Source: http://thefederalregister.com/2012/08/30/2012-21468.html
Timestamp: 2017-12-16 20:34:45
Document Index: 286833189

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 595', 'art 595', 'art 595', 'art 595', 'art 595', 'art 595', 'art 121', 'art 1320', 'art 595', '§ 595']

Federal Register | Make Inoperative Exemptions; Retrofit On-Off Switches for Air
[Docket No. NHTSA-2012-0078]
RIN 2127-AL19
SUMMARY: NHTSA has a regulation that permits motor vehicle dealers and repair businesses to install retrofit on-off switches for air bags in vehicles owned by or used by persons whose request for a switch has been approved by the agency. This regulation is only available for motor vehicles manufactured before September 1, 2012. This document extends the availability of this regulation for three additional years, so that it applies to motor vehicles manufactured before September 1, 2015.
DATES: Effective Date:This rule is effective August 30, 2012.Petitions:Petitions for reconsideration must be received by October 15, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Any petitions for reconsideration should refer to the docket number of this document and be submitted to: Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Washington, DC 20590.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues:Ms. Carla Rush, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202-366-1740, fax 202-493-2739). For legal issues:Mr. William Shakely, Office of the Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202-366-2992, fax 202-366-3820).
Table of Contents I. Background II. NPRM Summary III. Discussion of Comments and Agency Decision IV. Rulemaking Analyses and Notices I. Background1
1For a more detailed discussion, see the June 8, 2012 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (77 FR 33998).
In the 1990s, while air bags proved to be highly effective in reducing fatalities from frontal crashes, they were found to cause a small number of fatalities, especially to unrestrained, out-of-position children, in relatively low speed crashes.2 To address this problem, NHTSA developed a plan that included an array of immediate, interim and long-term measures. As one of the interim measures, on November 21, 1997, NHTSA published in theFederal Register(62 FR 62406) a final rule permitting motor vehicle dealers and repair businesses to install retrofit on-off switches for frontal air bags in vehicles owned by or used by persons whose request for a switch had been approved by the agency (subpart B of 49 CFR Part 595). This rule provided a limited exemption from a statutory provision that generally prohibits motor vehicle dealers and repair businesses from making inoperative any part of a device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment in compliance with an applicable FMVSS.3
2See preamble to agency final rule on advanced air bags, 65 FR 30680, 30682-83, May 12, 2000.
3The “make inoperative” provision is at 49 U.S.C. 30122.
Under the procedures set forth in the 1997 rule, vehicle owners can request a retrofit air bag on-off switch by completing an agency request form (Appendix B of Part 595) and submitting the form to the agency. Owners must certify that they have read the information brochure, in Appendix A of Part 595, discussing air bag safety and risks. The brochure describes the steps that the vast majority of people can take to minimize the risk of serious injuries from air bags while preserving the benefits of air bags, without going to the expense of buying an on-off switch. The agency developed the brochure to enable owners to determine whether they are, or a user of their vehicle is, in one of the groups of people at risk of a serious air bag injury and to make a careful, informed decision about requesting an on-off switch.4 Owners also must certify that they or another user of their vehicle is a member of one of the risk groups. Since the risk groups for drivers are different from those for passengers, a separate certification must be made on the request form for each frontal air bag to be equipped with a retrofit air bag on-off switch.
4At NHTSA's request, an expert panel of physicians convened to formulate recommendations on specific medical indications for air bag deactivation. The panel concluded that air bags are effective lifesavers and that a medical condition does not warrant turning off an air bag unless the condition makes it impossible for a person to maintain an adequate distance from the air bag. Specifically, the panel recommended disconnecting an air bag if a safe sitting distance or position cannot be maintained by a: driver or front passenger because of scoliosis, osteoporosis/arthritis; driver because of achondroplasia; or passenger because of Down syndrome and atlantoaxial instability. The panel also warranted the disconnection of air bags if the need for wheelchair related modifications made it necessary or if there is a medical condition that requires an infant or child to be placed in the front passenger seat for monitoring purposes. (The Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine and The National Crash Analysis Center, “National Conference on Medical Indications for Air Bag Disconnection,” July 16-18, 1997.)
If NHTSA approves a request, the agency will send the owner a letter authorizing the installation of one or more on-off switches in the owner's vehicle. The owner may give the authorization letter to a dealer or repair business, which may then install an on-off switch for the driver or passenger air bag or both, as approved by the agency. The retrofit air bag on-off switch must meet certain criteria, such as being equipped with a telltale light to alert vehicle occupants when an air bag has been turned off. The dealer or repairbusiness must then fill in information about itself and its installation in a form in the letter and return the form to the agency.
On May 12, 2000, NHTSA published in theFederal Register(65 FR 30680) its final rule to require advanced frontal air bags. The rule required that future air bags be designed to reduce the risk of serious air bag-induced injuries compared to then-current air bags, particularly for small-statured women and young children; and provide improved frontal crash protection for all occupants, by means that include advanced air bag technology.
