[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 189 (Friday, September 29, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50476-50477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-24123]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR 552, 554, 573, 576, and 577
[Docket No. 93-68, Notice 7]
Defect and Noncompliance Reports; Record Retention; Defect and
Noncompliance Notification Establishment of Effective Date
AGENCY: .National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
ACTION: Establishment of effective date of certain amendments currently
under reconsideration; clarification.
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SUMMARY: This document clarifies that the effective date of several of
the amendments to NHTSA's defect investigation and reporting
regulations that were published in the Federal Register on April 5,
1995 (60 FR 17254) will be January 2, 1996. These amendments--to 49 CFR
Part 576 (record retention) and 49 CFR sections 573.5(c)(8) (recall
schedule); 573.7 (leased vehicle recordkeeping); and 577.5(h) (recall
notification of lessees)--are currently the subject of petitions for
reconsideration. To allow the agency the opportunity to consider the
issues raised by the petitions for reconsideration, NHTSA indefinitely
suspended the effectiveness of those amendments on July 7, 1995 (60 FR
35458). In response to advice from the Office of the Federal Register
that it is not proper to have rules in place without a definite
effective date, NHTSA is establishing January 2, 1996 as the effective
date of the identified amendments. All other amendments made by the
April 5, 1995 final rule went into effect on July 7, 1995.
EFFECTIVE DATES: Effective May 4, 1995, the effective date of the April
5, 1995 amendments to 49 CFR Part 576 and 49 CFR 573.5(c)(8), 573.7 and
577.5(h) is January 2, 1996, and the effective date of all other
amendments made by the April 5, 1995 final rule is July 7, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jonathan D. White, Office of Defects Investigation, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Room 5319,
Washington, DC 20590; (202) 366-5227.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By final rule published in the Federal
Register on April 5, 1995 (60 FR 17254), NHTSA amended several
provisions of its defect investigation and reporting regulations. The
effective date of those amendments was originally to be May 5, 1995.
However, shortly before May 5, NHTSA received several petitions for
reconsideration of certain of those amendments as well as requests for
postponement of the effective date of the entire final rule.
NHTSA was unable to act on those requests prior to May 5. Thus, by
notice published on May 16, 1995 (60 FR 26002), the agency rescinded
the May 5, 1995 effective date and adopted a new effective date of July
7, 1995 for all of the April 5 amendments.
In June 1995, NHTSA decided that it wished to gather and consider
additional information on certain of the amendments that were
identified in the petitions for reconsideration. The agency decided
that those amendments--to 49 CFR Part 576 (record retention) and 49 CFR
sections 573.5(c)(8) (recall schedule); 573.7 (leased vehicle
recordkeeping); and 577.5(h) (recall notification of lessees)--should
not go into effect until the completion of the reconsideration process.
Therefore, by notice published in the Federal Register on July 7, 1995
(60 FR 35458), NHTSA suspended the effective date of those four
amendments ``until further notice.''
NHTSA has been advised by the Office of the Federal Register that
it is not appropriate to have rules in place without a definite
effective date and that
[[Page 50477]]
the agency should have indicated in the May 16, 1995 notice that the
July 7, 1995 effective date was retroactively established as of May 4,
1995. To address these problems and to alleviate any potential
ambiguity regarding the effectiveness of these amendments, NHTSA is
issuing this notice to clarify that, effective May 4, 1995, the
effective date of the amendments to 49 CFR Part 576, Record Retention,
and 49 CFR 573.5(c)(8) (recall schedule), 573.7 (leased vehicle
recordkeeping), and 577.5(h) (recall notification of lessees) that were
published on April 5, 1995 will be January 2, 1996. All other
amendments made by the April 5, 1995 final rule became effective on
July 7, 1995.
Issued on: September 21, 1995.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 95-24123 Filed 9-23-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-M
