83 FR 22744 - Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 95 (May 16, 2018)

This document solicits public comments on continuation of the requirements for the collection of information entitled ``Consolidated Child Restraint System Registration, Labeling and Defect Notifications'' (OMB Control Number: 2127-0576) and the accuracy of the revised agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection. Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 95 (Wednesday, May 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22744-22749]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10427]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2018-0063]


Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping Requirements

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

ACTION: Reinstatement of a previously approved collection of 
information.

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SUMMARY: This document solicits public comments on continuation of the 
requirements for the collection of information entitled ``Consolidated 
Child Restraint System Registration, Labeling and Defect 
Notifications'' (OMB Control Number: 2127-0576) and the accuracy of the 
revised agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information 
collection.
    Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the 
public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit 
public comment on proposed collections of information, including 
extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections.

DATES: You should submit your comments early enough to ensure that 
Docket Management receives them no later than July 16, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by the DOT Docket ID 
Number above) by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://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: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, 20590-0001 between 
9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Regardless of how you submit your comments, you should mention the 
docket number of this document. You may call the Docket at 202-366-
9324. Please identify the proposed collection of information for which 
a comment is provided, by referencing its OMB clearance number. It is 
requested, but not required, that two copies of the comment be 
provided.
    Note that all comments received will be posted without change to 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78).
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Complete copies of each request for 
collection of information may be obtained at no charge from Cristina 
Echemendia, U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, West Building Room W43-447, NRM-130, Washington, DC 20590. 
Cristina Echemendia's telephone number is 202-366-6345 and fax number 
is 202-366-7002. Please identify the relevant collection of information 
by referring to its OMB Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
before an agency submits a proposed collection of information to OMB 
for approval, it must first publish a document in the Federal Register 
providing a 60-day comment period and otherwise consult with members of 
the public and affected agencies concerning each proposed collection of 
information. The OMB has promulgated regulations describing what must 
be included in such a document. Under OMB's regulation (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;
    (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 
comments on the following proposed collection of information:
    Title: ``Consolidated Child Restraint System Registration, Labeling 
and Defect Notifications.''
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0576.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: Three years from the 
approval date.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement of a previously approved collection.
    Affected Public: Businesses, Individuals and Households.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: Child restraint 
manufacturers are required to provide an owner's registration card for 
purchasers of child safety seats in accordance with title 49 of the 
Code of Federal Regulation (CFR), part 571-section 213, ``Child 
restraint systems.'' The registration card is perforated into two-parts 
(see Figures 1 and 2). The top part contains a message and suitable 
instructions to be retained by the purchaser. The bottom part is to be 
returned to the manufacturer by the purchaser. The bottom part includes 
prepaid return postage, the pre-printed name/address of the 
manufacturer, the pre-printed model and date of manufacture, and spaces 
for the purchaser to fill in his/her name and address. Optionally, 
child restraint manufacturers are permitted to add to the registration 
form: (a) Specified statements informing child restraint system (CRS) 
owners that they may register online; (b) the internet address for 
registering with the company; (c) revisions to statements reflecting 
use of the internet to register; and (d) a space for the consumer's 
email address. For those CRS owners with access to the internet, online 
registration may be a preferred method of registering a CRS.
    In addition to the registration card supplied by the manufacturer, 
NHTSA has implemented a CRS registration system to assist those 
individuals who have either lost the registration card that came with 
the CRS or purchased a previously owned CRS. Upon the owner's request, 
NHTSA provides a substitute registration form that can be obtained 
either by mail or from the internet \1\ (see Figure 3). When the 
completed registration is returned to the agency, it is then submitted 
to the CRS manufacturers. In the absence of a substitute registration 
system, many owners of child passenger safety seats, especially any 
second-hand owners, might not be notified of safety defects and non-
compliances, and would not have the defects and non-compliances 
remedied.
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    \1\ http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/register/childseat/csregfrm.pdf.
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    Child seat owner registration information is retained in the event 
that owners need to be contacted for defect recalls or replacement 
campaigns. Chapter 301 of title 49 of the United States Code specifies 
that if either NHTSA or a manufacturer determines that motor vehicles 
or items of motor

[[Page 22746]]

vehicle equipment contain a defect that relates to motor vehicle safety 
or fail to comply with an applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard, the manufacturer must notify owners and purchasers of the 
defect or noncompliance and must provide a remedy without charge. In 
title 49 of the CFR, part 577, defect and noncompliance notification 
for equipment items, including child restraint systems, must be sent by 
first class mail to the most recent purchaser known to the 
manufacturer.
    Child restraint manufacturers are also required to provide a 
printed instructions brochure with step-by-step information on how the 
restraint is to be used. Without proper use, the effectiveness of these 
systems is greatly diminished. Each child restraint system must also 
have a permanent label. A permanently attached label gives 
``quicklook'' information on whether the restraint meets the safety 
requirements, recommended installation and use, and warnings against 
misuse. CRSs equipped with internal harnesses to restrain children, and 
with components to attach to a child restraint anchorage system, are 
also required to be labeled with a child weight limit for using the 
lower anchors to attach the child restraint to the vehicle. The child 
weight limit depends upon the weight of the CRS.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 99,330 hours.
    The total burden hours for this collection consist of: (1) The 
hours spent by consumers filling out the registration form, (2) the 
hours spent collecting registration information and (3) the hours spent 
determining the maximum allowable child weight for lower anchor use and 
adding the information to the existing label and instruction manual.
    NHTSA estimates that 14,500,000 CRSs are currently sold each year 
by 29 CRS manufacturers. Of the CRSs sold each year, NHTSA estimates 
that 2,147,504 are registered using registration cards and 421,895 are 
registered online. A consumer spends approximately 60 seconds (1 
minute) filling out the registration form. The estimated annual number 
of burden hours for consumers to fill out the registration form is 
42,823 hours (= 2,569,400 x (60 seconds/3,600 seconds/hour)). 
Manufacturers must spend about 90 seconds (1.5 min) to enter the 
information from each returned registration card; while, online 
registrations are considered to have no burden for the manufacturer, as 
the information is entered by the purchaser. Therefore, the estimated 
annual number of burden hours for CRS registration information 
collection is 53,688 hours (= 2,147,504 x (90 seconds/3,600 seconds/
hour)).
    About 10,150,000 of the CRSs sold each year are equipped with 
internal harnesses. About half of the CRSs equipped with internal 
harnesses sold annually (5,075,000 = 10,150,000 x 0.5) would require a 
label with the maximum allowable child weight for using the lower 
anchors. Manufacturers must spend about 2 seconds to determine the 
maximum allowable child weight for lower anchor use and to add the 
information to the existing label and instruction manual. Therefore, 
the total annual burden hours for the information on the maximum 
allowable child weight in the existing label and instruction manual is 
2,819 hours (= 5,075,000 x (2 seconds/3,600 seconds/hour)).
    The estimated total annual number of burden hours is 99,330 (= 
42,823 + 53,688 + 2,819) hours. The total estimated hour burden 
increased from 40,497 hours in the 2015 information collection notice 
to 99,330 burden hours (a 58,833 burden hour increase). The increase in 
burden is due to the inclusion of the burden hours to consumers for 
filling the registration form and due to an increase in CRS sales. In 
2015, NHTSA estimated that approximately 10,600,000 CRSs are sold each 
year while NHTSA's estimate in 2018 increased to 14,500,000 CRSs.
    Comments are invited on: Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P

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    Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 
1.95 and 501.8.
Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2018-10427 Filed 5-15-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-C