Document ID: NHTSA-2023-0018-0001
Agency: nhtsa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Petition for Temporary Exemption: Shoulder Belt Requirement for Side-Facing Seats on Motorcoaches; Beat the Street Interiors, Inc.
Posted Date: 2023-04-26T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25445-25447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08801]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0018]

Beat the Street Interiors, Inc.--Receipt of Petition for 
Temporary Exemption From Shoulder Belt Requirement for Side-Facing 
Seats on Motorcoaches

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

ACTION: Notice of receipt of petition for temporary exemption; request 
for comment.

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SUMMARY: Beat the Street Interiors, Inc. (``BTS'') has petitioned NHTSA 
for a temporary exemption from a shoulder belt requirement of Federal 
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant crash 
protection,'' for side-facing seats on motorcoaches. The petitioner 
seeks to install Type 1 seat belts (lap belt only) at side-facing 
seating positions instead of Type 2 seat belts (lap and shoulder belts) 
required by FMVSS No. 208. The petitioner states that, absent the 
requested exemption, it will otherwise be unable to sell a vehicle 
whose overall level of safety or impact protection is at least equal to 
that of a nonexempted vehicle. NHTSA is publishing this document to 
notify the public of the receipt of the petition and to request comment 
on it, in accordance with statutory and administrative provisions.

DATES: If you would like to comment, you should submit your comment not 
later than June 26, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Callie Roach, Office of the Chief 
Counsel, NCC-200, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-2992; 
Fax: 202-366-3820.

ADDRESSES: You may submit your comment, identified by the docket number 
in the heading of this document, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, M-30, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, 
DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays. To be sure someone is 
there to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before coming.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number.
    Note that all comments received will be posted without change to 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. Please see the Privacy Act discussion below. NHTSA will 
consider all comments received before the close of business on the 
comment closing date indicated above. To the extent possible, NHTSA 
will also consider comments filed after the closing date.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 
except Federal Holidays. Telephone: 202-366-9826. To be sure someone is 
there to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before coming.
    Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, to www.regulations.gov, as 
described in the system of records notice, DOT/ALL-14 FDMS, accessible 
through www.dot.gov/privacy. In order to facilitate comment tracking 
and response, the agency encourages commenters to provide their name, 
or the name of their organization; however, submission of names is 
completely optional. Whether or not commenters identify themselves, all 
timely comments will be fully considered. If you wish to provide 
comments containing proprietary or confidential information, please see 
below.
    Confidential Business Information: If you wish to submit any 
information under a claim of confidentiality, you must submit your 
request directly to NHTSA's Office of the Chief Counsel. Requests for 
confidentiality are governed by part 512. NHTSA is currently treating 
electronic submission as an acceptable method for submitting 
confidential business information to the agency under part 512. If you 
would like to submit a request for confidential treatment, you may 
email your submission to Dan Rabinovitz in the Office of the Chief 
Counsel at [email protected] or you may contact Dan for a 
secure file transfer link. At this time, you should not send a 
duplicate hardcopy of your electronic CBI submissions to DOT 
headquarters. If you claim that any of the information or documents 
provided to the agency constitute confidential business information 
within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), or are protected from 
disclosure pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1905, you must submit supporting 
information together with the materials that are the subject of the 
confidentiality request, in accordance with part 512, to the Office of 
the Chief Counsel. Your request must include a cover letter setting 
forth the information specified in our confidential business 
information regulation (49 CFR 512.8) and a certificate, pursuant to 
Sec.  512.4(b) and part 512, appendix A. In addition, you should submit 
a copy, from which you have deleted the claimed confidential business 
information, to the Docket at the address given above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

a. Statutory Authority for Temporary Exemptions

    The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Safety Act), 
codified as 49 U.S.C. chapter 301, provides the Secretary of 
Transportation authority to exempt, on a temporary basis, under 
specified circumstances, and on terms the Secretary considers 
appropriate, motor vehicles from a motor vehicle safety standard or 
bumper standard. This authority and circumstances are set forth in 49 
U.S.C. 30113. The Secretary has delegated the authority for 
implementing this section to NHTSA.
    NHTSA established 49 CFR part 555, Temporary Exemption from Motor 
Vehicle Safety and Bumper Standards, to implement the statutory 
provisions concerning temporary exemptions. Under part 555 subpart A, a 
vehicle manufacturer seeking an exemption must submit a petition for 
exemption containing specified information. Among other things, the 
petition must set forth (a) the reasons why granting the exemption 
would be in the public interest and consistent with the

