30700 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 108 / Friday, June 5, 1998 / Proposed Rules

subdivision of a state may prescribe a

standard for a motor vehicle or motor

vehicle equipment obtained for its own

use that imposes a higher performance

requirement than that required by the

Federal standard. Section 30161 of Title

49, U.S. Code sets forth a procedure for

judicial review of final rules

establishing, amending or revoking

Federal motor vehicle safety standards.

A petition for reconsideration or other

administrative proceedings is not

required before parties may file suit in

court.

Comments

Interested persons are invited to

submit comments on the amendments

proposed herein. It is requested but not

required that any such comments be

submitted in duplicate (original and 1

copy).

Comments must not exceed 15 pages

in length (49 CFR 553.21). This

limitation is intended to encourage

commenters to detail their primary

arguments in concise fashion. Necessary

attachments, however, may be

appended to those comments without

regard to the 15-page limit.

If a commenter wishes to submit

certain information under a claim of

confidentiality, 3 copies of the complete

submission, including the purportedly

confidential business information,

should be submitted to the Chief

Counsel, NHTSA, at the street address

noted above, and 1 copy from which the

purportedly confidential information

has been deleted should be submitted to

Docket Management. A request for

confidentiality should be accompanied

by a cover letter setting forth the

information called for in 49 CFR Part

512, Confidential Business Information.

All comments received on or before

the close of business on the comment

closing date indicated above for the

proposal will be considered, and will be

available to the public for examination

in the docket at the above address both

before and after the closing date. To the

extent possible, comments received after

the closing date will be considered.

Comments received too late for

consideration in regard to the final rule

will be considered as suggestions for

further rulemaking action. Comments on

today’s proposal will be available for

public inspection in the docket. NHTSA

will continue to file relevant

information in the docket after the

comment closing date, and it is

recommended that interested persons

continue to monitor the docket for new

material.

Those persons desiring to be notified

upon receipt of their comments in the

rule docket should enclose a selfaddressed stamped postcard in the

envelope with their comments. Upon

receiving the comments, the docket

supervisor will return the postcard by

mail.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 575

Consumer information, Labeling,

Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles,

Rubber and rubber products, Tires.

In consideration of the foregoing, 49

CFR part 575 would be amended as

follows:

PART 575—CONSUMER

INFORMATION REGULATIONS

1. The authority citation for part 575

would continue to read as follows:

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

30117, and 30166; delegation of authority at

49 CFR 1.50.

2. Section 575.104 would be amended

by revising paragraph (e)(2)(ix)(C) and

by revising paragraph (e)(2)(ix)(F) to

read as follows:

§ 575.104 Uniform tire quality grading

standards.

* * * * *

(e) * * *

(2) * * *

(ix) * * *

(C) Determine the course severity

adjustment factor by assigning a base

course wear rate to the course

monitoring tires (see note to this

paragraph) and dividing the rate by the

average wear rate for the four course

monitoring tires.

Note to paragraph (e)(2)(ix): The base

wear rate for the course monitoring tires

will be obtained by the government by

running fresh ASTM E1136 course

monitoring tires for 6,400 miles over the

San Angelo, Texas, UTQGS test route 4

times per year, then using the average

wear rate from the last 4 quarterly tests

for the base course wear rate

calculation. Each new base course wear

rate will be filed in the DOT Docket

Management section. This value will be

furnished to the tester by the

government at the time of the test. The

course monitoring tires used in a test

convoy must be no more than 6 months

old at the commencement of the test and

no more than 3 months different from

each other in production dates at the

commencement of the test. If course

monitoring tires more than 6 months old

are used in the test, their calculated

average wear rate must be reduced by 10

percent.

* * * * *

(F) Compute the grade (P) of the

NHTSA nominal treadwear value for

each candidate tire by using the

following formula:

P = Projected mileage × base wear raten/

402

Where base wear raten = new base wear

rate, i.e., average treadwear of the last

4 quarterly course monitoring tire

tests conducted by NHTSA.

Round off the percentage to the

nearest lower 20-point increment.

