24764 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 25, 2012 / Notices 

NHTSA has granted similar petitions 

for noncompliance with seat belt 

assembly installation and usage 

instruction standards. Refer to Hyundai 

Motor Company (74 FR 9125, March 2, 

209); Ford Motor Company (73 FR 

11462, March 3, 2008); Mazda North 

America Operations (73 FR 11464, 

March 3, 2008); Ford Motor Company 

(73 FR 63051, October 22, 2008); Subaru 

of America, Inc. (65 FR 67471, 

November 9, 2000); Bombardier Motor 

Corporation of America, Inc. (65 FR 

60238, October 10, 2000); TRW, Inc. (58 

FR 7171, February 4, 1993); and 

Chrysler Corporation, (57 FR 45865, 

October 5, 1992). In all of these cases, 

the petitioners demonstrated that the 

noncompliant seat belt assemblies were 

properly installed, and due to their 

respective replacement parts ordering 

systems, improper replacement seat belt 

assembly selection and installation 

would not be likely to occur. Decision: 

In consideration of the foregoing, 

NHTSA has decided that Mitsubishi has 

met its burden of persuasion that the 

FMVSS No. 209 noncompliance in the 

replacement seat belts identified in 

Mitsubishi’s Noncompliance 

Information Report is inconsequential to 

motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, 

Mitsubishi’s petition is granted and the 

petitioner is exempted from the 

obligation of providing notification of, 

and a remedy for, that noncompliance 

under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120. 

NHTSA notes that the statutory 

provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 

30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to 

file petitions for a determination of 

inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to 

exempt manufacturers only from the 

duties found in sections 30118 and 

30120, respectively, to notify owners, 

purchasers, and dealers of a defect or 

noncompliance and to remedy the 

defect or noncompliance. Therefore, this 

decision only applies to the replacement 

seat belt assemblies that Mitsubishi no 

longer controlled at the time that it 

determined that a noncompliance 

existed in the subject vehicles. 

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

delegations of authority at CFR 1.50 and 

501.8). 

Issued on: April 18, 2012. 

Claude H. Harris, 

Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9946 Filed 4–24–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2010–0053] 

Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver 

Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle 

Electronic Devices 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Proposed Federal guidelines; 

extension of comment period. 

SUMMARY: On February 24, 2012, 

NHTSA published proposed voluntary 

NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines 

for in-vehicle electronic devices. The 

agency provided a 60-day comment 

period. We received a petition from the 

Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers 

requesting an extension of the comment 

period. The petitioner argued that 

additional time was needed to review 

information that was not placed in the 

docket when the proposed NHTSA 

Guidelines were published. After 

considering the petition, we are 

extending the comment period by 

24 days, from April 24, 2012, to 

May 18, 2012. 

DATES: The comment period for the 

proposed NHTSA Guidelines published 

February 24, 2012, at 77 FR 11200, is 

extended. You should submit your 

comments early enough to ensure that 

the docket receives them not later than 

May 18, 2012. 

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 

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: 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: For detailed instructions 

on submitting comments, 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. 

Confidential Business Information: If 

you wish to submit any information 

under a claim of confidentiality, you 

should submit three copies of your 

complete submission, including the 

information you claim to be confidential 

business information, to the Chief 

Counsel, National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., West Building 4th Floor, 

Room W41–318, 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. When you send 

a comment containing information 

claimed to be confidential business 

information, you should include a cover 

letter setting forth the information 

specified in our confidential business 

information regulation (49 CFR Part 

512). 

Docket: For access to the Docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov or the street 

address listed above. Follow the online 

instructions for accessing the Docket. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical issues, you may contact Dr. W. 

