Interpretation ID: nht92-5.44

DATE: June 25, 1992

FROM: Donald W. Vierimaa -- Vice President - Engineering, Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association

TO: Fred Grubbe -- Acting Administrator, NHTSA

COPYEE: TTMA Engineering Committee; Tank Conference Engineering Committee; Brake Associates; Larry Strawhorn -- American Trucking Associations; Hank Seiff -- Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association; Andrew H. Card, Jr. - Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation

TITLE: Subject: Petition to Extend the Comment Period for Docket No. 92-29; Notice 1 - Stability and Control Requirements for Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicles

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 8/7/92 from Barry Felrice to Donald W. Vierimaa (A39; Std. 121)

TEXT:

The advance notice of proposed rulemaking, Docket No. 92-29; Notice 1, asks 32 questions pertaining to a proposed requirement to equip trucks, truck tractors, and trailers with antilock braking systems (ABS). This notice issued in the June 8th Federal Register requests comments by August 7th. We petition for an extension of the comment period for another 60 days.

We are disappointed that you have not responded to our petition of April 23, 1992 (enclosed) which requested a comment period of 120 calendar days for any major proposed rulemaking. The proposed requirement for ABS is considered by trailer manufacturers as a major proposed rulemaking. You have also requested comments on ABS even though testing has not been completed nor have test reports on completed testing been issued.

When we petition DOT for rulemaking, we often wait months and even years for a decision. Yet, when you propose rulemaking, you request comments within 60 days. Please provide us with the same amount of time to comment on proposed rulemaking as you require in responding to our petitions for rulemaking.

Enclosure

Letter dated 4/23/92 from Donald W. Vierimaa (TTMA) to Andrew H. Card, Jr., DOT Secretary. Text of letter:

We petition that any major proposed rulemaking issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Highway Administration, or Research and Special Programs Administration allow a public comment period of at least ninety (90) calendar days (approximately 63 working days) and preferable one hundred twenty (120) calendar days.

Typically, a DOT agency will spend months or even years developing a proposed rulemaking, then ask the public for comments within 30 to 60 calendar days, and then spend several months or years analyzing the comments before issuing a final rule.

Several examples of comment closing dates follow.

Comment Extended Published Comment Period Comment Docket Subject Date Closing (calendar Closing days) date)

HM-183 Cargo Tank Requirements 9/17/85 2/11/86 150

HM-198A Elevated Temperature 9/21/89 11/20/89 60 2/20/90 Materials

FS-1 Safeguarding Food During 2/20/91 3/26/91 35 4/29/91 Transportation

91-21; N1 Automatic air brake 5/3/91 6/17/91 45 adjustment

80-9; N4 Conspicuity 12/4/91 2/3/92 60 3/31/92

1-11; N9 Rear Impact Guard 1/3/92 3/4/92 60* 6/8/92 & Protection

(*) 41 working days

We have 86 member manufacturers of trailers and two engineering committees, one of which is concerned with tank vehicles and the other concerned with non-tank trailers. These committees meet about every three months. The following is a typical handling of our response to major rulemakings listed by your agencies.

Day Activity

1 Published In Federal Register 4 Federal Register received by TTMA 6 Proposed rulemaking mailed to members 10 Proposed rulemaking received by members 20 Task Force drafts response to proposed rule 24 Draft received by TTMA office 29 Draft reviewed and mailed to members 33 Draft received by members 40 Comments on draft mailed to TTMA office 44 Comments received by TTMA office 48 Comments compiled and a second draft mailed to members 52 Second draft received by members 59 Comments on second draft mailed to TTMA office 63 Comments received by TTMA office 67 Comments compiled and final draft mailed to members 71 Final draft received by members 78 Approval and/or comments mailed to TTMA office 82 Approvals and comments received by TTMA office 90 Final comment submitted to DOT agency

The above scenario does not include discussion at a regularly scheduled engineering meeting. If a proposed rule is very complex or controversial, it may not be possible to draft a response to the rule without holding a meeting.

In this situation, a 120 day comment period would likely be needed. In the case of Docket 80-9; Notice 4, Conspicuity, we sent four draft comments to our members before obtaining approval. Weekends, holidays, and in the summer, vacations, may add to the days needed to respond to a proposed rulemaking. In some cases, prototype development or testing may be required. This could easily require an additional ninety (90) calendar days or more.

Most trailer manufacturers are small businesses with limited staff. Designing and producing trailers to meet customer orders takes precedence. Often the review of proposed rulemaking must be accomplished on weekends.

Typically, the longer the comment period, the more detailed our comments will be. Your agencies should allow a comment period equal to the period they will require to analyze docket comments and issue a final rule. As a matter of course, we intend to petition for an extension of the comment closing date for any period less than ninety (90) calendar days for any major proposed rulemaking.

cc: Jerry Curry, NHTSA Administrator Travis Dungan, RSPA Administrator Thomas Larson, FHWA Administrator