Document ID: NHTSA-2023-0038-0008
Agency: nhtsa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Initial Decision: Certain Frontal Driver and Passenger Air Bag Inflators Manufactured by ARC Automotive Inc. and Delphi Automotive Systems LLC Contain a Safety Defect
Posted Date: 2023-12-07T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 234 (Thursday, December 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85358-85359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26797]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0038]

Initial Decision That Certain Frontal Driver and Passenger Air 
Bag Inflators Manufactured by ARC Automotive Inc. and Delphi Automotive 
Systems LLC Contain a Safety Defect; Second Extension of Written 
Submission Deadline

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

ACTION: Second extension of deadline for written submissions in 
response to agency's initial decision that certain frontal driver and 
passenger air bag inflators manufactured by ARC Automotive Inc. and 
Delphi Automotive Systems LLC contain a safety defect.

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SUMMARY: The original deadline for the submission of written 
information in response to the agency's Initial Decision was October 
20, 2024. NHTSA previously extended the deadline to December 4, 2023, 
and is now extending the deadline a second time. The new deadline is 
December 18, 2023.

DATES: The written submission deadline related to the Initial Decision 
published on September 8, 2023, at 88 FR 62140, is extended to December 
18, 2023.

ADDRESSES:  You may submit written submissions to the docket number 
identified in the heading of this document by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number. Note that all written

[[Page 85359]]

submissions received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. 
Please see the Privacy Act discussion below. We will consider all 
written submissions received before the close of business on Monday, 
December 18, 2023.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
written submissions received, go to https://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.
    Privacy Act: In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 30118(b)(1), NHTSA will 
make a final decision only after providing an opportunity for 
manufacturers and any interested person to present information, views, 
and arguments. DOT posts written submissions submitted by manufacturers 
and interested persons, without edit, including any personal 
information the submitter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as 
described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS)), which can be reviewed at 
www.transportation.gov/privacy.
    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 49 CFR part 512. NHTSA is currently 
treating electronic submission as an acceptable method for submitting 
confidential business information (CBI) to the agency under part 512. 
If you would like to submit a request for confidential treatment, you 
may email your submission to Ashley Simpson in the Office of the Chief 
Counsel at [email protected] or you may contact her 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 
redacted the claimed confidential business information, to the Docket 
at the address given above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashley Simpson, Office of the Chief 
Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590; (202) 366-8726.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 5, 2023, NHTSA issued an 
Initial Decision That Certain Frontal Driver and Passenger Air Bag 
Inflators Manufactured by ARC Automotive Inc. and Delphi Automotive 
Systems LLC Contain a Safety Defect pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(a) and 
49 CFR 554.10. 88 FR 62140 (Sept. 8, 2023). More specifically, NHTSA 
initially determined that certain air bag inflators manufactured by ARC 
Automotive Inc. (ARC) and Delphi Automotive Systems LLC (Delphi) 
through January 2018 may rupture when the vehicle's air bag is 
commanded to deploy, causing metal debris to be forcefully ejected into 
the passenger compartment of the vehicle, and that these rupturing air 
bag inflators pose an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death to 
vehicle occupants. In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 30118(b)(1) and 49 CFR 
554.10(c)(4), the Initial Decision provided manufacturers and any 
interested person an opportunity to present information, views, and 
arguments in response to the Initial Decision at a public meeting and/
or by submitting written information to the Agency. The Initial 
Decision scheduled the public meeting for October 5, 2023 and set a 
deadline for written submissions of October 20, 2023. NHTSA previously 
extended the written submission deadline to December 4, 2023. 88 FR 
73069.
    To provide additional opportunity for any interested person to 
present information, views, and arguments in response to the Initial 
Decision, NHTSA is providing an additional 14 days to the period during 
which interested persons can provide written submissions. The prior 
deadline of December 4, 2023 is extended, and written submissions from 
any interested person are now due on or before December 18, 2023.
    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118(a), (b); 49 CFR 554.10; delegations of 
authority at 49 CFR 1.50(a) and 49 CFR 501.8.

Eileen Sullivan,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2023-26797 Filed 12-6-23; 8:45 am]
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