Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Exemption for the Make Inoperative Prohibition To Accommodate People With Disabilities; OMB Control No. 2127-0635

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Exemption for the Make Inoperative Prohibition To Accommodate People With Disabilities; OMB Control No. 2127-0635

Publication: Federal Register
Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Byline: Milton E. Cooper
Date: 13 September 2022
Subjects: American Government

, Safety

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56148-56150]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19561]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2021-0094]

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 (``30-day notice'') announces that the Information
Collection Request (ICR) summarized below will be submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR
describes the nature of the information collection and its expected
burden and is a request for a reinstatement of a previously approved
information collection regarding an exemption for the make inoperative
prohibition to accommodate people with disabilities. The Federal
Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the
following information collection was published on January 12, 2022.
NHTSA received one comment on the 60-day notice. The comment generally
supported the information collection and further addressed broad issues
not discussed in this ICR. Therefore, NHTSA has concluded that it is
not necessary to make any changes to the information collection based
on the comment received for the 60-day notice.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 13, 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: For additional information or access
to background documents, contact Gunyoung Lee, Office of Rulemaking
(NRM230), 202-366-6005, Room W43-463, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, 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
the OMB.
A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting
public comments on the following information collection was published
on January 12, 2022 (87 FR 1829). NHTSA received one comment on the 60-
day notice from the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association
(NMEDA). NMEDA generally supported the information collection and
further addressed broad issues, such as managing the collected
information to enhance the benefits for the public; suggesting a
particular form for the information collection; and questioning the
label requirement which is not subject to the information collection.
NHTSA may consider those broad issues in determining the agency's next
steps regarding drivers and passengers with disabilities. However, the
agency concluded that it is not necessary to make any changes to the
information collection based on those broad issues not addressed in
this ICR.
In a March 15, 2022 final rule (87 FR 14406), NHTSA provided a make
inoperative exemption to rental companies to make inoperative a knee
bolster air bag in order to permit the installation of hand controls to
accommodate persons with physical disabilities. Regarding rental
vehicles, NHTSA solicited comment on a proposed modification to this
collection of information as part of a Supplemental Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (SNPRM) published on December 28, 2020 (85 FR 84281). NHTSA
received comments opposing a proposed requirement that a copy of a
disclosure that the vehicle may no longer comply with all applicable
FMVSSs be required to be provided in a modified rental vehicle be
separately provided to a renter at the time of transaction and be
retained by the rental company for a period of five years. As part of
the SNPRM, NHTSA assumed that this would result in an estimated
information collection burden of 1,333 hours (10 respondents x 400
responses per respondent x 0.333 hours to annotate the invoice).
NHTSA received eight comments on this proposed requirement. Five
commenters supported the requirement. One commenter argued that this
requirement was unnecessary because renters would already likely know
that the vehicle would not comply with the FMVSSs. Two commenters,
Enterprise Holdings Inc., and the American Car Rental Association
opined that this requirement would result in significant expense. After
considering these comments, NHTSA determined that this separate
notification was unnecessary and duplicative of the disclosure that
would be required to be placed in the vehicle itself. This change
eliminated the entire proposed hour burden associated with the make
inoperative exemptions, as they apply to rental companies.
Title: Exemption for the Make Inoperative Prohibition to
Accommodate People With Disabilities.
OMB Control Number: 2127-0635.
Form Number: This collection of information uses no standard form.
Type of Request: Reinstatement of a previously approved collection
of information.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Length of Approval Requested: Three (3) years from date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information:
The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (49 U.S.C.
chapter 301) authorizes NHTSA to issue Federal motor vehicle safety
standards (FMVSS) applicable to new motor vehicle and new items of
motor vehicle equipment. In addition to regulating the manufacture and
sale of new motor vehicles and items of motor vehicle equipment, the
act also prohibits certain regulated entities from knowingly making
inoperative a part of a device or element of design installed on or in
a motor vehicle or motor vehicle in

