Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 182 / Tuesday, September 21, 2010 / Notices 57553 

7Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children 

(LATCH) Restraint System. 

1 Montana Rail Link, Inc., and Wisconsin Central 

Ltd., Joint Petition For Rulemaking With Respect To 

49 CFR Part 1201, 8 I.C.C. 2d 625 (1992) raised the 

revenue classification level for Class I railroads 

from $50 million (1978 dollars) to $250 million 

(1991 dollars), effective for the reporting year 

beginning January 1, 1992. The Class II threshold 

was also raised from $10 million (1978 dollars) to 

$20 million (1991 dollars). 

enable it to begin the manufacture and 

sale of the Karma earlier than it could 

otherwise. This will provide additional 

consumer choice in selecting a motor 

vehicle, encourage the development of 

fuel-efficient and alternative-energy 

vehicles, and provide additional 

employment opportunities. It will also 

enable Fisker to generate funds through 

the sale of vehicles, which will help it 

sustain vehicle development plans, 

including meeting the advanced air bag 

requirements. 

We have also considered safety issues 

related to the exemption requested by 

Fisker. With respect to transporting 

children, Fisker noted that the Karma is 

equipped with two rear seats. Each rear 

seat is equipped with a child seat 

LATCH system.7 Fisker stated that child 

seats may be safely placed in these rear 

seat positions. The Karma will also have 

the permanently affixed ‘‘sun visor air 

bag warning label’’ and a removable 

‘‘warning label on the dashboard’’ that 

NHTSA developed/requires for vehicles 

without advanced air bags. Thus, 

parents and others will be able to 

transport children in the rear seats of 

the Karma without exposing them to the 

risks of air bags, and the vehicles will 

have warning labels concerning the 

risks of air bags. This helps minimize 

any safety disbenefits of the vehicle not 

meeting requirements for advanced air 

bags. 

We also note again that the coupe 

version of the Karma will be equipped 

with eight functional air bags (front, 

side, knee and curtain air bags). The 

convertible version will be equipped 

with six functional air bags (front, side 

and knee air bags). Both versions will 

include seat belts with pretensioners 

and load limiters. 

Given the relatively small number of 

vehicles that will be produced during 

the one-year exemption and the above 

discussion, we believe that the 

requested exemption would have a 

negligible effect on motor vehicle safety. 

We note that, as explained below, 

prospective purchasers will be notified 

that the vehicle is exempted from the 

specified advanced air bag requirements 

of Standard No. 208. Under § 555.9(b), 

a manufacturer of an exempted 

passenger car must affix securely to the 

windshield or side window of each 

exempted vehicle a label containing a 

statement that the vehicle conforms to 

all applicable FMVSSs in effect on the 

date of manufacture ‘‘except for 

Standard Nos. [listing the standards by 

number and title for which an 

exemption has been granted] exempted 

pursuant to NHTSA Exemption No. 

lllll.’’ This label notifies 

prospective purchasers about the 

exemption and its subject. Under 

§ 555.9(c), this information must also be 

included on the vehicle’s certification 

label. 

The text of § 555.9 does not expressly 

indicate how the required statement on 

the two labels should read in situations 

where an exemption covers part but not 

all of a FMVSS. In this case, we believe 

that a statement that the vehicle has 

been exempted from Standard No. 208 

generally, without an indication that the 

exemption is limited to the specified 

advanced air bag provisions, could be 

misleading. A consumer might 

incorrectly believe that the vehicle has 

been exempted from all of Standard No. 

