80682 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 222 / Monday, November 20, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Dated: November 14, 2023. 

Jeaneanne Gettle, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25512 Filed 11–17–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 60 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2023–0072; FRL–8536–04– 

OAR] 

RIN 2060–AV09 

New Source Performance Standards 

for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

New, Modified, and Reconstructed 

Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating 

Units; Emission Guidelines for 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric 

Generating Units; and Repeal of the 

Affordable Clean Energy Rule 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) 

ACTION: Supplemental notice of 

proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is announcing the 

availability of and soliciting comment 

on an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (IRFA) following the 

completion of a Small Business 

Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel for the 

proposed New Source Performance 

Standards for Greenhouse Gas 

Emissions from New, Modified, and 

Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric 

Generating Units. The EPA is seeking 

public comment on the regulatory 

flexibilities considered in the IRFA. In 

addition, the EPA is soliciting comment 

on whether to include mechanisms to 

address potential reliability issues 

raised by small business and other 

commenters with respect to both 

proposed New Source Performance 

Standards and the proposed Emission 

Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas 

Emissions from Existing Fossil FuelFired Electric Generating Units. 

DATES: Comments. Comments must be 

received on or before December 20, 

2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2023–0072, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov (our 

preferred method). Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov. 

Include Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR– 

2023–0072 in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Fax: (202) 566–9744. Attention 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2023– 

0072. 

• Mail: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2023– 

0072, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20460. 

• Hand/Courier Delivery: EPA Docket 

Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 

1301 Constitution Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20004. The Docket 

Center’s hours of operation are 8:30 

a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday–Friday (except 

Federal holidays). 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the Docket ID No. for this 

rulemaking. Comments received may be 

posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. For 

detailed instructions on sending 

comments and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions about this proposed action, 

contact Mr. Christian Fellner, Sector 

Policies and Programs Division (D243– 

02), Office of Air Quality Planning and 

Standards, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Research Triangle 

Park, North Carolina 27711; telephone 

number: (919) 541–4003; and email 

address: fellner.christian@epa.gov or 

Ms. Lisa Thompson, Sector Policies and 

Programs Division (D243–02), Office of 

Air Quality Planning and Standards, 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 

27711; telephone number: (919) 541– 

9775; and email address: 

thompson.lisa@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Docket. The EPA has established a 

docket for this rulemaking under Docket 

ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2023–0072. All 

documents in the docket are listed in 

the Regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, e.g., Confidential 

Business Information (CBI) or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

is not placed on the internet and will be 

publicly available only in hard copy. 

Written Comments. Direct your 

comments to Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2023–0072 at https://

www.regulations.gov (our preferred 

method), or the other methods 

identified in the ADDRESSES section. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or removed from the docket. The 

EPA may publish any comment received 

to its public docket. Do not submit to 

the EPA’s docket at https://

www.regulations.gov any information 

you consider to be Confidential 

Business Information (CBI) or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. This type of 

information should be submitted as 

discussed in the Submitting CBI section 

of this document. 

Multimedia submissions (audio, 

video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 

written comment. The written comment 

is considered the official comment and 

should include discussion of all points 

you wish to make. The EPA will 

generally not consider comments or 

comment contents located outside of the 

primary submission (i.e., on the Web, 

cloud, or other file sharing system). 

Please visit https://www.epa.gov/ 

dockets/commenting-epa-dockets for 

additional submission methods; the full 

EPA public comment policy; 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions; and general guidance on 

making effective comments. 

The https://www.regulations.gov 

website allows you to submit your 

comment anonymously, which means 

the EPA will not know your identity or 

contact information unless you provide 

it in the body of your comment. If you 

send an email comment directly to the 

EPA without going through https://

www.regulations.gov, your email 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, the EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

digital storage media you submit. If the 

EPA cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, the EPA may not 

be able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should not include 

special characters or any form of 

encryption and should be free of any 

defects or viruses. 

Submitting CBI. Do not submit 

information containing CBI to the EPA 

through https://www.regulations.gov. 

Clearly mark the part or all of the 

information that you claim to be CBI. 