* * * * *

Issued on May 21, 1998.

L. Robert Shelton,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 98–14109 Filed 6–4–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 594

RIN 2127–AH26

[Docket No. NHTSA 98–3781; Notice 1]

Schedule of Fees Authorized by 49

U.S.C. 30141

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: This document proposes fees

for Fiscal Year 1999 and until further

notice, as authorized by 49 U.S.C.

30141, relating to the registration of

importers and the importation of motor

vehicles not certified as conforming to

the Federal motor vehicle safety

standards (FMVSS).

NHTSA proposes that the fee for the

registration of a new importer be

reduced from $501 to $491, and the fee

for annual renewal of registration be

increased from $332 to $350. These fees

include the costs of maintaining the

registered importer program. The fee

required to reimburse the U.S. Customs

Service for bond processing costs would

increase by $0.25, from $5.15 to $5.40

per bond.

The fee payable for a petition seeking

a determination that a nonconforming

vehicle is capable of conversion to meet

the FMVSS would remain at $199 if the

petition claims that the nonconforming

vehicle is substantially similar to

conforming vehicles. With respect to

vehicles that have no substantially

similar counterpart, the petition fee

would remain at $721. In addition, the

fee payable by the importer of each

vehicle that benefits from an eligibility

determination would be reduced from

$134 to $125, regardless of whether the

determination is made pursuant to a

petition or by NHTSA on its own
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 108 / Friday, June 5, 1998 / Proposed Rules 30701

initiative (this does not apply to

vehicles imported from Canada

admitted under VSA 80–83).

Finally, the new fee adopted in 1997

under which a registered importer must

pay a processing cost of $14 for review

of each conformity package that it

submits would be increased to $16.

However, if the HS–7 Declaration form

for the vehicle is filed electronically

with the U.S. Customs Service though

the Automated Broker Interface, and the

Registered Importer has an e-mail

address and pays by credit card, the fee

would be reduced to $13 per vehicle.

DATES: Comments are due on the

proposed rule July 20, 1998. The

effective date of the final rule would be

October 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

George Entwistle, Office of Vehicle

Safety Compliance, Office of Safety

Assurance, NHTSA (202–366–5306).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

On June 24, 1996, at 61 FR 32411,

NHTSA published the latest in a series

of notices which discussed in full the

rulemaking history of 49 CFR part 594

and the fees authorized by the Imported

Vehicle Safety Compliance Act of 1988,

P.L. 100–562, since recodified as 49

U.S.C. 30141–47. The reader is referred

to that notice for background

information relating to this rulemaking

action. The fees authorized by the

statute were initially established to

become effective January 31, 1990, and

have been in effect and occasionally

modified since then.

The fees applicable in any fiscal year

are to be established before the

beginning of such year. This document

proposes fees that would become

effective on October 1, 1998, the

beginning of FY99. The statute

authorizes fees to cover the costs of the

importer registration program, to cover

the cost of making import eligibility

determinations, and to cover the cost of

processing the bonds furnished to the

Customs Service. NHTSA last amended

the fee schedule in 1996; it has applied

in Fiscal Years 1997–98.

As a general statement applicable to

consideration of all fees, they are based

on actual time and costs associated with

the task, which reflect the slight

increase in hourly costs in the past two

fiscal years attributable to the

approximately 2.3 percent raise in

salaries of employees on the General

Schedule that became effective on

January 1 each year in the years 1997

and 1998, and the combined locality

raises of 1.232 percent.

Requirements of the Fee Regulation

Section 594.6—Annual Fee for

Administration of the Importer

Registration Program

Section 30141(a)(3) of Title 49 U.S.C.

provides that registered importers must

pay ‘‘the annual fee the Secretary of

Transportation establishes * * * to pay

for the costs of carrying out the

registration program for importers

* * *.’’ This fee is payable both by new

applicants and by registered importers

seeking to renew their registration.

