Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. 93-68; Notice 9]

Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for public comment on proposed collections of

information.

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SUMMARY: Before a Federal agency can require collection of certain

information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office

of Management and Budget (OMB). Under new procedures established under

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval,

Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of

information, including extensions and reinstatements of previously

approved collections. This document describes a proposed collection of

information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments must refer to the notice and docket numbers cited

at the beginning of this notice and be submitted to Docket Section,

Room 5109, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590.

Please identify the proposed collection of information for which a

comment is provided as the Proposed Part 577 Information Collection. It

is requested, but not required, that one (1) original plus two (2)

copies of the comments be provided. The Docket Section is open on

weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Complete copies of each NHTSA request

for OMB approval of a collection of information may be obtained at no

charge from Mr. Edward Kosek, NHTSA Information Collection Clearance

Officer, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Room 5110, Washington, DC

20590. The telephone number is (202) 366-2589.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before an agency submits

a proposed collection of information to OMB for approval, it must

publish a document soliciting public comments in the Federal Register,

with a 60-day comment period, and otherwise consult with members of the

public and affected agencies concerning each proposed collection of

information. OMB has promulgated regulations describing what must be

included in the Federal Register document. Under OMB's regulations

(found at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an agency must ask for public comment on

the following:

(i) 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;

(ii) 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;

(iii) How to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the

information to be collected; and

(iv) How to minimize the burden of the collection of information on

those who are to respond, 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.

In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA asks for public

comment on the following proposed collection of information:

Amendment to Part 577 Requirements for Notification of Dealers by

Manufacturers of Motor Vehicles or Motor Vehicle Equipment with Safety-

Related Defects or Noncompliances with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standards

Type of Request--Clearance for new collection.

OMB Clearance Number--Not applicable. New collection.

Form Number--This collection of information uses no standard forms.

Requested Expiration Date for Approval--Three years after date of

approval.

Summary of the Collection of Information--This collection of

information applies to manufacturers of motor vehicles and items of

motor vehicle equipment when it is decided that a vehicle or item of

equipment they manufacture contains a safety-related defect or fails to

comply with a Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS).

Manufacturers are required by statute to notify dealers when it is

decided that safety-related defects or noncompliances exist. The agency

has proposed an amendment to 49 CFR Part 577, Defect and Noncompliance

Notification, to establish a time limit within which the manufacturers

must notify the dealers and to require that certain information about

dealer rights and responsibilities with respect to the defective or

noncomplying vehicles or equipment be included in the notification.

Description of the Need for Information and Proposed Use of the

Information--Dealers of vehicles or equipment that are the subject of

safety recalls need to receive notification of safety recalls from

manufacturers promptly after the decision is made to recall, including

information about the prohibition against selling from inventory

vehicles that have been determined to be subject to recall. This prompt

notification will minimize the likelihood that dealers will sell unsafe

vehicles or equipment from their inventories before the defect or

noncompliance is remedied. It is also necessary for dealers to be

informed of their statutory rights vis a vis manufacturers so that they

will not fail to participate in recalls due to erroneous beliefs about

who must bear financial responsibility for providing the remedy for the

defect or noncompliance.

Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number)

and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of Information--

The estimated number of vehicle and equipment manufacturers subject to

this rule is 500. The agency estimates that in any given year the

number of safety recalls is approximately 300, based on the average

number of recalls per year from 1993 through 1996. A manufacturer is

required to provide notification in compliance with this rule only if

it is conducting a safety recall. The frequency of response to the

collection of information depends on the number of safety recalls a

manufacturer conducts.

Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden

Resulting from the Collection of Information--The hour burden on

respondents from the final rule will arise from the time manufacturers

will spend in rewriting their dealer notification letters to include

the additional information specified in the rule, and in writing

letters to NHTSA to request a delay in providing dealer notification

beyond the five days specified in the rule.

