10516 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 45 / Friday, March 7, 1997 / Proposed Rules

standard to electronic accelerator

controls, including even the basic terms

‘‘throttle’’ and ‘‘idle position.’’ General

Motors’’ comment dismissed the

proposal as unimportant and instead

presented useful ideas about fail-safe

provisions it considered applicable to

electronic accelerator controls. It stated

that with electronic engine controls,

throttle position is no longer the

singular factor that controls engine

speed. It is possible to exploit control of

spark advance and/or fuel metering as

alternative means of preventing

uncontrolled engine speed. Therefore,

General Motors suggested that the

present requirement of two sources of

energy to return the throttle to the idle

position be replaced by a more general

requirement of two means capable of

returning the engine to idle in the event

of the disconnection or severance of the

other. It also suggested a second

provision that if two means of returning

the engine to idle cannot be provided,

then a fail-safe feature would either

shut-down the engine or automatically

shift the transmission into neutral in the

event of a disconnection or severance of

the accelerator control.

General Motors’ suggestions invite

questions about their applicability to

diesel engines and about the desirability

of shifting the transmission into neutral,

but they represent constructive thought

about the preservation of fail-safe

performance in the face of changing

technology for accelerator control.

Agency Withdrawal of NPRM

After carefully reviewing the public

comments, NHTSA has decided to

withdraw its proposal to remove S5.3

from Standard No. 124. The public

commenters addressing the issue have

highlighted the fact that there are many

unresolved areas involving electronic

accelerator controls. NHTSA is

withdrawing the proposal so that it can

fully review the issue of making the

standard more relevant to electronic

systems prior to considering any other

amendments to the Standard.

Technical Workshop

As stated in its December 4, 1995

request for comments (60 FR 62061),

NHTSA plans to hold a technical

workshop on the need to amend

Standard No. 124. NHTSA tentatively

plans to hold the workshop on March

24, 1997, at the U.S. Department of

Transportation Building (400 Seventh

Street, SW.) in Washington, DC. NHTSA

believes its long range plans for

Standard No. 124 will be facilitated if

workshop participants and submitters of

written comments discuss the questions

raised in the December 1995 request for

comments.

The agency wishes workshop

participants to discuss:

(1) The principles of operation of

existing and potential electronic

accelerator control systems for gasoline

and diesel engines;

(2) The principles of operation of

existing and potential means of

providing fail-safe performance in the

event of loss of accelerator control by

the primary system; and

(3) Suggestions for regulatory

requirements that will assure the failsafe performance of electronic

accelerator control systems.

The agency therefore asks those

persons interested in participating to

make their interest known by contacting

Mr. Boyd, and describing the topic(s)

the person wishes to address. Although

NHTSA expects to hold the technical

workshop in March 1997, it would

appreciate being informed if any

interested persons need more time to

prepare remarks. If many people state

that more time is necessary, NHTSA

will pick a later date. The two persons

mentioned at the beginning of this

termination notice are available to

answer questions.

NHTSA will issue another notice

announcing the room number of the

workshop and agenda items to be

discussed. If necessary, the date for the

workshop and submission of written

comments will be adjusted.

Accordingly, as discussed in the

preamble, the notice of proposed

rulemaking published in the Federal

Register on April 30, 1996 (61 FR

19020) is withdrawn.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115,

30117, and 30166; delegations of authority at

49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

Issued on: March 4, 1997.

L. Robert Shelton,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 97–5727 Filed 3–6–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

49 CFR Part 572

[Docket No. 96–65; Notice 3]

RIN 2127–AG58

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standards

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Denial of request for extension

of comment due date.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Z.

Taylor Vinson, Office of Chief Counsel,

NHTSA, Room 5219, 400 7th Street SW,

Washington, D.C. 20590 (telephone

202–418–8142).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

document denies a petition for

extension of time to comment on

proposed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standard No. 100 Low-speed vehicles.

On January 8, 1997, the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration

published a notice of proposed

rulemaking that would apply a new

Federal motor vehicle safety standard to

motor vehicles whose maximum speed

does not exceed 25 mph (Docket No.

96–65; Notice 2, 62 FR 1077). February

24, 1997, was established as the due

date for comments on the proposal.

Advocates for Highway and Auto

Safety petitioned the agency to extend

the comment period for an additional 30

days. The reason for the request is the

temporary closure of the docket room,

Room 5109 of the Nassif Building, from

February 10 to March 10, 1997.

Advocates argued that dockets will be

unavailable for public inspection during

this period and that comments filed in

response to the proposal will likewise

be unavailable for inspection for two

weeks before the closing date of

February 24, 1997.

Although Room 5109 is closed for the

period indicated, comments filed in

response to Notice 2 and other pending

notices are available for inspection in

Room 6130 of the Nassif Building

during ordinary business hours of 9:30

a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as before. Thus, the

temporary closure of Room 5109 will

not affect the ability of the public to

inspect comments being submitted to

dockets during the period February 10

to March 10, 1997. Visitors to the Nassif

Building have been advised of the

temporary change of the NHTSA docket

room from Room 5109 to Room 6130 by

signs posted on or before February 10 in

the Department’s Central Docket Room

and in each of the four street-level

entrances to the Nassif Building.

Advocates also avers that the proposal

to allow a new class of Low Speed

Vehicles to operate on the public roads

without full conformity to current

Federal motor vehicle safety standards

has serious implications and itself

warrants an extension of the comment

period for an additional 30 days.

NHTSA denies the petition by

Advocates for additional time in which

to comment on Notice 2. The public has

had full access to comments filed in

response to Notice 2 of Docket No. 96–

65 during the comment period (in fact,

only two comments had been filed by

February 19, 1997). Before issuing the

notice of proposed rulemaking, NHTSA
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 45 / Friday, March 7, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10517

conducted two public meetings and

received comments from interested

persons, including Advocates, on safety

and other issues involving the

regulation of low speed vehicles. These

issues were thoroughly discussed in the

preamble to the proposed rule. NHTSA

deems it unlikely that providing an

additional 30 days in which to comment

would result in it receiving comments

that differ materially from those

submitted on or before the stated due

date for comments, especially since no

other person has requested an extension

of time.

This denial does not affect NHTSA’s

long-standing policy of accepting

comments filed after the due date, and

considering them to the extent

practicable before issuance of further

rulemaking notices.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115,

30166; delegation of authority at 49 1.50 and

501.8.

Issued on: March 4, 1997.

L. Robert Shelton,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 97–5724 Filed 3–6–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P