[[Page 25446]]

objectives of the Safety Act, and (b) required information showing that 
the manufacturer satisfies one of four bases for an exemption.\1\ The 
petitioner is applying on the basis that compliance with the standard 
would prevent the manufacturer from selling a motor vehicle with an 
overall safety level at least equal to the overall safety level of 
nonexempt vehicles (see 49 CFR 555.6(d)). A manufacturer is eligible 
for an exemption under this basis only if NHTSA determines the 
exemption is for not more than 2,500 vehicles to be sold in the U.S. in 
any 12-month period. An exemption on this basis may be granted for not 
more than two years, but may be renewed upon reapplication.\2\
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    \1\ 49 CFR 555.5(b)(5) and 555.5(b)(7).
    \2\ 555.8(b) and 555.8(e).
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b. FMVSS No. 208

    On November 25, 2013, NHTSA published a final rule amending FMVSS 
No. 208 to require seat belts for each passenger seating position in 
all new over-the-road buses (OTRBs) (regardless of gross vehicle weight 
rating (GVWR)), and all other buses with GVWRs greater than 11,793 
kilograms (kg) (26,000 pounds (lb)) (with certain exclusions).\3\
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    \3\ 78 FR 70415 (November 25, 2013); response to petitions for 
reconsideration, 81 FR 19902 (April 6, 2016). The final rule became 
effective November 28, 2016 for buses manufactured in a single 
stage, and a year later for buses manufactured in more than one 
stage.
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    In the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) preceding the final 
rule (75 FR 50958, August 18, 2010), NHTSA proposed to permit 
manufacturers the option of installing either a Type 1 (lap belt) or a 
Type 2 (lap and shoulder belt) on side-facing seats.\4\ The proposed 
option was consistent with a provision in FMVSS No. 208 that allows lap 
belts for side-facing seats on buses with a GVWR of 4,536 kg (10,000 
lbs.) or less. NHTSA proposed the option because the agency was unaware 
of any demonstrable increase in associated risks using lap belts when 
compared to using lap and shoulder belts on side-facing seats. In the 
NPRM, NHTSA noted that \5\ ``a study commissioned by the European 
Commission regarding side-facing seats on minibuses and motorcoaches 
found that due to different seat belt designs, crash modes and a lack 
of real-world data, it cannot be determined whether a lap belt or a 
lap/shoulder belt would be the most effective.'' \6\
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    \4\ 75 FR at 50971.
    \5\ 75 FR at 50971-50972.
    \6\ http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/automotive/projects/safety_consid_long_stg.pdf.
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    However, after the NPRM was published, the Motorcoach Enhanced 
Safety Act of 2012 was enacted as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress 
in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Public Law 112-141 (July 6, 2012). 
Section 32703(a) of MAP-21 directed the Secretary of Transportation 
(authority delegated to NHTSA) to ``prescribe regulations requiring 
safety belts to be installed in motorcoaches at each designated seating 
position.'' \7\ As MAP-21 defined ``safety belt'' to mean an integrated 
lap and shoulder belt, the final rule amended FMVSS No. 208 to require 
lap and shoulder belts at all designated seating positions, including 
side-facing seats, on OTRBs.\8\
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    \7\ MAP-21 states at Sec.  32702(6) that ``the term `motorcoach' 
has the meaning given the term `over-the-road bus' in section 
3038(a)(3) of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (49 
U.S.C. 5310 note), but does not include a bus used in public 
transportation provided by, or on behalf of, a public transportation 
agency; or a school bus, including a multifunction school activity 
bus.'' Section 3038(a)(3) (49 U.S.C. 5310 note) states: ``The term 
`over-the-road bus' means a bus characterized by an elevated 
passenger deck located over a baggage compartment.''
    \8\ For side-facing seats on buses other than OTRBs, in the 
final rule NHTSA permitted either lap or lap/shoulder belts at the 
manufacturer's option.
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    Even as it did so, however, the agency reiterated its view that 
``the addition of a shoulder belt at [side-facing seats on light 
vehicles] is of limited value, given the paucity of data related to 
side facing seats.'' \9\ NHTSA also reiterated that there have been 
concerns expressed in literature in this area about shoulder belts on 
side-facing seats, noting in the final rule that, although the agency 
has no direct evidence that shoulder belts may cause serious neck 
injuries when applied to side-facing seats, there are simulation data 
indicative of potential carotid artery injury when the neck is loaded 
by the shoulder belt.\10\ The agency also noted that Australian Design 
Rule ADR 5/04, ``Anchorages for Seatbelts'' specifically prohibits 
shoulder belts for side-facing seats.
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    \9\ 78 FR at 70448, quoting from the agency's Anton's Law final 
rule which required lap/shoulder belts in forward-facing rear 
seating positions of light vehicles, 59 FR 70907.
    \10\ Fildes, B., Digges, K., ``Occupant Protection in Far Side 
Crashes,'' Monash University Accident Research Center, Report No. 
294, April 2010, pg. 57.
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    Given that background, and believing there would be few side-facing 
seats on OTRBs, NHTSA stated in the November 2013 final rule that 
manufacturers may petition NHTSA for a temporary exemption under 49 CFR 
part 555 to install lap belts instead of lap and shoulder belts at 
side-facing seats.\11\ NHTSA further explained that a manufacturer 
could seek such an exemption on the basis that the applicant is 
otherwise unable to sell a vehicle whose overall level of safety is at 
least equal to that of an non-exempted vehicle, stating that the agency 
would be receptive to an argument that, for side-facing seats, lap 
belts provide an equivalent level of safety to lap and shoulder 
belts.\12\
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    \11\ 78 FR at 70448.
    \12\ Id.
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II. Receipt of Petition

