49 CFR Part 571

We are proposing to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 206, Door locks and door retention components, in order to add and update requirements and test procedures and to harmonize with the world’s first global technical regulation for motor vehicles.

The draft environmental assessment evaluates the potential environmental impacts associated with NHTSA’s proposed action to set Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards for model year 2008-2011 light trucks. This document describes the environment and resources that might be affected by the proposed light truck CAFE standards for model years 2008-2011, and assesses estimated impacts of alternative actions.

This final rule establishes a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 226, "Ejection Mitigation" to reduce the partial and complete ejection of vehicle occupants through side windows in crashes, particularly rollover crashes. The standard applies to the side windows next to the first three rows of seats, and to a portion of the cargo area behind the first or second rows, in motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 4,536 kilogram (kg) or less (10,000 pounds (lb) or less). To assess compliance, the agency is adopting a test in which an impactor is propelled from inside a test vehicle toward the windows. The ejection mitigation safety system is required to prevent the impactor from moving more than a specified distance beyond the plane of a window.

This proposes to establish a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 136 to require electronic stability control (ESC) systems on truck tractors and certain buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of greater than 11,793 kilograms (26,000 pounds). ESC systems in truck tractors and large buses are designed to reduce untripped rollovers and mitigate severe understeer or oversteer conditions that lead to loss of control by using automatic computer-controlled braking and reducing engine torque output. In 2012, we expect that about 26 percent of new truck tractors and 80 percent of new buses affected by this proposed rule will be equipped with ESC systems. We believe that ESC systems could prevent 40 to 56 percent of untripped rollover crashes and 14 percent of loss-of-control crashes. By requiring that ESC systems be installed on truck tractors and large buses, this proposal would prevent 1,807 to 2,329 crashes, 649 to 858 injuries, and 49 to 60 fatalities at less than $3 million per equivalent life saved, while generating positive net benefits.

EPA and NHTSA are issuing this joint proposal to establish a National Program consisting of new standards for light-duty vehicles that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy. EPA is proposing greenhouse gas emissions standards under the Clean Air Act, and NHTSA is proposing Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended. These standards apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles, covering model years 2012 through 2016, and represent a harmonized and consistent National Program. Under the National Program, automobile manufacturers would be able to build a single light-duty national fleet that satisfies all requirements under both programs while ensuring that consumers still have a full range of vehicle choices.

49 CFR Part 563

EDRs in Vehicles

NOTE: In Table III of this document, the accuracy specification for the "Frontal air bag deployment, time to deploy/first stage, driver" should read +/- 2 ms. We have determined that the missing number is a typographical error that is not present in the originally signed notice. A correction notice to fix this error will soon be published in the Federal Register.

49 CFR Part 595

Regarding trailers with antilock brake systems being equipped with an external antilock malfunction indicator lamp

49 CFR Part 571

49 CFR Part 571,596