For CBI information on any digital 

storage media that you mail to the EPA, 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 222 / Monday, November 20, 2023 / Proposed Rules 80683 

1See 88 FR 33240 (May 23, 2023). 2See 88 FR 33418 (May 23, 2023). 

note the docket ID, mark the outside of 

the digital storage media as CBI, and 

identify electronically within the digital 

storage media the specific information 

that is claimed as CBI. In addition to 

one complete version of the comments 

that includes information claimed as 

CBI, you must submit a copy of the 

comments that does not contain the 

information claimed as CBI directly to 

the public docket through the 

procedures outlined in Written 

Comments section of this document. If 

you submit any digital storage media 

that does not contain CBI, mark the 

outside of the digital storage media 

clearly that it does not contain CBI and 

note the docket ID. Information not 

marked as CBI will be included in the 

public docket and the EPA’s electronic 

public docket without prior notice. 

Information marked as CBI will not be 

disclosed except in accordance with 

procedures set forth in 40 Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR) part 2. 

Our preferred method to receive CBI 

is for it to be transmitted electronically 

using email attachments, File Transfer 

Protocol (FTP), or other online file 

sharing services (e.g., Dropbox, 

OneDrive, Google Drive). Electronic 

submissions must be transmitted 

directly to the OAQPS CBI Office at the 

email address oaqpscbi@epa.gov and, as 

described above, should include clear 

CBI markings and note the docket ID. If 

assistance is needed with submitting 

large electronic files that exceed the file 

size limit for email attachments, and if 

you do not have your own file sharing 

service, please email oaqpscbi@epa.gov 

to request a file transfer link. If sending 

CBI information through the postal 

service, please send it to the following 

address: OAQPS Document Control 

Officer (C404–02), OAQPS, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 

27711, Attention Docket ID No. EPA– 

HQ–OAR–2023–0072. The mailed CBI 

material should be double wrapped and 

clearly marked. Any CBI markings 

should not show through the outer 

envelope. 

I. Background 

On May 23, 2023, the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) proposed 

revised new source performance 

standards (NSPS) under Clean Air Act 

(CAA) section 111(b) for greenhouse gas 

(GHG) emissions from new and 

reconstructed fossil fuel-fired stationary 

combustion turbine electric generating 

units (EGUs) and from fossil fuel-fired 

steam generating units that undertake a 

large modification.1 As part of that 

proposal, the EPA certified that the 

proposed NSPS did not have significant 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities under the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (RFA).2 However, the EPA solicited 

comment on a number of more stringent 

policy options that, if finalized, may 

increase the impact on small businesses. 

Therefore, the EPA convened a Small 

Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) 

Panel for the proposed rule and has 

prepared an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) under the 

RFA, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., and evaluated 

the economic impact of the proposed 

NSPS on small entities, as well as any 

significant alternatives to the proposed 

rule that may minimize economic 

impacts on small entities while 

accomplishing the Agency’s objectives. 

The complete IRFA is available for 

review in the rulemaking docket (EPA– 

HQ–OAR–2023–0072). 

As required by section 604 of the 

RFA, the EPA will prepare a final 

regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) for 

this action as part of the final rule. The 

FRFA will address the issues raised by 

public comments on the IRFA. 