In accordance with the statutory

directive, NHTSA reviewed the existing

fees and their bases in an attempt to

establish fees which would be sufficient

to recover the costs of carrying out the

registration program for importers for at

least the next fiscal year. The initial

component of the Registration Program

Fee is the portion of the fee attributable

to processing and acting upon

registration applications. The agency

has determined that this portion of the

fee should be decreased from $301 to

$290 for new applications, and

increased from $132 to $149 for

renewals. The higher cost of $290 over

$149 for a new application is warranted

because the average cost of processing a

new application is substantially greater

than that of an application for renewal,

and the adjustments proposed reflect

the agency’s recent experience in time

spent reviewing both new and renewal

applications.

The agency must also recover costs

attributable to maintenance of the

registration program which arise from

the agency’s need to review a

registrant’s annual statement and to

verify the continuing validity of

information already submitted. These

costs also include anticipated costs

attributable to possible revocation or

suspension of registrations.

Based upon the agency’s review of the

costs associated with this program, the

portion of the fee attributable to the

registration program is approximately

$201 per registered importer, an

increase of $1. When this $201 is added

to the $290 representing the registration

application component, the cost to an

applicant equals $491, which is the fee

proposed by NHTSA. It represents a

decrease of $10 from the existing fee.

When the $201 is added to the $149

representing the renewal component,

the cost to a renewing registered

importer is $350, which represents an

increase of $18.

Sec. 594.6(h) recounts indirect costs

that were previously estimated at $7.07

per man-hour. This should be raised to

$12.12, based on the agency costs

discussed above.

Sections 594.7, 594.8—Fees To Cover

Agency Costs in Making Importation

Eligibility Determinations

Section 30141(a)(3) also requires

registered importers to pay ‘‘other fees

the Secretary of Transportation

establishes to pay for the costs of * * *

(B) making the decisions under this

subchapter.’’ This includes decisions on

whether the vehicle sought to be

imported is substantially similar to a

motor vehicle originally manufactured

for import into and sale in the United

States, and certified as meeting the

FMVSS, and whether it is capable of

being readily altered to meet those

standards. Alternatively, where there is

no substantially similar U.S. motor

vehicle, the decision is whether the

safety features of the vehicle comply

with or are capable of being altered to

comply with the FMVSS. These

decisions are made in response to

petitions submitted by registered

importers or manufacturers, or pursuant

to the Administrator’s initiative.

The fee for a vehicle imported under

an eligibility decision made pursuant to

a petition is payable in part by the

petitioner and in part by other

importers. The fee to be charged for

each vehicle is the estimated pro rata

share of the costs in making all the

eligibility determinations in a fiscal

year.

Inflation and the small raises under

the General Schedule also must be taken

into count in the computation of costs.

However, NHTSA has been able to

reduce its processing costs through

combining several decisions in a single

Federal Register notice as well as

achieving efficiencies through improved

word processing techniques.

Accordingly, NHTSA does not propose

a change in the fee of $199 presently

required to accompany a ‘‘substantially

similar’’ petition, or the fee of $721 for

petitions for vehicles that are not

substantially similar and that have no

certified counterpart. In the event that a

petitioner requests an inspection of a

vehicle, the fee will remain at $550 for

each of those types of petitions.

The importer of each vehicle

determined to be eligible for

importation pursuant to a petition

currently must pay $134 upon its

importation, the same fee applicable to

those whose vehicles covered by an

eligibility determination on the agency’s

initiative (other than vehicles imported

from Canada that are covered by code

VSA 80–83, for which no eligibility

determination fee is assessed). It is

proposed that this fee be reduced by $9

to $125 per vehicle, based upon a

decrease in administrative costs
30702 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 108 / Friday, June 5, 1998 / Proposed Rules

expended on this aspect of the

registered importer program.

Section 594.9—Fee To Recover the Costs

of Processing the Bond

Section 30141(a)(3) also requires a

registered importer to pay ‘‘any other

fees the Secretary of Transportation

establishes * * * to pay for the costs of-

(A) processing bonds provided to the

Secretary of the Treasury’’ upon the

importation of a nonconforming vehicle

to ensure that the vehicle will be

brought into compliance within a

reasonable time or if the vehicle is not

brought into compliance within such

time, that it is exported, without cost to

the United States, or abandoned to the

United States.