    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 30113 and the procedures in 49 CFR 
part 555, BTS, a final-stage manufacturer of entertainer motorcoaches, 
submitted a petition on September 13, 2022, asking NHTSA for a 
temporary exemption from the shoulder belt requirement of FMVSS No. 208 
for side-facing seats on its vehicles. The petitioner seeks to install 
Type 1 seat belts (lap belt only) at side-facing seating positions, 
instead of Type 2 seat belts (lap and shoulder belts) as required by 
FMVSS No. 208. The basis for the petition is that compliance would 
prevent the petitioner from selling a motor vehicle with an overall 
safety level at least equal to the overall safety level of nonexempt 
vehicles (49 CFR 555.6(d)).\13\
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    \13\ The petition is similar to petitions for temporary 
exemption NHTSA received from 14 other final stage manufacturers on 
the same shoulder belt requirement of FMVSS No. 208 for side-facing 
seats on entertainer buses. The first petition was submitted by 
Hemphill Brothers Leasing Company, LLC (Hemphill). (Notice of 
receipt of petition, 84 FR 11735 (March 28, 2019); notice of grant 
of petition, 84 FR 69966 (November 14, 2019)). In its original 
petition, Hemphill stated that 39 ``other petitioners'' were covered 
by it. Later, NHTSA granted 13 additional petitions submitted by All 
Access Coach Leasing LLC, Amadas Coach, Creative Mobile Interiors, 
D&S Classic Coach Inc., Farber Specialty Vehicles, Florida Coach, 
Inc., Geomarc, Inc., Integrity Interiors LLC, Nitetrain Coach 
Company, Inc., Pioneer Coach Interiors LLC, Roberts Brothers Coach 
Company, Russell Coachworks LLC, and Ultra Coach Inc. (Notice of 
receipt of the petitions, 85 FR 51550 (August 20, 2022); notice of 
grant of petitions, 87 FR 33299 (June 1, 2022)).
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    A copy of the petition has been placed in the docket listed in the 
heading of this notice. To view the petition, go to http://www.regulations.gov and enter the docket number in the heading.

c. Brief Overview of the Petition

    BTS states that it is a final-stage manufacturer of over-the-road 
buses and customizes motorcoaches to meet the needs of its entertainer 
clients and other specialized customers. BTS states that it typically 
receives a bus shell \14\ from a manufacturer of incomplete vehicles 
and then builds out the complete