208’s requirements. Moreover, we 

believe that the addition of a reference 

to such provisions by number without 

an indication of its subject matter would 

be of little use to consumers, since they 

would not know the subject of those 

specific provisions. For these reasons, 

we believe the two labels should read in 

relevant part, ‘‘except for S14 (apart 

from S14.5.1(b)), S15, S17, S19, S21, 

S23, and S25 (Advanced Air Bag 

Requirements) of Standard No. 208, 

Occupant Crash Protection, exempted 

pursuant to * * *.’’ We note that the 

phrase ‘‘Advanced Air Bag 

Requirements’’ is an abbreviated form of 

the title of S14 of Standard No. 208. We 

believe it is reasonable to interpret 

§ 555.9 as requiring this language. 

e. Decision 

In consideration of the foregoing, we 

conclude that compliance with the 

advanced air bag requirements of 

FMVSS No. 208, Occupant Crash 

Protection, would cause substantial 

economic hardship to a manufacturer 

that has tried in good faith to comply 

with the standard. We further conclude 

that granting of an exemption would be 

in the public interest and consistent 

with the objectives of traffic safety. 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

30113(b)(3)(B)(i), Fisker is granted 

NHTSA Temporary Exemption No. EX 

10–01, from S14 (apart from S14.5.1(b)), 

S15, S17, S19, S21, S23, and S25 of 

FMVSS No. 208. In addition to 

certifying compliance with the belted 

50th percentile adult male dummy 

barrier impact requirements in 

S14.5.1(b), Fisker must certify to the 

unbelted 50th percentile adult male 

dummy barrier impact test requirement 

that applied prior to September 1, 2006 

(S5.1.2(a)). For purposes of this 

exemption, the unbelted sled test in S13 

is an acceptable option for that 

requirement. 

The exemption is for the Karma and 

shall remain in effect for one year as 

indicated in the DATES section of this 

document. 

(49 U.S.C. 30113; delegations of authority 

at 49 CFR 1.50. and 501.8) 

Issued on: September 15, 2010. 

David L. Strickland, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–23472 Filed 9–20–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Docket No. CU 159] 

Indexing the Annual Operating 

Revenues of Railroads 

The Surface Transportation Board 

(STB) is publishing the annual inflationadjusted index factors for 2009. These 

factors are used by the railroads to 

adjust their gross annual operating 

revenues for classification purposes. 

This indexing methodology insures that 

railroads are classified based on real 

business expansion and not from the 

affects of inflation. Classification is 

important because it determines the 

extent to which individual railroads 

must comply with STB reporting 

requirements. 

The STB’s annual inflation-adjusted 

factors are based on the annual average 

Railroad’s Freight Price Index which is 

developed by the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics (BLS). The STB’s deflator 

factor is used to deflate revenues for 

comparison with established revenue 

thresholds. 

The base year for railroads is 1991. 

The inflation index factors are presented 

as follows: 

STB RAILROAD INFLATION-ADJUSTED

INDEX AND DEFLATOR FACTOR TABLE

Year Index Deflator 

1991 .......................... 409.50 1100.00 

1992 .......................... 411.80 99.45 

1993 .......................... 415.50 98.55 

1994 .......................... 418.80 97.70 

1995 .......................... 418.17 97.85 

1996 .......................... 417.46 98.02 

1997 .......................... 419.67 97.50 

1998 .......................... 424.54 96.38 

1999 .......................... 423.01 96.72 


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57554 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 182 / Tuesday, September 21, 2010 / Notices 

STB RAILROAD INFLATION-ADJUSTED

INDEX AND DEFLATOR FACTOR

TABLE—Continued 

Year Index Deflator 

2000 .......................... 428.64 95.45 

2001 .......................... 436.48 93.73 

2002 .......................... 445.03 91.92 

2003 .......................... 454.33 90.03 

2004 .......................... 473.41 86.40 

2005 .......................... 522.41 78.29 

STB RAILROAD INFLATION-ADJUSTED

INDEX AND DEFLATOR FACTOR

TABLE—Continued 

Year Index Deflator 

2006 .......................... 567.34 72.09 

2007 .......................... 588.27 69.52 

2008 .......................... 656.78 62.28 

2009 .......................... 619.73 66.00 

DATES: Effective Date: January 1, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Decker 202–245–0330. Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) for the 

hearing impaired: 1–800–877–8339. 

By the Board, William F. Huneke, Director, 

Office of Economics. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2010–23463 Filed 9–20–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 


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