[[Page 56149]]

compliance with an applicable FMVSS (49 U.S.C. 30122). The statute
authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (NHTSA) to prescribe
regulations to exempt a regulated entity from the make inoperative
provision if such an exemption is consistent with motor vehicle safety
(49 U.S.C. 30122(c)(1)).
On February 27, 2001, NHTSA published a final rule (66 FR 12638) to
facilitate the modification of motor vehicles so that persons with
disabilities can drive or ride in them as passengers. In that final
rule, the agency issued a limited exemption from a statutory provision
that prohibits specified types of commercial entities from either
removing safety equipment or features installed on motor vehicles
pursuant to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards or altering the
equipment or features to adversely affect their performance. The
exemption is limited in that it allows repair businesses to modify only
certain types of FMVSS-required safety equipment and features, under
specified circumstances. The regulation is found at 49 CFR part 595
subpart C, ``Vehicle Modifications to Accommodate People with
Disabilities.'' The regulation includes three collections of
information: (1) a requirement for modifiers to submit identification
information to NHTSA; (2) a requirement for modifiers to provide a
document to the owner of the modified vehicle stating the exemptions
used for that vehicle and any reduction in load carrying capacity of
the vehicle of more than 100 kg (220 lbs); and (3) a requirement for
rental companies and modifiers to retain a copy of the information
provide to the owner or renter of the modified vehicle for five years.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information:
Commercial entities that modify vehicles after the first retail
sale and wish to use the exemptions offered under this rule are
required to provide NHTSA with their identification information. The
registration involves a one-time submission using NHTSA's online
Manufacturer Portal \1\ containing only the name, address, and
telephone number of the modifier and a prescribed statement that they
will modify vehicles for persons with disabilities and intend to avail
themselves of the exemptions. Any changes in the identification
information must be conveyed to the agency within 30 days. The required
information may be submitted using NHTSA's online Manufacturer
Portal.\2\ This information will be used by the agency to track
entities involved in vehicle modification for persons with disabilities
and is available to the public on NHTSA's website.
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\1\ NHTSA's Manufacturer's Portal is found at https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/mfrportal/.
\2\ Id.
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Modifiers must also provide each customer whose vehicle
modification involves the use of the make inoperative exemptions with a
list of the exemptions used in the process of modifying that
vehicle.\3\ The simplest form of this document is an annotated invoice.
No specific or special forms are required. A copy of this document must
also be retained by the modifier for five years. This document will be
used by the consumer to understand the modifications made to his/her
vehicle and their effect on vehicle safety. Similarly, rental companies
are required to retain documents related to the modification for a
period of five years. It may be requested by NHTSA in the event of an
inquiry about the safety of the modified vehicles.
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\3\ 49 CFR 595.7(b) and (e).
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Affected Public: Motor vehicle repair business and rental
companies.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 765.
For this estimate, NHTSA assumed that there are 900 businesses
making vehicle modifications for people with disabilities, and 85
percent of these (i.e., 765 businesses) will elect to use the
exemptions available under the rule.
Frequency: On occasion (e.g., a customer demands a vehicle
modification to accommodate people with disabilities, or a company
decides to become an adaptive vehicle modification business or changes
its identification information).
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,432.
This ICR is for three information collections. We estimate the
total burden hours for this ICR to be 1,432. The burden hours for the
three information collections were calculated as follows:

Information Collection 1: Requirement To Submit Identification
Information to NHTSA To Use the Exemptions

NHTSA estimates that compiling and submitting the identification
information will take approximately 10 minutes. NHTSA estimates that
there are approximately 900 businesses making vehicle modifications for
persons with disabilities in the United States and that 85 percent of
these, or 765 businesses, will elect to use the exemptions available
under the rule. After the initial registration (which occurred in
2001), NHTSA estimates that 90 businesses will either need to change
their information or become new registrants who elect to use the
exemptions each year. Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total burden hours
associated with submitting new or updated identification information is
15 hours (90 business x 10 minutes).
To calculate the labor cost associated with submitting modifier
identification information, NHTSA looked at wage estimates for the type
of personnel involved with compiling and submitting the information.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that the average hourly
wage for ``General Office Clerks'' (BLS Occupation code 43-9061) is
$16.98.\4\ The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that private
industry workers' wages represent 70.4% of total labor compensation
costs.\5\ Therefore, NHTSA estimates the hourly labor costs to be
$24.12 for ``General Office Clerks'' (BLS Occupation code 43-9061).
NHTSA estimates the total labor cost associated with the 15 burden
hours (For submitting modifier identification by ``office clerks'') to
be approximately $362. (15 x $24.12 = $361.80.)
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\4\ See May 2020 National Occupational Employment and Wage
Estimates, United States, available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm.
\5\ See Table 1. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by
ownership (Mar. 2021), available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm.
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Information Collection 2: Requirement To Provide a Document to the
Owner of the Modified Vehicle