Riley Garrott, Vehicle Research and Test 

Center, telephone: (937) 666–3312, 

facsimile: (937) 666–3590. You may 

send mail to this person at: The 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration, Vehicle Research and 

Test Center, P.O. Box B–37, East Liberty, 

OH 43319. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

February 24, 2012, NHTSA published in 

the Federal Register a notice proposing 

voluntary NHTSA Driver Distraction 

Guidelines for in-vehicle electronic 

devices (77 FR 11200). The proposed 

NHTSA Guidelines are meant to 

promote safety by discouraging the 

introduction of excessively distracting 

devices in vehicles. These NHTSA 

Guidelines, which are voluntary, apply 

to communications, entertainment, 

information gathering, and navigation 

devices or functions that are not 

required to operate the vehicle safely 

and that are operated by the driver 

through visual-manual means (meaning 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 25, 2012 / Notices 24765 

1Alliance Petition, Docket No. NHTSA–2010– 

0053–0015. 

2 Docket No. NHTSA–2010–0053–0045. 

Additional information regarding the classification 

of the police-reported crash data in Table 1 of the 

February 24, 2012 notice was also placed in the 

Docket on April 9, 2012. Docket No. NHTSA–2010– 

0053–0046. 

3The titles of the four reports are: An 

Examination of the Definition of ‘‘Task’’ and Use of 

‘‘Tax Taxonomies’’ Based on Interviews with 

Experts; Summary of Radio Tuning Effects on 

Visual and Driving Performance Measures— 

Simulator and Test Track Studies; Driver Eye 

Glance Behavior During Visual-Manual Secondary 

Task Performance: Occlusion Method Versus 

Simulated Driving; and Explanatory Material about 

the Definition of a Task Used in NHTSA’s Driver 

Distraction Guidelines, and Task Examples. 

the driver looking at a device, 

manipulating a device-related control 

with the driver’s hand, and watching for 

visual feedback). We provided a 60-day 

comment period. 

In a petition dated March 9, 2012,1

the Alliance of Automobile 

Manufacturers (Alliance) requested that 

certain information, including several 

research reports referenced in the 

notice, be placed in the docket. The 

Alliance also requested that a public 

workshop be held to provide an 

opportunity for all interested parties to 

gain a better understanding of the 

technical details supporting the 

proposed Guidelines and to share 

advanced technical information in an 

effective manner in order to help the 

agency as it reviews comments and 

works to finalize the Guidelines. The 

Alliance requested an extension of the 

comment period by at least an 

additional 60 days from the date that all 

the supporting research and data were 

submitted into the public docket or from 

the date of any technical workshop, 

whichever was later. 

On March 23, 2012, NHTSA held a 

public workshop at its Vehicle Research 

and Test Center in East Liberty, Ohio, to 

provide interested parties with an 

opportunity to discuss issues relevant to 

the technical aspects of the proposed 

NHTSA Guidelines. The workshop 

included brief NHTSA presentations 

outlining the content and basis of the 

proposed Guidelines and presentations 

from attendees. The presentations and 

written comments from the workshop 

were placed in the docket on April 9, 

2012.2 The four research reports cited in 

the proposed Guidelines but not 

initially included in the docket are 

expected to be available in the docket in 

late April or early May 2012.3

After considering the petition from 

the Alliance, we have decided to extend 

the comment period by 24 days. We 

wish to facilitate the efforts of the 

petitioner and other interested persons 

to provide complete comments. We 

believe that a 24-day extension will 

ensure that interested persons have 

sufficient time to analyze the relevant 

research reports and information 

presented at the technical workshop. 

The workshop was held on March 23, 

and the presentations and written 

comments from the workshop were 

placed in the docket on April 9. With 

the extension considered, all interested 

persons will have had approximately six 

weeks to review the information 

presented at the workshop before the 

end of the comment period. 

Additionally, all four reports referenced 

in the proposed Guidelines and noted in 

the Alliance’s petition are expected to 

be available in the docket in late April 

or early May 2012. Given the agency’s 

schedule for placing these reports in the 

docket, we expect that all interested 

persons will, with the extension 

considered, have had approximately one 

and a half to three and a half weeks to 

review these reports before the end of 

the comment period. This range of time 

reflects the fact that the reports will be 

individually placed in the docket as 

they are finalized so that interested 

persons can have access to them as soon 

as possible. Additionally, to the extent 

possible, we will consider comments 

that Docket Management receives after 

the close of the comment period. 