In addition to the exemption provided by subpart B of Part 595, on February 27, 2001, NHTSA published a final rule in theFederal Register(66 FR 12638) providing a limited exemption from the make inoperative prohibition covering various provisions in a number of safety standards, to facilitate the mobility of persons with disabilities. This disability exemption, which is in subpart C of Part 595, permits the installation of air bag on-off switches or the permanent disconnection of air bags in certain, significantly more limited circumstances than provided for in subpart B of that part. However, unlike subpart B, prior agency approval is not required for an exemption under subpart C.
The comment period for the NPRM closed on July 9, 2012. The agency received two comments. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) supported the proposed extension.5 Advocates stated that although advances in air bag design and other vehicle safety systems have minimized the need for air bag on-off switches, the organization recognized a continuing need for on-off switches to accommodate certain at-risk individuals who could not be accommodated by current technologies, including individuals with disabilities or certain medical conditions, as well as younger passengers in child restraint systems in vehicles without rear seats. Advocates asserted that a three-year extension of the exemption procedures to allow timely review of the regulation by the agency will pose minimal risk and permit the regulation to be updated to reflect state-of-the-art safety technology.
5Advocates Comment, Docket No. NHTSA-2012-0078-0002.
The National Automobile Dealer Association (NADA), an organization representing automobile and truck dealers, urged NHTSA to conduct a more expeditious evaluation of the air bag on-off exemption regulation than the three-year period proposed in the NPRM.6 NADA asserted that it should not take NHTSA long to conduct an analysis of the number and nature of switch installation and air bag deactivation requests received since the regulation was promulgated. NADA cited anecdotal evidence that information requests submitted to NADA by dealerships regarding the air bag on-off exemption have dropped to near zero. NADA asserted that this evidence indicated a drop in demand for retrofit on-off switches and air bag deactivations consistent with the rate at which advanced air bags and switch-equipped two-passenger vehicles have penetrated the market.
6NADA Comment, Docket No. NHTSA-2012-0078-0003.
Additionally, as explained in the NPRM, the three-year extension period is intended not only to provide the agency time to evaluate this issue, but to potentially conduct rulemaking to update subpart B. Finally, NADA did not describe any benefits that would result from a shorter extension period or any consequences associated with the three-year period proposed in theNPRM. Therefore, for the reasons expressed in the NPRM, this final rule adopts the three-year extension period proposed in the NPRM and amends Subpart B of 49 CFR Part 595 to extend the availability of retrofit on-off switches for air bags so that it will apply to motor vehicles manufactured before September 1, 2015.
IV. Rulemaking Analyses and Notices A. Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, E.O. 13563, and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures
Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601et seq.,as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) of 1996), whenever an agency is required to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking or final rule, it must prepare and make available for public comment a regulatory flexibility analysis that describes the effect of the rule on small entities (i.e., small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions). The Small Business Administration's regulations at 13 CFR part 121 define a small business, in part, as a business entity “which operates primarily within the United States.” (13 CFR 121.105(a)). No regulatory flexibility analysis is required if the head of an agency certifies the proposal will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. SBREFA amended the Regulatory Flexibility Act to require Federal agencies to provide a statement of the factual basis for certifying that a proposal will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
This second way that NHTSA rules can preempt is dependent upon there being an actual conflict between a NHTSA regulation and the higher standard that would effectively be imposed on regulated entities if someone obtained a State common law tort judgment against a regulated entity, notwithstanding the regulated entity's compliance with the NHTSA regulation. Because most NHTSA standards established by an FMVSS are minimum standards, a State common law tort cause of action that seeks to impose a higher standard on regulated entities will generally not be preempted. However, if and when such a conflict does exist—for example, when the standard at issue is both a minimum and a maximum standard—the State common law tort cause of action is impliedly preempted. SeeGeierv.American Honda Motor Co.,529 U.S. 861 (2000).
Although this final rule does not establish, amend, or revoke an FMVSS,NHTSA has considered, pursuant to Executive Orders 13132 and 12988, whether this final rule could or should preempt State common law causes of action. The agency's ability to announce its conclusion regarding the preemptive effect of one of its rules reduces the likelihood that preemption will be an issue in any subsequent tort litigation.
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 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. Several of the conditions placed by this exemption from the make inoperative prohibition are considered to be information collection requirements as defined by the OMB in 5 CFR part 1320. Specifically, this exemption from the make inoperative prohibition for motor vehicle dealers and repair businesses is conditioned upon vehicle owners filling out and submitting a request form to the agency, obtaining an authorization letter from the agency and then presenting the letter to a dealer or repair business. The exemption is also conditioned upon the dealer or repair business filling in information about itself and the installation of the retrofit on-off switch in the form provided for that purpose in the authorization letter and then returning the form to NHTSA. These information collection requirements in Part 595 have been approved by OMB (OMB Control No. 2127-0588) through June 30, 2013, pursuant to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501et seq). NHTSA will request an extension of this approval in a timely manner.
Petitions for reconsideration will be placed in the docket. Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all petitions received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the petition (or signing thepetition, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in theFederal Registerpublished on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78).
2. Amend § 595.5 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:
Issued on: August 24, 2012. David L. Strickland, Administrator.