The statute contemplates that NHTSA

will make a reasonable determination of

the cost to the United States Customs

Service of processing the bond. In

essence, the cost to Customs is based

upon an estimate of the time that a GS

9, Step 5 employee spends on each

entry, which Customs judged to be 20

minutes.

Because of the modest salary and

locality raises in the General Schedule

that were effective at the beginning of

1997 and 1998, NHTSA proposes that

the current processing fee be increased

by $0.25, from $5.15 per bond to $5.40.

Section 594.10—Fee for review and

Processing of Conformity Certificate

This is a new fee, adopted pursuant

to Sec. 30141(a)(3), which became

effective on October 29, 1997. It requires

each registered importer to pay $14 per

vehicle to cover the cost of the agency’s

review of any certificate of conformity

furnished to the Administrator pursuant

to Sec. 591.7(e) (62 FR 50882).

Based upon an analysis of the direct

and indirect costs for the review and

processing of these certificates in the

months since the fee was adopted,

NHTSA has found that the costs

averaged $16 per vehicle and it is

therefore proposing that the fee be

increased by $2, to $16 per certificate.

However, if a registered importer enters

a vehicle with the U.S. Customs Service

through the Automated Broker Interface,

has an e-mail address to receive

communications from NHTSA, and pays

the fee by credit card, NHTSA has

estimated that the reduction in cost to

the agency would be approximately $3,

and this would be passed on to the

Registered Importer by reducing the fee

to $13 per vehicle.

Effective Date

The proposed effective date of the

final rule is October 1, 1998.

Rulemaking Analyses

A. Executive Order 12866 and DOT

Regulatory Policies and Procedures

This rulemaking action was not

reviewed under Executive Order 12886.

Further, NHTSA has determined that

the action is not significant under

Department of Transportation regulatory

policies and procedures. Based on the

level of the fees and the volume of

affected vehicles, NHTSA currently

anticipates that the costs of the final

rule will be so minimal as not to

warrant preparation of a full regulatory

evaluation. The action does not involve

any substantial public interest or

controversy. There will be no

substantial effect upon State and local

governments. There will be no

substantial impact upon a major

transportation safety program. Both the

number of registered importers and

determinations are estimated to be

comparatively small. A regulatory

evaluation analyzing the economic

impact of the final rule adopted on

September 29, 1989, was prepared, and

is available for review in the docket.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The agency has also considered the

effects of this action in relation to the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. Sec.

601 et seq.). I certify that this action will

not have a substantial economic impact

upon a substantial number of small

entities.

The following is NHTSA’s statement

providing the factual basis for the

certification (5 U.S.C. Sec. 605(b)). The

proposed amendment would primarily

affect entities that currently modify

nonconforming vehicles and which are

small businesses within the meaning of

the Regulatory Flexibility Act; however,

the agency has no reason to believe that

a substantial number of these companies

cannot pay the fees proposed by this

action which are only modestly

increased (and in some instances

decreased) from those now being paid

by these entities, and which can be

recouped through their customers. The

cost to owners or purchasers of altering

nonconforming vehicles to conform

with the FMVSS may be expected to

increase (or decrease) to the extent

necessary to reimburse the registered

importer for the fees payable to the

agency for the cost of carrying out the

registration program and making

eligibility decisions, and to compensate

Customs for its bond processing costs.

Governmental jurisdictions will not

be affected at all since they are generally

neither importers nor purchasers of

nonconforming motor vehicles.

C. Executive Order 12612 (Federalism)

The agency has analyzed this action

in accordance with the principles and

criteria contained in Executive Order

12612 ‘‘Federalism’’ and determined

that the action does not have sufficient

federalism implications to warrant the

preparation of a Federalism Assessment.

D. National Environmental Policy Act

NHTSA has analyzed this action for

purposes of the National Environmental

Policy Act. The action will not have a

significant effect upon the environment

because it is anticipated that the annual

volume of motor vehicles imported

through registered importers will not

vary significantly from that existing

before promulgation of the rule.

