Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 7, 2000 / Notices 66801

Alaska in affected regions and posted

on-line on the Alaska Department of

Transportation and Public Facilities

home page (www.dot.state.ak.us). No

formal public meetings or hearings are

scheduled. Comments concerning the

proposed action should be directed to

the Federal Highway Administration at

the address provided above.

Dated: October 30, 2000.

David C. Miller,

Division Administrator.

[FR Doc. 00–28457 Filed 11–6–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–EM–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA–00–8228]

Session of the United Nations

Economic Commission for Europe

World Forum for the Harmonization of

Vehicle Regulations

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice regarding upcoming UN/

ECE WP.29 Session in Geneva,

Switzerland.

SUMMARY: The UN/ECE World Forum for

the Harmonization of Vehicle

Regulations (UN/ECE WP.29) will hold

its one hundred and twenty second

session on November 7–10, 2000. The

purpose of this notice is to inform the

public that NHTSA will not be ready at

that session in Geneva to submit its

recommendations concerning the

establishment of priorities under the

1998 Global Agreement. Further,

NHTSA has decided that holding a

public meeting to discuss the upcoming

November session is not warranted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Julie Abraham, Director, Office of

International Policy and Harmonization,

NPP–01, National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

Telephone: (202) 366–2114. Fax: (202)

366–2559.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. NHTSA’s Final Recommendations

The United Nations Economic

Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)

Agreement Concerning the Establishing

of Global Technical Regulations for

Wheeled Vehicles, Equipment and Parts

Which Can Be Fitted and/or Used on

Wheeled Vehicles (1998 Global

Agreement) has entered into force on

August 25, 2000. In anticipation of the

agreement’s entry into force, the

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) issued a

notice on July 12, 2000, seeking public

comments on its preliminary

recommendations for the first motor

vehicle safety technical regulations or

aspects of regulations to be considered

for establishment under the 1998 Global

Agreement.

In the notice (published July 18, 2000;

65 Fed. Reg. 44565), NHTSA categorized

its recommendations into two main

groups: (1) priority recommendations

and (2) other recommendations. The

priority items included generally those

foreign standards and/or aspects of

those standards that may represent best

current safety practices from existing

national and regional regulations, and

whose addition to the existing Federal

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)

would improve the level of vehicle

safety in the U.S. In the notice, the

agency stated that, in allocating its

resources, it will give priority to the

recommendations in this category.

The ‘‘Other Recommendations’’ group

comprised those U.S. standards or

aspects of those standards that may

represent best current safety practices

and should be therefore considered by

other contracting parties to the 1998

Global Agreement in the establishment

of global technical regulations.

In addition to the above mentioned

categories, the notice also referred to the

suggestions that had been received by

the United Nations’ Economic

Commission for Europe World Forum

for Harmonization of Vehicle

Regulations (WP.29) from the

governments of Japan and the Russian

Federation and various industry and

consumer groups. These suggestions are

posted in the NHTSA docket (NHTSA–

00–7638).

In the notice, NHTSA sought

comments on its preliminary

recommendations. It specifically asked

whether any changes should be made to

its list of preliminary recommendations

and whether any of the standards listed

in the proposals submitted to WP.29 by

other governments and by nongovernmental organizations should be

added to NHTSA’s list. In addition,

NHTSA asked whether the agency’s

rulemaking priority activities under the

Vehicle Safety Act and those under

WP.29 should be linked, and if so, to

what extent?

NHTSA received comments from

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety,

the Alliance of Automobile

Manufacturers, Flat Glass Manufacturers

Association of Japan, Honda, the

International Organization of Motor

Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA), the

Rubber Manufacturers Association, and

Toyota.

NHTSA had anticipated completing

its consideration of the public

comments and publishing a revised list

of recommendations prior to the

November 7–10, 2000 meeting of WP.29

so that it could formally present its

recommendations to WP.29 at that

meeting. However, the agency has not

completed its analysis of the comments

and will not be ready to make such a

proposal at the November 2000 meeting.

The agency anticipates completing its

analysis and publishing the final list

prior to the March 2001 meeting and

then submitting it at that meeting.

II. Upcoming November 7–10, 2000

WP.29 Meeting

In its Statement of Policy on Agency

Policy Goals and Public Participation in

the Implementation of the 1998

Agreement on Global Technical

Regulations (published August 23, 2000;

65 Fed. Reg. 51236), NHTSA stated that

it would hold periodic public meetings

on its activities under the 1998 Global

Agreement. It said further that if the

extent of recent and anticipated

significant developments concerning

those activities so warrant, NHTSA

would hold a public meeting within the

60-day period before each of the three

sessions of WP.29 held annually.

NHTSA decided that holding a public

meeting before the November WP.29

meeting was not warranted. Although

NHTSA anticipates that the first

meeting of the Executive Committee of

the 1998 Global Agreement will take

place during this session, that meeting

will not address the setting of priorities

or the establishing of particular

standards under that Agreement. The

meeting will focus instead on discussing

the administrative procedures that will

be followed in implementing the 1998

Global Agreement such as the working

of the Compendium, meeting time for

the Executive Committee, etc. The

technical regulations listed on the

agenda are those being considered

under the 1958 Agreement. For

information purposes, NHTSA has

placed the agenda for the November

2000 meeting in the docket for this

notice.

Issued on November 2, 2000.

Julie Abraham,

Director, Office of International Policy and

Harmonization.

[FR Doc. 00–28532 Filed 11–02–00; 8:45 am]

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