II. Request for Public Comments 

The EPA welcomes public comment 

on all aspects of the IRFA as well as 

alternatives identified in the IRFA for 

public comment. The EPA is soliciting 

comment on the small entity impacts of 

the proposed NSPS and any regulatory 

alternatives to the proposed NSPS 

‘‘which accomplish the stated objectives 

of the applicable statutes, and which 

minimize any significant impact of the 

proposed rule on small entities.’’ The 

EPA is also soliciting comment on the 

impacts of the regulatory alternatives 

described in the proposed NSPS notice 

and, if they were to be adopted, 

appropriate regulatory flexibilities. The 

EPA solicited comment on multiple 

alternatives that could increase the costs 

to small entities and the EPA 

determination that the proposed 

amendments would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. For 

the low load subcategory, these 

solicitations included reducing the low 

load electric sales threshold to 15 

percent (88 FR 33321), a second BSER 

component based on co-firing low-GHG 

hydrogen (88 FR 33286), and a BSER 

based on the use of high efficiency 

simple cycle combustion turbines that 

would include an initial performance 

test (88 FR 33285). For the intermediate 

load subcategory, the Agency solicitated 

comment on an earlier timing of the 

second component of the BSER and 

reducing the upper intermediate load 

electric sales threshold to a range of 29 

to 35 percent for simple cycle turbines 

and to a range of 40 to 49 percent for 

combined cycle, depending on the 

design efficiency of the combustion 

turbine (88 FR 33319). The EPA also 

solicited comment on a BSER based on 

higher percentages of low-GHG 

hydrogen co-firing and subcategorizing 

intermediate load simple cycle and 

combined cycle turbines and 

establishing a BSER based on co-firing 

low-GHG hydrogen for both 

subcategories (88 FR 33332). This could 

have the impact of reducing the ability 

of owners/operators of new intermediate 

load combustion turbines to use 

efficient generation as a compliance 

alternative because combined cycle 

turbines could not be used as a 

compliance alternative to co-firing lowGHG hydrogen in a simple cycle 

combustion turbine. (The EPA notes 

that the scope of the IRFA is limited to 

the NSPS and does not include the 

proposed Emission Guidelines, so this 

request for comments does not include 

impacts on small existing sources.) In 

addition, the EPA is soliciting comment 

on measures to mitigate reliability 

concerns raised by small businesses, 

which were similar to concerns raised 

by some commenters on the proposed 

rules. Because mechanisms to address 

reliability concerns are relevant to many 

entities in the electricity sector, we are 

more broadly soliciting comment on 

reliability issues. The EPA requests that 

commenters identify which small entity 

they are representing, how the specific 

requirements could impact the small 

entity, and how the suggested approach 

would reduce burden to the small 

entity. 

A. Subcategorization 

During the SBAR Panel outreach, 

small entity representatives (SERs) 

expressed concerns that control 

requirements on rural electric 

cooperatives may present an additional 

hardship on economically 

disadvantaged communities and on 

small entities. SERs stated that the EPA 

should further evaluate potential 

increased energy costs, transmission 

upgrade costs, and infrastructure 

encroachment which may directly affect 

the disproportionately impacted 

communities. Additionally, SERs stated 

that neither hydrogen co-firing nor 

carbon capture and storage (CCS) can be 

BSER because neither technology is 

commercially available or viable in very 

rural areas. The EPA is soliciting 

comment on potential exclusions or 

subcategories that may address the 

concerns of small entities. Such 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
80684 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 222 / Monday, November 20, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

3See Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2023–0072– 

0007. 

exclusions or subcategories, if available, 

must be based on the class, type, or size 

of the sources and be consistent with 

the Clean Air Act. Additionally, 

consistent with the SBAR panel report, 

the EPA solicits comment on whether 

‘‘rural electric cooperatives and small 

utility distribution systems (serving 

50,000 customers or less) can expect to 

have access to hydrogen or CCS 

infrastructure, and if a subcategory for 

these units is appropriate.’’ 

B. Reliability Mechanisms 

During the SBAR Panel outreach, 

SERs raised concerns regarding 

potential reliability impacts of the 

proposed rules, and many of those 

concerns were similarly raised by 

commenters on the May 2023 proposal. 

Commenters requested additional 

pathways to enable EGUs to operate 

notwithstanding compliance schedules, 

based on a showing of reliability need 

by the relevant balancing authority, 

Regional Transmission Organizations 

(RTO), or Independent System Operator 

(ISO). Commenters also suggested the 

EPA provide flexibilities for situations 

outside the control of affected sources 

(e.g., delay in the issuance of a relevant 

permit needed to meet the standards of 

performance, infrastructure delays, or 

supply chain disruptions) that could 

lead to adverse impacts on grid 

reliability. The EPA recognizes that it is 

difficult to separate SERs’ reliability 

comments from broader considerations 

of reliability in the context of this 

rulemaking. Therefore, the EPA will 

consider all comments we receive on 

this issue whether or not they are small 

business focused. The EPA is soliciting 

detailed comment on whether the 

Agency should include a specific 

mechanism or mechanisms to address 

grid reliability needs that may arise 

during implementation of its final rules, 

specifically: 

• Tools and mechanisms already 

available to balancing authorities, RTOs, 

ISOs, and other reliability authorities to 

address reliability challenges; 

• Circumstances and conditions that 

should be accounted for in a mechanism 

or mechanisms to address reliability 

concerns, including (i) concerns driven 

by events, such as extreme weather, 

unexpected generator outages, and 

unanticipated transmission line 

disruption; and (ii) concerns driven by 

supply chain or construction delays or 

disruptions for new generation, 

transmission lines, or other 

infrastructure as well as delays in 

permit issuance for controls required to 

meet the standards of performance; 

