting services 

pertaining to operating a fleet of motor 

vehicles and does not provide insurance 

policies for its customers to purchase. 

However, Emkay further stated that it 

does include as a condition of its lease 

agreement that its lessees purchase and 

maintain its own motor vehicle 

insurance coverage. Emkay also 

submitted a copy of its lease agreement 

showing that insurance was required as 

a condition of the lease. Therefore, 

NHTSA proposes to remove Emkay, Inc. 

from the list of insurers required to meet 

the reporting requirements. 

Each of the remaining six companies 

(including franchisees and licensees) 

listed in Appendix C are required to file 

reports for calendar year 2006 no later 

than October 25, 2009, and set forth the 

information required by Part 544. As 

long as those six companies remain 

listed, they would be required to submit 

reports before each subsequent October 

25 for the calendar year ending slightly 

less than 3 years before. 

III. Regulatory Impacts 

1. Costs and Other Impacts 

This notice has not been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12866. NHTSA 

has considered the impact of this 

proposed rule and determined that the 

action is not ‘‘significant’’ within the 

meaning of the Department of 

Transportation’s regulatory policies and 

procedures. This proposed rule 

implements the agency’s policy of 

ensuring that all insurance companies 

that are statutorily eligible for 

exemption from the insurer reporting 

requirements are in fact exempted from 

those requirements. Only those 

companies that are not statutorily 

eligible for an exemption are required to 

file reports. 

NHTSA does not believe that this 

proposed rule, reflecting current data, 

affects the impacts described in the final 

regulatory evaluation prepared for the 

final rule establishing Part 544 (52 FR 

59; January 2, 1987). Accordingly, a 

separate regulatory evaluation has not 

been prepared for this rulemaking 

action. Using the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics Consumer Price Index for 2008 

(see http://www.bls.gov/cpi), the cost 

estimates in the 1987 final regulatory 

evaluation were adjusted for inflation. 

The agency estimates that the cost of 

compliance is $107,650 for any insurer 

added to Appendix A, $43,060 for any 

insurer added to Appendix B, and 

$12,423 for any insurer added to 

Appendix C. If this proposed rule is 

made final, for Appendix A, the agency 

would propose to remove one company 

and add one company; for Appendix B, 

the agency would propose to remove 

one company; and for Appendix C, the 

agency would propose to remove one 

company. The agency estimates that the 

net effect of this proposal, if made final, 

would be a cost decrease of 


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41364 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 157 / Monday, August 17, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

approximately $55,483 to insurers as a 

group. 

Interested persons may wish to 

examine the 1987 final regulatory 

evaluation. Copies of that evaluation 

were placed in Docket No. T86–01; 

Notice 2. Any interested person may 

obtain a copy of this evaluation by 

writing to NHTSA, Technical Reference 

Division, 1201 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

East Building, Ground Floor, Room 

E12–100, Washington, DC 20590, or by 

calling (202) 366–2588. 

2. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The information collection 

requirements in this proposed rule were 

submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the 

requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

This collection of information is 

assigned OMB Control Number 2127– 

0547 (‘‘Insurer Reporting 

Requirements’’). 

3. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The agency also considered the effects 

of this rulemaking under the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et 

seq.). I certify that this proposed rule 

will not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The rationale for the 

certification is that none of the 

companies proposed for Appendices A, 

B, or C are construed to be a small entity 

within the definition of the RFA. ‘‘Small 

insurer’’ is defined, in part under 49 

U.S.C. 33112, as any insurer whose 

premiums for all forms of motor vehicle 

insurance account for less than 1 

percent of the total premiums for all 

forms of motor vehicle insurance issued 

by insurers within the United States, or 

any insurer whose premiums within any 

State, account for less than 10 percent 

of the total premiums for all forms of 

motor vehicle insurance issued by 

insurers within the State. This notice 

would exempt all insurers meeting 

those criteria. Any insurer too large to 

meet those criteria is not a small entity. 

In addition, in this rulemaking, the 

agency proposes to exempt all ‘‘selfinsured rental and leasing companies’’ 

that have fleets of fewer than 50,000 

vehicles. Any self-insured rental and 

leasing company too large to meet that 

criterion is not a small entity. 

