1548 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

1A.M. Best Company is a well-recognized source 

of insurance company ratings and information. 49 

U.S.C. 33112(i) authorizes NHTSA to consult with 

public and private organizations as necessary. 

below 0.5 percent for the last two years 

(the industry-wide violation rate for 

alcohol was .015 percent in 2008 and 

.018 percent in 2007). Railroads remain 

free, as always, to conduct random 

testing at higher rates. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 6, 

2010. 

Joseph C. Szabo, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–374 Filed 1–11–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Part 544 

[Docket No.: NHTSA–2009–0050] 

RIN 2127–AK46 

Insurer Reporting Requirements; List 

of Insurers Required To File Reports 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule amends the 

Insurer Reporting Requirements. The 

regulations specify the requirements for 

annual insurer reports and lists in 

appendices those passenger motor 

vehicle insurers that are required to file 

reports on their motor vehicle theft loss 

experiences. An insurer included in any 

of these appendices must file three 

copies of its report for the 2006 calendar 

year before October 25, 2009 as 

specified by law, but we acknowledge 

this notice has not been published by 

that date. Therefore, NHTSA will not 

take enforcement actions against any 

insurer that file the 2006 insurer reports 

after October 25, 2009, but not later than 

December 31, 2009. This is a one-time 

exception, based on the unique 

circumstances for 2009. All subsequent 

reports must be filed not later than 

October 25th of the year in which the 

reports are due. If the passenger motor 

vehicle insurers remain listed, they 

must submit reports by each subsequent 

October 25th. 

DATES: This final rule becomes effective 

on February 11, 2010. Insurers listed in 

the appendices were required to submit 

reports on or before December 31, 2009. 

If you wish to submit a petition for 

reconsideration of this rule, your 

petition must be received by February 

26, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Petitions for reconsideration 

should refer to the docket number and 

be submitted to: Administrator, National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West 

Building, Room W41–307, Washington, 

DC 20590. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carlita Ballard, Office of International 

Policy, Fuel Economy and Consumer 

Programs, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., West Building, Room 

W43–439, Washington, DC 20590, by 

electronic mail to 

carlita.ballard@dot.gov. Ms. Ballard’s 

telephone number is (202) 366–0846. 

Her fax number is (202) 493–2990. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 33112, Insurer 

reports and information, NHTSA 

requires certain passenger motor vehicle 

insurers to file an annual report with the 

agency. Each insurer’s report includes 

information about thefts and recoveries 

of motor vehicles, the rating rules used 

by the insurer to establish premiums for 

comprehensive coverage, the actions 

taken by the insurer to reduce such 

premiums, and the actions taken by the 

insurer to reduce or deter theft. 

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. Section 33112(f), 

the following insurers are subject to the 

reporting requirements: 

(1) Issuers of motor vehicle insurance 

policies whose total premiums account 

for 1 percent or more of the total 

premiums of motor vehicle insurance 

issued within the United States; 

(2) issuers of motor vehicle insurance 

policies whose premiums account for 10 

percent or more of total premiums 

written within any one state and; 

(3) rental and leasing companies with 

a fleet of 20 or more vehicles not 

covered by theft insurance policies 

issued by insurers of motor vehicles, 

other than any governmental entity. 

Pursuant to its statutory exemption 

authority, the agency exempted certain 

passenger motor vehicle insurers from 

the reporting requirements. 

A. Small Insurers of Passenger Motor 

Vehicles 

Section 33112(f)(2) provides that the 

agency shall exempt small insurers of 

passenger motor vehicles if NHTSA 

finds that such exemptions will not 

significantly affect the validity or 

usefulness of the information in the 

reports, either nationally or on a stateby-state basis. The term ‘‘small insurer’’ 

is defined, in Section 33112(f)(1)(A) and 

(B), as an insurer whose premiums for 

motor vehicle insurance issued directly 

or through an affiliate, including 

pooling arrangements established under 

state law or regulation for the issuance 

of motor vehicle insurance, account for 

less than 1 percent of the total 

premiums for all forms of motor vehicle 

insurance issued by insurers within the 

United States. However, that section 

also stipulates that if an insurance 

company satisfies this definition of a 

‘‘small insurer,’’ but accounts for 10 

percent or more of the total premiums 

for all motor vehicle insurance issued in 

a particular state, the insurer must 

report about its operations in that state. 