[[Page 25447]]

interior of the vehicle. The petitioner states that the motorcoaches it 
completes are primarily used for touring artists and their crews. BTS 
states that it is a small business and expects to manufacture no more 
than 14 vehicles during the exemption period.
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    \14\ The petition describes the bus shell as generally 
containing the following components: exterior frame; driver's seat; 
dash cluster, speedometer, emissions light and emissions diagnosis 
connector; exterior lighting, headlights, marker lights, turn 
signals lights, and brake lights; exterior glass, windshield and 
side lights with emergency exits; windshield wiper system; braking 
system; tires, tire pressure monitoring system and suspension; and 
engine and transmission.
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    Pursuant to 49 CFR 555.6(d), an application must provide ``[a] 
detailed analysis of how the vehicle provides the overall level of 
safety or impact protection at least equal to that of nonexempt 
vehicles.''
    BTS reiterates the agency's discussion from the November 2013 seat 
belt final rule, summarized above. BTS also references the 14 petitions 
that NHTSA has granted to other similar manufacturers.\15\ BTS states 
that NHTSA has not conducted testing on the impact or injuries to 
passengers in side-facing seats in motorcoaches, so ``there is no 
available credible data that supports requiring a Type 2 belt at the 
side-facing seating positions.'' \16\ BTS states that it believes that 
if not exempted from the requirement, BTS will be required to offer its 
customers ``a motorcoach with a safety feature that could make the 
occupants less safe, or certainly at least no more safe, than if the 
feature was not installed.'' \17\
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    \15\ BTS petition at page 2.
    \16\ Id. at page 5.
    \17\ Id. at page 6.
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    Pursuant to 49 CFR 555.5(b)(7), petitioners must state why granting 
an exemption allowing it to install Type 1 instead of Type 2 seat belts 
in side-facing seats would be in the public interest and consistent 
with the objectives of the Safety Act.
    The petitioner states that granting an exemption would enable it to 
sell vehicles with Type 1 lap belts on its side-facing seats.\18\ BTS 
further states that granting this petition will provide relief to a 
small business.\19\ Additionally, because this petition follows NHTSA 
granting 14 similar petitions, BTS states that granting this exemption 
will assist in providing a consistent, objective standard that is easy 
for manufacturers to understand and meet.\20\
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    \18\ Id.
    \19\ Id.
    \20\ Id.
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    BTS also states that it believes that an option for Type 1 belts at 
side-facing seats is consistent with the objectives of the Safety Act 
because, as stated in its petition--

an option for Type 1 or Type 2 belts at side-facing seating allows 
the manufacturer to determine the best approach to motor vehicle 
safety depending on the intended use of the vehicle and its overall 
design. This option is consistent with current analysis of the NHTSA 
along with the European Commission that indicates no demonstrable 
difference in risk between the two types of belts when installed in 
sideways-facing seats.\21\
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    \21\ Id.

    In support of its petition, BTS also states that it produces only a 
small number of motorcoaches annually, expecting to manufacture only 
about 14 motorcoaches under the period of exemption, well below the 
limit of 2,500 vehicles.\22\
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    \22\ Id.
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    The petitioner also indicates that it expects to seek to renew this 
exemption, if granted, at the end of the exemption period.\23\
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    \23\ Id. at page 7.
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III. Comment Period

    The agency seeks comment from the public on the merits of the 
petition requesting a temporary exemption, for side-facing seats, from 
FMVSS No. 208's shoulder belt requirement. NHTSA would like to make 
clear that the petitioner seeks to install lap belts at the side-facing 
seats only; it does not seek to be completely exempted from the FMVSS 
No. 208 seat belt requirement. The petitioner's request does not 
pertain to forward-facing designated seating positions on its vehicles. 
Under FMVSS No. 208, forward-facing seating positions on motorcoaches 
must have Type 2 lap and shoulder belts, and the petitioner is not 
raising issues about that requirement for forward-facing seats. After 
considering public comments and other available information, NHTSA will 
publish a notice of final action on the petition in the Federal 
Register.
    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30113; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.95 
and 501.8.

Raymond Ryan Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2023-08801 Filed 4-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P