4. Federalism 

This action has been analyzed 

according to the principles and criteria 

contained in Executive Order 12612, 

and it has been determined that the 

proposed rule does not have sufficient 

federalism implications to warrant the 

preparation of a Federalism Assessment. 

5. Environmental Impacts 

In accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act, NHTSA has 

considered the environmental impacts 

of this proposed rule and determined 

that it would not have a significant 

impact on the quality of the human 

environment. 

6. Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 

The Department of Transportation 

assigns a regulation identifier number 

(RIN) to each regulatory action listed in 

the Unified Agenda of Federal 

Regulations. The Regulatory Information 

Service Center publishes the Unified 

Agenda in April and October of each 

year. You may use the RIN contained in 

the heading, at the beginning, of this 

document to find this action in the 

Unified Agenda. 

7. Plain Language 

Executive Order 12866 and the 

President’s memorandum of June 1, 

1998, require each agency to write all 

rules in plain language. Application of 

the principles of plain language 

includes consideration of the following 

questions: 

• Have we organized the material to 

suit the public’s needs? 

• Are the requirements in the 

proposal clearly stated? 

• Does the proposal contain technical 

language or jargon that is not clear? 

• Would a different format (grouping 

and order of sections, use of headings, 

paragraphing) make the rule easier to 

understand? 

• Would more (but shorter) sections 

be better? 

• Could we improve clarity by adding 

tables, lists, or diagrams? 

• What else could we do to make the 

proposal easier to understand? 

If you have any responses to these 

questions, you can forward them to me 

several ways: 

a. Mail: Carlita Ballard, Office of 

International Policy, Fuel Economy and 

Consumer Programs, NHTSA, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue, SE., (West Building), 

Washington, DC 20590; 

b. E-mail: Carlita.Ballard@dot.gov; or 

c. Fax: (202) 493–2990. 

IV. Comments 

Submission of Comments 

1. How Can I Influence NHTSA’s 

Thinking on This Proposed Rule? 

In developing our rules, NHTSA tries 

to address the concerns of all our 

stakeholders. Your comments will help 

us improve this rule. We invite you to 

provide views on our proposal, new 

data, a discussion of the effects of this 

proposal on you, or other relevant 

information. We welcome your views on 

all aspects of this proposed rule. Your 

comments will be most effective if you 

follow the suggestions below: 

• Explain your views and reasoning 

clearly. 

• Provide solid technical and cost 

data to support your views. 

• If you estimate potential costs, 

explain how you derived the estimate. 

• Provide specific examples to 

illustrate your concerns. 

• Offer specific alternatives. 

• Include the name, date, and docket 

number with your comments. 

2. How Do I Prepare and Submit 

Comments? 

Your comments must be written in 

English. To ensure that your comments 

are correctly filed in the Docket, please 

include the docket number of this 

document in your comments. 

Your comments must not exceed 15 

pages long (49 CFR 553.21). We 

established this limit to encourage you 

to write your primary comments 

concisely. You may attach necessary 

documents to your comments. We have 

no limit on the attachments’ length. 

Please submit two copies of your 

comments, including the attachments, 

to Docket Management at the address 

given above under ADDRESSES. 

Comments may also be submitted to 

the docket electronically by logging onto 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site 

at http:www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

3. How Can I Be Sure That My 

Comments Were Received? 

If you wish Docket Management to 

notify you, upon its receipt of your 

comments, enclose a self-addressed, 

stamped postcard in the envelope 

containing your comments. Upon 

receiving your comments, Docket 

Management will mail the postcard. 

4. How Do I Submit Confidential 

Business Information? 

If you wish to submit any information 

under a confidentiality claim, you 

should submit three copies of your 

complete submission, including the 

information you claim as confidential 

business information, to the Chief 

Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, 

NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

West Building, Washington, DC 20590. 