In the final rule establishing the 

insurer reports requirement (49 CFR 

Part 544; 52 FR 59, January 2, 1987), 

NHTSA exercised its exemption 

authority by listing in Appendix A each 

insurer that must report because it had 

at least 1 percent of the motor vehicle 

insurance premiums nationally. Listing 

the insurers subject to reporting, instead 

of each insurer exempted from reporting 

because it had less than 1 percent of the 

premiums nationally, is 

administratively simpler, since the 

former group is much smaller than the 

latter. In Appendix B, NHTSA lists 

those insurers required to report for 

particular states because each insurer 

had a 10 percent or greater market share 

of motor vehicle premiums in those 

states. In the January 1987 final rule, the 

agency stated that it would update 

Appendices A and B annually. NHTSA 

updates the appendices based on data 

voluntarily provided by insurance 

companies to A.M. Best, which A.M. 

Best 1 publishes in its State/Line Report 

each spring. The agency uses the data to 

determine the insurers’ market shares 

nationally and in each state. 

B. Self-Insured Rental and Leasing 

Companies 

In addition, upon making certain 

determinations, NHTSA grants 

exemptions to self-insurers, i.e., any 

person who has a fleet of 20 or more 

motor vehicles (other than any 

governmental entity) used for rental or 

lease whose vehicles are not covered by 

theft insurance policies issued by 

insurers of passenger motor vehicles, 49 

U.S.C. 33112(b)(1) and (f). Under 49 

U.S.C. 33112(e)(1) and (2), NHTSA may 

exempt a self-insurer from reporting, if 

the agency determines: 

(1) The cost of preparing and 

furnishing such reports is excessive in 

relation to the size of the business of the 

insurer; 

(2) The insurer’s report will not 

significantly contribute to carrying out 

the purposes of Chapter 331. 

In a final rule published June 22, 1990 

(55 FR 25606), the agency granted a 

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 1549 

2Automotive Fleet Magazine and Auto Rental 

News are publications that provide information on 

the size of fleets and market share of rental and 

leasing companies. 

class exemption to all companies that 

rent or lease fewer than 50,000 vehicles, 

because it believed that the largest 

companies’ reports sufficiently 

represent the theft experience of rental 

and leasing companies. NHTSA 

concluded that smaller rental and 

leasing companies’ reports do not 

significantly contribute to carrying out 

NHTSA’s statutory obligations and that 

exempting such companies will relieve 

an unnecessary burden on them. As a 

result of the June 1990 final rule, the 

agency added Appendix C, consisting of 

an annually updated list of the selfinsurers subject to Part 544. Following 

the same approach as in Appendix A, 

NHTSA included, in Appendix C, each 

of the self-insurers subject to reporting 

instead of the self-insurers which are 

exempted. NHTSA updates Appendix C 

based primarily on information from 

Automotive Fleet Magazine and Auto 

Rental News.2

C. When a Listed Insurer Must File a 

Report 

Under Part 544, as long as an insurer 

is listed, it must file reports on or before 

October 25 of each year. Thus, any 

insurer listed in the appendices must 

file a report before October 25, 2009, 

and by each succeeding October 25, 

absent an amendment removing the 

insurer’s name from the appendices. 

II. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

1. Insurers of Passenger Motor Vehicles 

On August 17, 2009, NHTSA 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) to update the list of 

insurers in Appendices A, B, and C 

required to file reports (74 FR 41362). 

Appendix A lists insurers that must 

report because each had 1 percent of the 

motor vehicle insurance premiums on a 

national basis. The list was last 

amended in a final rule published on 

August 18, 2008 (73 FR 48151). Based 

on the 2006 calendar year market share 

data from A.M. Best, NHTSA proposed 

to remove Auto Club Southern 

California Group and add Auto Club 

Enterprise Insurance Group to 

Appendix A. 

Appendix B lists insurers required to 

report because each insurer had a 10 

percent or greater market share of motor 

vehicle premiums in a particular State. 

Based on the 2006 calendar year data for 

market shares from A.M. Best, we 

proposed to remove Farm Bureau of 

Idaho from Appendix B. 

2. Rental and Leasing Companies 

Appendix C lists rental and leasing 

companies required to file reports. 

Subsequent to publishing the August 18, 

2008 final rule (see 73 FR 48151), the 

agency was informed by Emkay, Inc., 

(Emkay) that it was a motor vehicle 

leasing company offering financial, fleet 

management and consulting services 

pertaining to operating a fleet of motor 

vehicles and does not provide insurance 

policies for its customers to purchase. 

However, Emkay, further stated that it 

does include as a condition of its lease 

agreement that its lessees purchase and 

maintain its own motor vehicle 

insurance coverage. Emkay also 

submitted a copy of its lease agreement 

showing that insurance was required as 

a condition of the lease. Therefore, 

NHTSA proposed to remove Emkay, Inc. 

from the list of insurers required to meet 

the reporting requirements. 

Public Comments on Final 

Determination 

Insurers of Passenger Motor Vehicles 

The agency received no comments in 

response to the NPRM. Therefore, this 

final rule adopts the proposed changes 

to Appendix A, B and C. Accordingly, 

NHTSA has determined that each of the 

19 insurers listed in Appendix A, each 

of the eight insurers listed in Appendix 

B and each of six companies listed in 

Appendix C are required to submit an 

insurer report on its experience for 

calendar year 2006 no later than 

December 31, 2009, and set forth the 

information required by Part 544. As 

long as these insurers and companies 

remain listed, they would be required to 

submit reports in subsequent years. 

Submission of Theft Loss Report 

Passenger motor vehicle insurers 

listed in the appendices can forward 

their theft loss reports to the agency in 

several ways: 

a. Mail: Carlita Ballard, Office of 

International Policy, Fuel Economy and 

Consumer Programs, Department of 

Transportation, NHTSA, West Building, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., NVS–131, 

Room W43–439, Washington, DC 20590; 

b. E-mail: carlita.ballard@dot.gov; or 

c. Fax: (202) 493–2990. 

Theft loss reports may also be 

submitted to the docket electronically 

[identified by Docket No. NHTSA– 

2009–0050] by: 

d. Logging onto the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: Go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for filing the document 

electronically. 

Regulatory Impacts 

1. Costs and Other Impacts 

This notice has not been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12866, 

Regulatory Planning and Review. 

NHTSA has considered the impact of 

this final rule and determined that the 

action is not ‘‘significant’’ within the 

meaning of the Department of 

Transportation’s regulatory policies and 

procedures. This final rule implements 

the agency’s policy of ensuring that all 

insurance companies that are statutorily 

eligible for exemption from the insurer 

reporting requirements are in fact 

exempted from those requirements. 

Only those companies that are not 

statutorily eligible for an exemption are 

required to file reports. 

NHTSA does not believe that this 

rule, reflecting current data, affects the 

impacts described in the final regulatory 

evaluation prepared for the final rule 

establishing Part 544 (52 FR 59; January 

2, 1987). Accordingly, a separate 

regulatory evaluation has not been 

prepared for this rulemaking action. 

Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Consumer Price Index for 2006 (see 

http://www.bls.gov/cpi), the cost 

estimates in the 1987 final regulatory 

evaluation were adjusted for inflation. 

The agency estimates that the cost of 

compliance is $107,650 for any insurer 

added to Appendix A, $43,060 for any 

insurer added to Appendix B, and 

$12,423 for any insurer added to 

Appendix C. This final rule will remove 

one company and add one company to 

Appendix A, remove one company for 

Appendix B, and remove one company 

from appendix C. Therefore, the net 

effect of this final rule is a decreased 

cost of $55,483 to insurers as a group. 

Interested persons may wish to 

examine the 1987 final regulatory 

evaluation. Copies of that evaluation 

were placed in Docket No. T86–01; 

Notice 2. Any interested person may 

obtain a copy of this evaluation by 

writing to NHTSA, Technical Reference 

Division, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

East Building (Ground Floor), Room 

E12–100, Washington, DC 20590, or by 

calling (202) 366–2588. 

2. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The information collection 

requirements in this final rule were 

submitted and approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

pursuant to the requirements of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq.). The existing information 

collection indicates that the number of 

respondents for this collection is thirtythree, however, the actual number of 

respondents fluctuate from year to year. 

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1550 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

1 Indicates a newly listed company which must 

file a report beginning with the report due 

December 31, 2009. 

Therefore, because the number of 

respondents required to report for this 

final rule does not exceed the number 

of respondents indicated in the existing 

information collection, the agency does 

not believe that an amendment to the 

existing information collection is 

necessary. This collection of 

information is assigned OMB Control 

Number 2127–0547 (‘‘Insurer Reporting 

Requirements’’). 

3. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The agency also considered the effects 

of this rulemaking under the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et 

seq.). I certify that this final rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

The rationale for the certification is that 

none of the companies listed on 

Appendices A, B or C are construed to 

be a small entity within the definition 

of the RFA. ‘‘Small insurer’’ is defined, 

in part under 49 U.S.C. 33112, as any 

insurer whose premiums for all forms of 

motor vehicle insurance account for less 

than 1 percent of the total premiums for 

all forms of motor vehicle insurance 

issued by insurers within the United 

States, or any insurer whose premiums 

within any State, account for less than 

10 percent of the total premiums for all 

forms of motor vehicle insurance issued 

by insurers within the State. This notice 

exempts all insurers meeting those 

criteria. Any insurer too large to meet 

those criteria is not a small entity. In 

addition, in this rulemaking, the agency 

exempts all ‘‘self insured rental and 

leasing companies’’ that have fleets of 

fewer than 50,000 vehicles. Any selfinsured rental and leasing company too 

large to meet that criterion is not a small 

entity. 

4. Federalism 

This action has been analyzed 

according to the principles and criteria 

contained in Executive Order 12612, 

and it has been determined that the final 

rule does not have sufficient federalism 

implications to warrant the preparation 

of a Federalism Assessment. 