The second information collection in part 595 is the requirement to
provide a disclosure to the vehicle owner. This disclosure is made with
each vehicle modified using exemptions under part 595. In the final
rule, we anticipated that the least costly way for a repair business to
comply with this portion of the new rule would be to annotate the
vehicle modification invoice as to the exemption, if any, involved with
each item on the invoice. The cost of preparing the invoice is not a
portion of our burden calculation, as that preparation would be done in
the normal course of business. Additionally, NHTSA's burden estimate
does not include an estimate for the time to gather the information
required for the disclosure as it is assumed that this information
would be gathered in the normal course of vehicle modification.
Instead, NHTSA estimates that the only extra burden would be incurred
for calculation of the reduction in loading-carrying capacity and
annotating the information on the invoice. NHTSA estimates the time
needed to annotate

[[Page 56150]]

the invoice is 20 minutes. NHTSA estimates that there are approximately
4,250 vehicles modified under exemptions provided by 49 CFR 595.7 each
year. Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total burden associated with
providing disclosures to vehicle owners is 1,417 hours (20 minutes x
4,250 vehicles = 1,416.67 hours).
To calculate the labor cost associated with the 1,417 burden hours
for the disclosure document requirement, NHTSA looked at the average
hourly wage for ``Mechanical Engineering Technicians'' (BLS Occupation
code 17-3027). With the BLS's average hourly wage of $28.00 (which
represents 70.4% of total compensation according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics), NHTSA estimates the hourly labor costs to be $39.78 for
``Mechanical Engineering Technicians (BLS Occupation code 17-3027).
Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total labor cost associated with the
1,417 burden hours (for providing disclosure documents to vehicle
owners by ``engineering technicians'') to be $56,368 (1,417 x $39.78 =
$56,368.28).

Information Collection 3: Retaining a Copy of the Document Provided to
Vehicle Owners

NHTSA estimates that there are no additional burden hours
associated with the requirement to retain a copy of the disclosures
provided to vehicle owners. Similarly, NHTSA estimates that there is no
burden beyond the ordinary course of business associated with the
requirement that rental companies retain records related to the
modification for a period of five years. Accordingly, there are also no
labor costs associated with this requirement.
Table 1 provides a summary of the estimated burden hours and labor
costs associated with this collection of information request.

Table 1--Burden Estimates
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Estimated
Annual burden per Average Labor cost per Total Total labor
submissions or submission hourly labor submission burden costs
responses (minutes) cost hours
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Modifier identification....................................... 90 10 $24.12 $4.02 15 $362
Disclosure document (to vehicle owners)....................... 4,250 20 39.78 13.26 1,417 56,368
Retention of a copy of document provided to vehicle owner..... 4,250 0 N/A 0.00 0 0.00
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Annual total burden hours & labor costs................... .............. .............. .............. .............. 1,432 56,730
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: NHTSA estimates that there are
no additional costs associated with this information collection
request. There will be no additional material cost associated with
complying with this requirement because no additional materials need to
be used except those used to prepare the invoice in the normal course
of business. We are assuming that it is normal and customary in the
course of vehicle modification business to prepare an invoice, to
provide a copy of the invoice to the vehicle owner, and to keep a copy
of the invoice for five years after the vehicle is delivered to the
owner in finished form.
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 1.95, 501.5 and 501.8; and DOT Order 1351.29.

Milton E. Cooper,
Director, Rulemaking Operations.
[FR Doc. 2022-19561 Filed 9-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P