[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 14, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42126-42127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15971]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
[Docket No. NHTSA-2004-18039]
NHTSA's Four-Year Plan for Hydrogen, Fuel Cell and Alternative
Fuel Vehicle Safety Research
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of a planning document
that describes the scope and timeline of NHTSA's proposed research
program addressing safety and fuel economy assessment of hydrogen-
powered fuel cell and internal combustion engine vehicles.
Ensuring that hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE) and fuel
cell powered vehicles provide a level of safety comparable to that of
other vehicles currently in use in the United States requires a
substantial research effort. Hydrogen-powered vehicles will utilize
many advanced and unique technologies that have not been tested in the
transportation environment. Very little data are available concerning
the safe performance of these vehicles because so few exist; they are
typically prototypes handled by specially trained personnel. Many
manufacturers, however, are substantially investing in producing and
marketing these vehicles in the near future. As these vehicles are
deployed into the fleet, the safety of hydrogen as a fuel and the
safety of alternative fuel vehicles in crashes becomes an important
issue for public safety. A failure to adequately address safety
concerns in the earliest stages of development could have a negative
impact on the deployment of this new technology.
Corollary efforts by NHTSA that are covered in the plan address
fuel economy and international harmonization of global technical
regulations for hydrogen vehicles. The agency will analyze the
potential increases in the fleet fuel economy. NHTSA will also work
with its international counterparts to determine the content of
regulations pertaining to fuel cell and ICE hydrogen vehicles.
NHTSA seeks public review and comment on the planning document.
Comments received will be evaluated and incorporated, as appropriate,
into planned agency activities.
DATES: Comments should be submitted early enough to ensure that Docket
Management receives them not later than October 12, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons may obtain a copy of the research plan by
downloading the document from the Document Management System (DMS),
U.S. Department of Transportation, at the address provided below, or
from NHTSA's Web site at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-11/H2-4yr-plan.html. Alternatively, interested persons may obtain a
copy of the document by contacting the agency official(s) listed in the
section titled, ``For Further Information Contact,'' immediately below.
You may submit your comments (identified by DOT DMS Docket Number
NHTSA-2004-18039) by any of the following methods:
Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
Fax: (202) 493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401,
Washington, DC 20590-001.
Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The following persons at the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20590:
For Technical Issues
Barbara C. Hennessey, Office of Applied Vehicle Safety Research,
NVS-320, telephone (202) 366-4714, e-mail
[email protected].
[[Page 42127]]
Submission of Comments
How Do I Prepare and Submit Comments?
Interested persons are invited to submit comments in response to
this request. We request that commenters provide all relevant factual
information to support their conclusions or opinions, including
statistical data and estimated cost and benefits, and the source of
such information.
Comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your
comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the docket
number of this notice.
Comments must not be more than 15 pages long. (49 CFR 553.21). This
limit was established to encourage comments written in a concise
fashion. However, additional documents may be attached to your
comments.
There is no limit on the length of the attachments.
Please submit two copies of comments, including the attachments, to
Docket Management at the address given above under ADDRESSES. Note that
all comments received will be posted without change to http://dms.dot.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 (Volume
65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78), or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.
How Can I Be Sure That My Comments Were Received?
If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of
your comments, mail a self-addressed, stamped postcard to Docket
Management. Upon receiving your comments, Docket Management will return
the postcard by mail.
How Do I Submit Confidential Business Information?
If you wish to submit any information under a claim of
confidentiality, you should submit three copies of your complete
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential
business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, 400 7th St., SW.,
Washington, DC 20590. In addition, you should submit two copies of your
comments, from which you have deleted the claimed confidential business
information, to Docket Management at the address given above under
ADDRESSES. When you send a comment containing information claimed to be
confidential business information, you should include a cover letter
setting forth the information specified in our confidential business
information regulation. (49 CFR part 512.)
Will the Agency Consider Late Comments?
We will consider all comments that Docket Management receives
before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated
above under DATES. To the extent possible, we will also consider
comments that Docket Management receives after that date.
How Can I Read the Comments Submitted by Other People?
You may read the comments received by Docket Management at the
address given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the Docket are 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also see
the comments on the Internet. To read the comments on the Internet,
take the following steps:
Go to the Docket Management System (DMS) Web page of the
Department of Transportation (http://dms.dot.gov).
On that page, click on ``search.''
On the next page (http://dms.dot.gov/search/), type in the
five-digit docket number shown at the beginning of this document.
Example: If the docket number were ``NHTSA-2001-12345,'' you would type
``12345.'' After typing the docket number, click on ``search.''
On the next page, which contains docket summary
information for the docket you selected, click on the desired comments.
You may download the comments. Please note that even after the comment
closing date, we will continue to file relevant information in the
Docket as it becomes available. Since some people may submit late
comments, we recommend that you periodically check the Docket for new
material.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117, and 30166;
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.
Issued on: July 6, 2004.
Joseph N. Kanianthra,
Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 04-15971 Filed 7-13-04; 8:45 am]
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