The Alliance did not provide any 

detailed information showing why a 

longer extension, such as its suggestion 

of 60 days from the docketing of the 

research reports or date of the public 

workshop, would be necessary. 

Public Participation 

How do I prepare and submit 

comments? 

Your comments must be written and 

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 be more 

than 15 pages long. (49 CFR 553.21). We 

established this limit to encourage you 

to write your primary comments in a 

concise fashion. However, you may 

attach necessary additional documents 

to your comments. There is no limit on 

the length of the attachments. 

Comments may be submitted to the 

docket electronically by logging onto the 

docket Management System Web site at 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

You may also submit two copies of 

your comments, including the 

attachments, to docket Management at 

the address given above under 

ADDRESSES. 

Please note that pursuant to the Data 

Quality Act, in order for substantive 

data to be relied upon and used by the 

agency, it must meet the information 

quality standards set forth in the OMB 

and DOT Data Quality Act guidelines. 

Accordingly, we encourage you to 

consult the guidelines in preparing your 

comments. OMB’s guidelines may be 

accessed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ 

omb/fedreg/reproducible.html. DOT’s 

guidelines may be accessed at http:// 

www.bts.gov/programs/ 

statistical_policy_and_research/ 

data_quality_guidelines/. 

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 return the postcard by 

mail. 

How do I submit confidential business 

information? 

If you wish to submit any information 

under a claim of confidentiality, you 

should submit three copies of your 

complete submission, including the 

information you claim to be confidential 

business information, to the Chief 

Counsel, National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., West Building 4th Floor, 

Room W41–318, 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 

confidential business information, you 

should include a cover letter setting 

forth the information specified in our 

confidential business information 

regulation. (49 CFR Part 512.) 

Will the agency consider late 

comments? 

We 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. 

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 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
24766 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 25, 2012 / Notices 

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, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for accessing the 

docket. 

Please note that even after the 

comment closing date, we will continue 

to file relevant information in the docket 

as it becomes available. Further, some 

people may submit late comments. 

Accordingly, we recommend that you 

periodically check the docket for new 

material. 

Issued on: April 19, 2012. 

John Maddox, 

Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety 

Research. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9953 Filed 4–20–12; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF 

PEACE 

Call for Proposals for a Micro Support 

Program on International Conflict 

Resolution and Peacebuilding For 

Immediate Release 

AGENCY: United States Institute of Peace. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Micro Support Program on 

International Conflict Resolution and 

Peacebuilding. The United States 

Institute of Peace (USIP) requests 

proposals to develop and manage a new 

micro support initiative for projects 

undertaken at institutions of higher 

learning and public libraries in the 

United States. The program will require 

the contractor to design and implement 

a formal competition, review and 

recommend projects for funding, and 

provide financial and report 

management oversight. 

Deadline: Friday, May 11, 2012 at 3 

p.m. EDT. 

DATES: Response Deadline: Friday, May 

11, 2012 at 3 p.m. EDT 

April 16, 2012—Issue Request for 

Proposals 

May 11, 2012—RFP submissions due by 

3 p.m. 

May 14–25, 2012—Review submissions 

and selection of successful 

organization 

May 29, 2012—Announce results of 

selection process. 

ADDRESSES: United States Institute of 

Peace, 2301 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20037, (202) 429–3842 

(phone), (202) 833–1018 (fax), (202) 

457–1719 (TTY), Email: 

grants@usip.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

Grant Program • Micro Support 

Program, Phone (202) 429–3842, Email: 

grants@usip.org. 

Dated: April 17, 2012. 

Michael Graham, 

Senior Vice President for Management. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9822 Filed 4–24–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–AR–P 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES