Document ID: NHTSA-2020-0004-0002
Agency: nhtsa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Petitions for Exemption from the Vehicle Theft  Prevention Standard
Posted Date: 2022-03-16T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14944-14946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05574]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2020-0004]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Petitions for 
Exemption From the Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a reinstatement of a 
previously approved information collection.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
summarized below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes the nature of 
the information collections and their expected burden. The Federal 
Register Notice with a 60-day comment period for approval of a 
reinstatement of this previously approved information collection was 
published on August 20, 2020. The agency received no comments.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 15, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection, including suggestions for reducing burden, 
should be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget at 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. To find this particular information 
collection, select ``Currently under Review--Open for Public Comment'' 
or use the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carlita Ballard at the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of International Policy, 
Fuel Economy and Consumer Programs (NRM-310), 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, 
West Building, Room W43-439, Washington, DC 20590. Ms. Ballard's 
telephone number is (202) 366-5222. Please identify the relevant 
collection of information by referring to its OMB Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), a 
Federal agency must receive approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) before it collects certain information from the public and 
a person is not required to respond to a collection of information by a 
Federal agency unless the collection displays a valid OMB control 
number. In compliance with these requirements, this notice announces 
that the following information collection request will be submitted to 
OMB.
    A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
public comments on the following information collection was published 
on August 20, 2020 (85 FR 51548).
    Title: Petitions for Exemption from the Vehicle Theft Prevention 
Standard (49 CFR part 543).
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0542.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement of a previously approved information 
collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Length of Approval Requested: Three years.
    Affected Public: Motor vehicle manufacturers.
    Summary of Information Collection: 49 U.S.C. Chapter 331 requires 
the Secretary of Transportation, and NHTSA by delegation, to promulgate 
a theft prevention standard to provide for the identification of 
certain motor vehicles and their major replacement parts (parts-
marking) to impede motor vehicle theft. NHTSA's theft prevention 
standard at 49 CFR part 541 specifies performance requirements for 
identifying numbers or symbols (generally the vehicle identification 
number (VIN)) to be placed on major parts of all passenger vehicles 
subject to the theft prevention standard. 49 U.S.C. 33106 allows 
manufacturers who equip covered vehicles with standard original 
equipment antitheft devices to petition for an exemption from the 
parts-marking requirements. NHTSA may exempt a vehicle line from the 
parts-marking requirement if the manufacturer installs an antitheft 
device as standard equipment on the entire vehicle line for which it 
seeks an exemption, and NHTSA determines that the antitheft device is 
likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft 
as compliance with the parts-marking requirements.
    Under the current part 543, manufacturers choose how they wish to

[[Page 14945]]

demonstrate to the agency that the anti-theft device they are 
installing in a vehicle line meets the requirements for exemption: By 
either the factors listed in Sec.  543.6 (specific content 
requirements: Detailed lists, data, and explanations) or by the 
criteria listed in Sec.  543.7 (performance criteria). Section 543.6 
requires the manufacturer to submit: (1) A statement that an antitheft 
device will be installed as standard equipment on all vehicles in the 
line for which an exemption is sought; (2) a list naming each component 
in the antitheft system, and a diagram showing the location of each of 
those components within the vehicle; (3) a discussion that explains the 
means and process by which the device is activated and functions, 
including any aspect of the device designed to facilitate or encourage 
its activation by motorists, attract attention to the efforts of an 
unauthorized person to enter or move the vehicle by means other than a 
key, prevent defeating or circumventing the device by an unauthorized 
person attempting to enter a vehicle by means other than a key, prevent 
the operation of a vehicle which an unauthorized person has entered 
using means other than a key, and ensure the reliability and durability 
of the device; (4) the reasons for the petitioner's belief that the 
antitheft device will be effective in reducing and deterring motor 
vehicle theft, including any theft data and other data that are 
available to the petitioner and form the basis for that belief; (5) the 
reasons for the petitioner's belief that the agency should determine 
that the antitheft device is likely to be as effective as compliance 
with the parts-marking requirements of part 541 in reducing and 
deterring motor vehicle theft, including any statistical data that are 
available to the petitioner and form a basis for petitioner's belief 
that a line of passenger motor vehicles equipped with the antitheft 
device is likely to have a theft rate equal to or less than that of 
passenger motor vehicles of the same, or similar, line which have parts 
marked in compliance with part 541.
    Section 543.7 requires manufacturers to submit a statement that the 
entire line of vehicles is equipped with an immobilizer, as standard 
equipment, that meets one of the following: (1) The performance 
criteria of (subsections 8 through 21) of C.R.C, c. 1038.114, Theft 
Protection and Rollaway Prevention (in effect March 30, 2011), as 
excerpted in appendix A of this part; (2) National Standard of Canada 
CAN/ULC-S338-98, Automobile Theft Deterrent Equipment and Systems: 
Electronic Immobilization (May 1998); (3) United Nations Economic 
Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) Regulation No. 97 (ECE R97), Uniform 
Provisions Concerning Approval of Vehicle Alarm System (VAS) and Motor 
Vehicles with Regard to Their Alarm System (AS) in effect August 8, 
2007; or (4) UN/ECE Regulation No. 116 (ECE R116), Uniform Technical 
Prescriptions Concerning the Protection of Motor Vehicles Against 
Unauthorized Use in effect on February 10, 2009. Manufacturers must 
also submit documentation kept to demonstrate that the device conforms 
with the performance criteria and a statement that the immobilizer 
device is durable and reliable.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: NHTSA requires this information to determine whether an 
anti-theft device a manufacturer is installing in a vehicle line is 
likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft 
as compliance with the parts-marking requirements and therefore meets 
the requirements for the grant of an exemption from part 541 parts-
marking requirements.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 12.
    There are approximately 23 vehicle manufacturers that could request 
an exemption per model year. For MYs 2017-2020, the agency received 32 
petitions for exemption from the parts-marking requirements, with 12 of 
those petitions received in the most recent year. Nine respondents 
filed under Sec.  543.6 and three respondents filed under Sec.  543.7. 
NHTSA anticipates that the number of petitions received in each of the 
next three years will be the same as the number of petitions received 
in the most recent year, i.e., approximately 12 per year.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,094.
    NHTSA estimates, based on information provided by manufacturers, 
that 226 hours will be required for exemptions requested under Sec.  
543.6, and 20 hours for exemptions requested under Sec.  543.7. The 
agency expects that, similar to 2020, nine manufacturers will choose to 
file for an exemption under Sec.  543.6 and three manufacturers will 
choose to file for an exemption under Sec.  543.7. The estimated total 
annual burden hours are shown below:

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                                                                      Average      Average time
                                                                     number of     per petition    Total annual
                                                                  petitions  per     submittal         hours
                                                                       year           (hours)
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Preparation and Submittal of Petition for Exemption under Sec.                 9             226           2,034
 543.6..........................................................
Preparation and Submittal of Petition for Exemption under Sec.                 3              20              60
 543.7..........................................................
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:........................  ..............  ..............           2,094
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    The labor cost associated with the burden hours for this collection 
is derived by (1) applying appropriate average hourly labor rate for 
``Compliance Officers,'' Occupation Code 13-1041, published by the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics,\1\ (2) dividing by 0.701 \2\ (70.1%) to 
obtain the total compensation rate for private industry workers, and 
(3) multiplying by the estimated labor hours for each exemption type.
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    \1\ May 2018 National Occupational Employment and Wage 
Estimates, United States. Business and Financial Operations 
Occupations, Compliance Officers, Occupation Code 13-1041; Mean 
Hourly Wage = $34.86. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm. 
Accessed Mar. 9, 2020.
    \2\ See Table 1 at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.

[[Page 14946]]

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                                                   Average time
                                   Hourly labor    per petition    Labor  cost/    Estimated No.   Annual labor
                                       cost          submittal       petition      of Petitions/       cost
                                                      (hours)                          Year
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Preparation and Submittal of              $49.73             226      $11,238.98               9        $101,151
 Petition for Exemption under
 Sec.   543.6...................
Preparation and Submittal of               49.73              20          994.60               3           2,984
 Petition for Exemption under
 Sec.   543.7...................
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    Estimated Annual Labor Cost   ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............        $104,135
     for This Information
     Collection:................
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost to Respondents: $0.
    NHTSA estimates that there will be no costs to respondents other 
than labor costs associated with burden hours.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspects of 
this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of 
responses.

(Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29)

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2022-05574 Filed 3-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P