2018-10427. Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping Requirements

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Reinstatement of a previously approved collection of information.

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: [phone].

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.

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 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 × (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 × (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 × 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 × (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.

Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8.

Raymond R. Posten,

Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.

Footnotes

1.  http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/​cars/​problems/​recalls/​register/​childseat/​csregfrm.pdf.