• The technical form and structure of 

such a mechanism or mechanisms, such 

as an extension of the compliance date 

or a temporary, alternative standard of 

performance, and supporting details 

describing whether such a mechanism 

or mechanisms should be automated to 

enable extensions; 

• Detailed descriptions of other 

reliability mechanisms or ways to 

address commenters’ reliability 

concerns, including phase-in 

considerations for small entities; 

• What information would be ample 

and appropriate, but not overly 

burdensome, to substantiate the need for 

and use of such a mechanism or 

mechanisms, including any appropriate 

documentation from balancing 

authorities, RTOs, or ISOs (the EPA 

specifically solicits comment on 

approaches that would minimize 

potential documentation burden); and 

• Lessons learned from the 

architecture of any previously proposed 

or finalized reliability mechanisms and 

the use of the mechanism in practice. 

III. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 14094: Modernizing Regulatory 

Review 

This action is a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ as defined in Executive Order 

12866, as amended by Executive Order 

14094. Accordingly, EPA submitted this 

action to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for Executive Order 

12866 review. Documentation of any 

changes made in response to the 

Executive Order 12866 review is 

available in the docket. 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

This action does not impose any new 

information collection burden under the 

PRA. For 40 CFR part 60, subpart TTTT, 

OMB has previously approved the 

information collection activities 

contained in the existing regulations 

and has assigned OMB control number 

2060–0685. For 40 CFR part 60, subpart 

TTTTa, the Information Collection 

Request (ICR) document that the EPA 

prepared has been assigned EPA ICR 

number 2771.01. For 40 CFR part 60, 

subpart UUUUb, the ICR document that 

the EPA prepared has been assigned 

EPA ICR number 2770.01. 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

Pursuant to section 603 of the RFA, 

the EPA prepared an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) that 

examines the impact of the proposed 

rule on small entities along with 

regulatory alternatives that could 

minimize that impact. The complete 

IRFA is available for review in the 

docket and is summarized here. 

The IRFA describes the reason why 

the proposed rule is being considered 

and describes the objectives and legal 

basis of the proposed rule, as well as 

discusses related rules affecting the 

power sector. The IRFA describes the 

EPA’s examination of small entity 

effects prior to proposing a regulatory 

option and provides information about 

steps taken to minimize significant 

impacts on small entities while 

achieving the objectives of the rule. 

The EPA also summarized the 

potential regulatory cost impacts of the 

proposed rule and alternatives in 

Section 5.3 of the RIA.3 The analysis in 

the IRFA drew upon some of the same 

analyses and assumptions as the 

analyses presented in the RIA. 

We estimated cost-to-sales ratios 

(CSR) for each small entity to 

summarize the impacts of the proposed 

new source rule on small entities that 

build new natural gas combined cycle 

(NGCC) and natural gas combustion 

turbines (NGCT) units over the forecast 

period. For NGCT additions, we find 

that average compliance costs are 

expected to be negative. For NGCC 

additions, 8 small entities are 

potentially affected based on historical 

build patterns and projected economic 

additions. Of these 8 small entities, 

none are projected to have cost-to-sales 

ratios greater than 1 percent. The 

analysis above is subject to a number of 

caveats and limitations. These are 

discussed in detail in Section 5 of the 

IRFA. 

As required by section 609(b) of the 

RFA, the EPA also convened an SBAR 

Panel to obtain advice and 

recommendations from small entity 

representatives that potentially would 

be subject to the rule’s requirements. 

The SBAR Panel evaluated the 

assembled materials and small-entity 

comments on issues related to elements 

of an IRFA. A copy of the full SBAR 

Panel Report is available in the 

rulemaking docket (EPA–HQ–OAR– 

2023–0072). 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 (UMRA) 

This action does not contain any 

unfunded mandate as described in 

UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531–1538, and does 

not significantly or uniquely affect small 

governments. The action imposes no 

enforceable duty on any State, local or 

Tribal governments or the private sector. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 222 / Monday, November 20, 2023 / Proposed Rules 80685 

1 82 FR 3854. 

2 DSRC is a short-range wireless technology that 

would provide local, nearly instantaneous message 

transmission with good reliability, critical 

characteristics for detecting potential and imminent 

crash scenarios. 

3 Detailed in a Public Notice from the FCC: 

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/ 

FCC-16-68A1_Rcd.pdf. 

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

This action does not have federalism 

implications. It will not have substantial 

direct effects on the States, on the 

relationship between the national 

government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. 