In addition, you should submit two 

copies, from which you have deleted the 

claimed confidential business 

information, to Docket Management at 

the address given above under 

ADDRESSES. When you send a comment 

containing information claimed to be 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 157 / Monday, August 17, 2009 / Proposed Rules 41365 

1 Indicates a newly listed company, which must 

file a report beginning with the report due October 

25, 2009. 

confidential business information, you 

should include a cover letter addressing 

the information specified in our 

confidential business information 

regulation (49 CFR Part 512). 

5. Will the Agency Consider Late 

Comments? 

NHTSA will consider all comments 

that Docket Management receives before 

the close of business on the comment 

closing date indicated above under 

DATES. To the extent possible, we will 

also consider comments that Docket 

Management receives after that date. If 

Docket Management receives a comment 

too late for us to consider in developing 

a final rule (assuming that one is 

issued), we will consider that comment 

as an informal suggestion for future 

rulemaking action. 

6. How Can I Read the Comments 

Submitted by Other People? 

You may read the comments received 

by Docket Management at the address 

given above under ADDRESSES. The 

hours of the Docket are indicated above, 

in the same location. You may also see 

the comments on the Internet. To read 

the comments on the Internet, log onto 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

V. Conclusion 

Based on the foregoing, we are 

proposing to amend Appendices A and 

C of 49 CFR Part 544, Insurer Reporting 

Requirements. We are also amending 

§ 544.5 to revise the example given the 

recent update to the reporting 

requirements. 

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 544 

Crime insurance, Insurance, Insurance 

companies, Motor vehicles, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements. 

In consideration of the foregoing, 49 

CFR Part 544 is proposed to be amended 

as follows: 

PART 544—[AMENDED] 

1. The authority citation for part 544 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 33112; delegation of 

authority at 49 CFR 1.50. 

2. Paragraph (a) of § 544.5 is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 544.5 General requirements for reports. 

(a) Each insurer to which this part 

applies shall submit a report annually 

before October 25, beginning on October 

25, 1986. This report shall contain the 

information required by § 544.6 of this 

part for the calendar year 3 years 

previous to the year in which the report 

is filed (e.g., the report due by October 

25, 2009 will contain the required 

information for the 2006 calendar year). 

* * * * * 

3. Appendix A to Part 544 is revised 

to read as follows: 

Appendix A—Insurers of Motor Vehicle 

Insurance Policies Subject to the 

Reporting Requirements in Each State 

in Which They Do Business 

Allstate Insurance Group 

American Family Insurance Group 

American International Group 

Auto Club Enterprise Insurance Group 1

Auto-Owners Insurance Group 

Erie Insurance Group 

Berkshire Hathaway/GEICO Corporation 

Group 

California State Auto Group 

Hartford Insurance Group 

Liberty Mutual Insurance Companies 

Metropolitan Life Auto & Home Group 

Mercury General Group 

Nationwide Group 

Progressive Group 

Safeco Insurance Companies 

State Farm Group 

Travelers Companies 

USAA Group 

Farmers Insurance Group 

4. Appendix B to Part 544 is revised 

to read as follows: 

Appendix B—Issuers of Motor Vehicle 

Insurance Policies Subject to the 

Reporting Requirements Only in 

Designated States 

Alfa Insurance Group (Alabama) 

Auto Club (Michigan) 

Commerce Group, Inc. (Massachusetts) 

Kentucky Farm Bureau Group (Kentucky) 

New Jersey Manufacturers Group (New 

Jersey) 

Safety Group (Massachusetts) 

Southern Farm Bureau Group (Arkansas, 

Mississippi) 

Tennessee Farmers Companies (Tennessee) 

5. Appendix C to Part 544 is revised 

to read as follows: 

Appendix C—Motor Vehicle Rental and 

Leasing Companies (Including 

Licensees and Franchisees) Subject to 

the Reporting Requirements of Part 544 

Cendant Car Rental 

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group 

Enterprise Rent-A-Car 

Hertz Rent-A-Car Division (subsidiary of The 

Hertz Corporation) 

U-Haul International, Inc. (Subsidiary of 

AMERCO) 

Vanguard Car Rental USA 

Issued on: August 11, 2009. 

Julie Abraham, 

Director, Office of International Policy, Fuel 

Economy and Consumer Programs. 

[FR Doc. E9–19587 Filed 8–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 


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