The agency estimates that the average time needed for a

manufacturer to revise the language of a dealer notification letter to

include the newly-required language will be \1/2\ hour. This is based

on the assumption that most manufacturers use a form letter as the

basis for their dealer notification letters; and that those few that do

not do so experience very few, if any, recalls in a year.

The total number of hours needed for all 500 potentially affected

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manufacturers to modify their dealer notification letters is 250 hours

(500 manufacturers x \1/2\ hour letter modification time). However,

the agency estimates that in any given year that 85 percent of the 300

annual recalls are conducted by approximately 50 manufacturers who

conduct more than one safety recall per year on a regular basis. The

remaining 45 recalls per year (15 percent) are conducted by

manufacturers who conduct recalls on an infrequent basis. In year one

the agency estimates that all 50 of the manufacturers who conduct

recalls on a regular basis along with 45 manufacturers who conduct

recalls on an infrequent basis will have to modify their dealer

notification letters, resulting in 95 out of the 500 affected

manufacturers having to modify their dealer notification letters in

year one. In years two through ten 45 of the remaining 405 remaining

manufacturers who conduct recalls infrequently will have to modify

their dealer notification letters each year. This would result in an

annual hour burden of 47.5 hours for the first year (95 affected

manufacturers x \1/2\ hour letter modification time) and 22.5 hours

for the second through tenth years (45 affected manufacturers per year

x \1/2\ hour letter modification time).

This burden will be a one-time occurrence because the rule will

impose little or no time burden for recalls after the first one a

manufacturer conducts after revising its dealer notification letter.

Manufacturers are already required by statute to notify their dealers

about safety recalls. This rule does not alter the information that a

manufacturer is now required to provide to dealers about individual

recalls.

The agency expects that for 20 percent of the safety recalls

conducted annually--or about 60--the manufacturer will request a delay

in sending dealer notification. The agency estimates that the average

preparation time for such a letter will be about \1/2\ hour.

Accordingly, the total annual hour burden hours for preparing letters

requesting a delay in providing dealer notification will be about 30

hours (60 recalls x \1/2\ hour per recall).

The agency estimates that the total annual hour burden on

respondents of the information collection requirement of this final

rule will be 30 hours, plus a one-time burden of 250 hours, spread over

a period of ten years.

The agency estimates that the hourly labor cost for manufacturers

for revising the dealer notification letters will be $50. With the

estimated \1/2\ hour needed to revise the letter for each of 500

manufacturers, the total labor cost of revising the dealer notification

letters would be $12,500. Since the number of safety recalls per year

is approximately 300, not all manufacturers will incur the cost of

revising the letter in the same year. If 95 manufacturers modify their

dealer notification letters in year one and 45 of the remaining 405

manufacturers modify their dealer notification letters in years two

through ten, the cost would be spread over a minimum of ten years. This

would result in an annual cost burden of $2,375 for the first year and

$1,125 per year for the second through tenth years.

As stated earlier, the burden is likely to be a one-time occurrence

in most cases, since most manufacturers use form notifications that

will only need to be revised once. After a manufacturer has revised its

form notification, the cost of subsequent letters will be no greater

than that for the notification that a manufacturer is presently

required by statute to send to dealers.

The agency estimates that the labor cost to manufacturers for

preparation of requests for delay of dealer notification will also be

about $50 per hour. Thus, for 60 such requests per year, with an

average preparation time of \1/2\ hour each, the annual labor cost to

manufacturers will be approximately $1,500.

In summary, the agency estimates that the total annual cost to

respondents will be approximately $1,500, plus a one-time-only cost of

$12,500, spread over a period of ten years.

There is no recordkeeping burden associated with this rulemaking.

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3506(c); delegation of authority at 49 CFR

1.50.

Dated: November 24, 1997.

Kenneth N. Weinstein,

Associate Administrator For Safety Assurance.

[FR Doc. 97-31363 Filed 11-28-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910-59-P