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

This action does not have Tribal 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13175. Thus, Executive Order 

13175 does not apply to this action. 

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 

as applying only to those regulatory 

actions that concern environmental 

health or safety risks that EPA has 

reason to believe may 

disproportionately affect children, per 

the definition of ‘‘covered regulatory 

action’’ in section 2–202 of the 

Executive Order. 

Therefore, this action is not subject to 

Executive Order 13045 because it does 

not concern an environmental health 

risk or safety risk. Since this action does 

not concern human health, EPA’s Policy 

on Children’s Health also does not 

apply. 

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This action is not a ‘‘significant 

energy action’’ because it is not likely to 

have a significant adverse effect on the 

supply, distribution or use of energy 

because this action only solicits 

comments on regulatory alternatives for 

small businesses. 

I. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTAA) and 1 CFR 

Part 51 

This rulemaking does not involve 

technical standards. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations and Executive 

Order 14096: Revitalizing Our Nation’s 

Commitment to Environmental Justice 

for All 

The EPA believes that this type of 

action does not concern human health 

or environmental conditions and 

therefore cannot be evaluated with 

respect to potentially disproportionate 

and adverse effects on communities 

with environmental justice concerns 

because this action only solicits 

comments on regulatory alternatives for 

small businesses. 

Michael S. Regan, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25580 Filed 11–17–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Part 571 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2016–0126] 

RIN 2127–AL55 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 

Standards; V2V Communications 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S. 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Withdrawal of proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration withdraws a 

previous proposal to create a new 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 

requiring vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) 

communications in new light vehicles. 

After the advent of new V2V 

communications protocol, and after a 

recent Federal Communications 

Commission (FCC) decision regarding 

the regulations governing the 5.850– 

5.895 gigahertz (5.9 GHz) band, the 

agency has decided to withdraw its V2V 

proposed rule. 

DATES: NHTSA is withdrawing the 

proposed rule published January 12, 

2017 (82 FR 3854) as of November 20, 

2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joshua Fikentscher, Office of Crash 

Avoidance Standards, by telephone at 

202–366–1688, by email 

joshua.fikentscher@dot.gov and by fax 

at 202–493–2990. Rebecca Schade, 

Office of the Chief Counsel, by 

telephone at 202–366–2992, and by 

email at rebecca.schade@dot.gov. 

Mailing address: National Highway 

Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 

20590. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background on V2V Technology 

Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology 

consists of systems that enable vehicles 

to broadcast Basic Safety Messages 

(BSMs) about their speed, heading, 

brake status, and other vehicle 

information using the radiofrequency 

spectrum, and to receive the same 

information from surrounding vehicles 

also equipped with the technology. 

When received in a timely manner, this 

information could help vehicle systems 

identify potential crash situations with 

other vehicles and provide warning 

messages to their drivers. V2V 

technology is distinct from ‘‘vehicleresident’’ technologies (e.g., camera and 

sensor-based systems) and would 

operate separately from, or 

complementarily to, advanced driver 

assistance systems. V2V employs signals 

which can be received around corners 

or other physical obstructions and in 

suboptimal weather and light 

conditions, without line-of-sight 

limitations that vehicle-resident 

technologies can face. 

Summary of the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking 

On January 12, 2017, the agency 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) to create a new 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 

(FMVSS) for V2V communications, 

which NHTSA proposed to designate as 

FMVSS No. 150.1 The NPRM proposed 

to mandate V2V communication 

technology in all new light vehicles 

based on DSRC radiofrequency 

transmissions,2 and also proposed a 

pathway for vehicles to comply using 

non-DSRC technology if certain 

performance and interoperability 

standards were met. The NPRM further 

proposed technical requirements for the 

content, security, and handling of V2V 

messages as well as system 

requirements more broadly. While the 

NPRM proposed to allow compliance 

using non-DSRC technologies, all of the 

technical requirements (and 

expectations about the effectiveness of 

V2V communications at helping 

vehicles to prevent crashes) were based 

on DSRC, and the proposal would have 

required non-DSRC technologies to be 

interoperable with DSRC. 

The NPRM also discussed the 

possibility that the 5.9 gigahertz (GHz) 

band of radiofrequency spectrum in 

which DSRC has operated might be 

modified and/or opened to unlicensed 

devices, such as cordless telephones 

and outdoor broadband transceivers.3

NHTSA sought comment on what that 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1