5. Environmental Impacts 

In accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act, NHTSA has 

considered the environmental impacts 

of this final rule and determined that it 

would not have a significant impact on 

the quality of the human environment. 

6. Civil Justice Reform 

This final rule does not have any 

retroactive effect, and it does not 

preempt any State law, 49 U.S.C. 33117 

provides that judicial review of this rule 

may be obtained pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 

32909, and section 32909 does not 

require submission of a petition for 

reconsideration or other administrative 

proceedings before parties may file suit 

in court. 

7. Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 

The Department of Transportation 

assigns a regulation identifier number 

(RIN) to each regulatory action listed in 

the Unified Agenda of Federal 

Regulations. The Regulatory Information 

Service Center publishes the Unified 

Agenda in April and October of each 

year. You may use the RIN contained in 

the heading, at the beginning, of this 

document to find this action in the 

Unified Agenda. 

8. Plain Language 

Executive Order 12866 requires each 

agency to write all rules in plain 

language. Application of the principles 

of plain language includes consideration 

of the following questions: 

b Have we organized the material to 

suit the public’s needs? 

b Are the requirements in the 

proposal clearly stated? 

b Does the proposal contain 

technical language or jargon that is not 

clear? 

b Would a different format (grouping 

and order of sections, use of headings, 

paragraphing) make the rule easier to 

understand? 

b Would more (but shorter) sections 

be better? 

b Could we improve clarity by 

adding tables, lists, or diagrams? 

b What else could we do to make the 

proposal easier to understand? 

If you have any responses to these 

questions, you can forward them to me 

several ways: 

a. Mail: Carlita Ballard, Office of 

International Policy, Fuel Economy and 

Consumer Programs, NHTSA, West 

Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

NVS–131, Room W43–439, Washington, 

DC 20590. 

b. E-mail: carlita.ballard@dot.gov; or 

Fax: (202) 493–2990. 

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 544 

Crime insurance, Insurance, Insurance 

companies, Motor vehicles, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements. 

■ In consideration of the foregoing, 49 

CFR Part 544 is amended as follows: 

PART 544—[AMENDED] 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 544 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 33112; delegation of 

authority at 49 CFR 1.50. 

■ 2. In § 544.5, paragraph (a), the second 

sentence is revised to read as follows: 

§ 544.5 General requirements for reports. 

(a) * * * This report shall contain the 

information required by § 544.6 of this 

part for the calendar year 3 years 

previous to the year in which the report 

is filed (e.g., the report due by December 

31, 2009 will contain the required 

information for the 2006 calendar year). 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Appendix A to part 544 is revised 

to read as follows: 

Appendix A—Insurers of Motor Vehicle 

Insurance Policies Subject to the 

Reporting Requirements in Each State 

in Which They Do Business 

Allstate Insurance Group 

American Family Insurance Group 

American International Group 

Auto Club Enterprise Insurance Group 1

Auto-Owners Insurance Group 

Erie Insurance Group 

Berkshire Hathaway/GEICO Corporation 

Group 

California State Auto Group 1

Hartford Insurance Group 

Liberty Mutual Insurance Companies 

Metropolitan Life Auto & Home Group 

Mercury General Group 

Nationwide Group 

Progressive Group 

Safeco Insurance Companies 

State Farm Group 

Travelers Companies 

USAA Group 

Farmers Insurance Group 

■ 4. Appendix B to part 544 is revised 

to read as follows: 

Appendix B—Issuers of Motor Vehicle 

Insurance Policies Subject to the 

Reporting Requirements Only in 

Designated States 

Alfa Insurance Group (Alabama) 

Auto Club (Michigan) 

Commerce Group, Inc. (Massachusetts) 

Kentucky Farm Bureau Group (Kentucky) 

New Jersey Manufacturers Group (New 

Jersey) 

Safety Group (Massachusetts) 

Southern Farm Bureau Group (Arkansas, 

Mississippi) 

Tennessee Farmers Companies (Tennessee) 

■ 5. Appendix C to part 544 is revised 

to read as follows: 

Appendix C—Motor Vehicle Rental and 

Leasing Companies (Including 

Licensees and Franchisees) Subject to 

the Reporting Requirements of Part 544 

Cendant Car Rental 

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group 

Enterprise Rent-A-Car 

Hertz Rent-A-Car Division (subsidiary of The 

Hertz Corporation) 

U-Haul International, Inc. (Subsidiary of 

AMERCO) 

Vanguard Car Rental USA 

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 1551 

Issued on: January 5, 2010. 

Stephen R. Kratzke, 

Associate Administrator for Rulemaking. 

[FR Doc. 2010–268 Filed 1–11–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

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