E. Civil Justice

This proposed rule will not have any

retroactive effect. Under 49 U.S.C.

30103(b), whenever a Federal motor

vehicle safety standard is in effect, a

state may not adopt or maintain a safety

standard applicable to the same aspect

of performance which is not identical to

the Federal standard. Section 30161 sets

forth a procedure for judicial review of

final rules establishing, amending or

revoking Federal motor vehicle safety

standards. That section does not require

submission of a petition for

reconsideration or other administrative

proceedings before parties may file suit

in court.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 594

Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Motor

vehicles.

In consideration of the foregoing, 49

CFR part 594 would be amended as

follows:

PART 594—SCHEDULE OF FEES

AUTHORIZED BY 49 U.S.C. 30141

1. The authority citation for part 594

would continue to read as follows:

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30141, 30166;

delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

2. Section 594.6 would be amended

by;

a. Revising the year ‘‘1996’’ in

paragraph (d) to read ‘‘1998,’’;

b. Revising the introductory text of

paragraph (a);

c. Revising paragraph (b);

d. Revising paragraph (f)(6);

e. Revising the final sentence of

paragraph (h); and

f. Revising paragraph (i), to read as

follows:

§ 594.6 Annual fee for administration of

the registration program.

(a) Each person filing an application

to be granted the status of a Registered
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 108 / Friday, June 5, 1998 / Proposed Rules 30703

Importer pursuant to part 592 of this

chapter on or after October 1, 1998,

shall pay an annual fee of $491, as

calculated below, based upon the direct

and indirect costs attributable to:

* * * * *

(b) That portion of the initial annual

fee attributable to the processing of the

application for applications filed on and

after October 1, 1998, is $290. The sum

of $290, representing this portion, shall

not be refundable if the application is

denied or withdrawn.

* * * * *

(f) * * *

(6) Verifying through inspection or

otherwise that a Registered Importer is

able technically and financially to carry

out its responsibilities pursuant to 49

U.S.C. 30118 et seq.

* * * * *

(h) * * * This cost is $12.12 per manhour for the period beginning October 1,

1998.

(i) Based upon the elements, and

indirect costs of paragraphs (f), (g), and

(h) of this section, the component of the

initial annual fee attributable to

administration of the registration

program, covering the period beginning

October 1, 1998, is $201. When added

to the costs of registration of $290, as set

forth in paragraph (b) of this section, the

costs per applicant to be recovered

through the annual fee are $491. The

annual renewal registration fee for the

period beginning October 1, 1996, is

$350.

3. Section 594.8 would be amended

by revising the first sentence in

paragraph (b) and in paragraph (c) to

read as follows:

§ 594.8 Fee for importing a vehicle

pursuant to a determination by the

Administrator.

* * * * *

(b) If a determination has been made

pursuant to a petition, the fee for each

vehicle is $125. * * *

(c) If a determination has been made

pursuant to the Administrator’s

initiative, the fee for each vehicle is

$125. * * *

4. Section 594.9(c) would be revised

to read as follows:

§ 594.9 Fee for reimbursement of bond

processing costs.

* * * * *

(c) The bond processing fee for each

vehicle imported on and after October 1,

1998, for which a certificate of

conformity is furnished, is $5.40.

5. Section 594.10(d) would be revised

to read as follows:

§ 594.19 Fee for review and processing of

conformity certificate.

* * * * *

(d) The review and processing fee for

each certificate of conformity submitted

on and after October 1, 1998, is $16.

However, if the vehicle covered by the

certificate has been entered

electronically with the U.S. Customs

Service through the Automated Broker

Interface and the registered importer

submitting the certificate has an e-mail

address, the fee for the certificate is $13,

provided that the fee is paid by a credit

card issued to the registered importer.

Issued on: May 22, 1998.

Kenneth N. Weinstein,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Assurance.

[FR Doc. 98–14151 Filed 6–4–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P