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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 148 / Thursday, August 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules claimed confidential business information, to Docket Management at the address given at the beginning of this document under ADDRESSES. To facilitate social distancing during COVID19, NHTSA is temporarily accepting confidential business information electronically. Please see https www.nhtsa.gov/coronavirus/
submission-confidential-businessinformation for details.
Will the agency consider late comments?
NHTSA will consider all comments received before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated at the beginning of this document under DATES. In accordance with DOT policies, to the extent possible, NHTSA will also consider comments received after the specified comment closing date. If NHTSA receives a comment too late to consider in developing the proposed rule, NHTSA will consider that comment as an informal suggestion for future rulemaking action.
How can I read the comments submitted by other people?
You may read the comments received on the internet. To read the comments on the internet, go to http
www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions provided.
You may download the comments.
The comments are imaged documents, in either TIFF or PDF format. Please note that even after the comment closing date, NHTSA will continue to file relevant information in the Docket as it becomes available. Further, some people may submit late comments.
Accordingly, NHTSA recommends that you periodically search the Docket for new material.
You may also see the comments at the address and times given near the beginning of this document under ADDRESSES.
V. Regulatory Analyses
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A. Executive Order 12866, Executive Order 13563, and DOT Rulemaking Procedures NHTSA has considered the impact of this rulemaking action under Executive Order 12866, Executive Order 13563, and the Department of Transportations administrative rulemaking procedures.
This rulemaking is not considered significant and was not reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget under E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review.
This proposal updates the standard reference test tire used as a baseline tire for consumer information testing, in the
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determination of what is a snow tire, and to evaluate testing surface friction for evaluating braking and electronic stability control performance. This proposal will not have a direct effect on safety because the changes proposed in this rule are designed to maintain the present level of stringency of NHTSAs braking and electronic stability control FMVSSs. However, if the 14-inch SRTT
is discontinued without a replacement, NHTSA would be unable to verify test surface friction coefficient prior to compliance testing for braking and electronic stability control system FMVSSs. Thus, this rulemaking indirectly affects safety by ensuring that NHTSA would be able to perform compliance tests of those FMVSSs.
Also, if this proposal were not adopted, it is expected that the 14-inch SRTT
would soon no longer be available for purchase, rendering it impossible for NHTSA to continue maintaining the BCWR for treadwear testing. This unavailability of an SRTT would lead to tire manufacturers being unable to rate their tires for treadwear under the UTQGS and mold those ratings onto the side of the tire as required by 49 CFR
part 575.
This proposed rule is expected to result in additional costs to NHTSA
because the 16-inch SRTT has a retail price that is $35 per tire more than the 14-inch SRTT $335 vs. $300.19 NHTSA
purchases 64 SRTTs for its own use annually in determining BCWR.
Therefore, based on the cost difference of $35 per tire, NHTSA expects that, if adopted, this proposal would result in $2,240 additional annual costs to the government. However, NHTSA has been using the 14-inch SRTT and 16-inch SRTT side-by-side since 2016 for its quarterly BCWR determination in anticipation of this rulemaking and NHTSA plans to continue to do so until this proposal is finalized. After this proposal is finalized, NHTSA does not expect to continue purchasing 14-inch SRTTs. Therefore, when compared to years since 2016, NHTSA would likely purchase fewer SRTTs in subsequent years after this proposal is finalized.
As to potential costs to the public, based upon information provided to NHTSA by Michelin from 2017 and 2018, annual U.S. sales of 14-inch SRTTs is fewer than 2,000 units.
Assuming that U.S. sales of 16-inch SRTTs is comparable to sales of 14-inch SRTTs, the annual cost of this proposal 19 Data on the price of the SRTT was obtained from instructions on how to purchase SRTTs from Michelin. See https www.astm.org/COMMIT/
2011%2011%2008%20E1136
%20F2493%20SRTT%20Purchase%20
Procedure.pdf. last accessed April 13, 2021.

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would be less than $70,000. However, NHTSA does not know how many sales are a consequence of the SRTT being used as part of NHTSAs compliance test procedures, versus those sold for other purposes e.g., SRTTs sold to assess the performance of tires to some other countrys regulations or to voluntary industry standards. Any SRTT sales that are not related to compliance with NHTSAs regulations would not be affected by this proposal and the existence of such sales would mean this rule would be less costly than the maximum estimate of $70,000 per year. Moreover, NHTSA does not have any direct knowledge of whether regulated entities have been conducting side-by-side testing using both the 14inch SRTT and 16-inch SRTTs like NHTSA has and whether side-by-side testing has artificially increased sales in 2017 and 2018.
NHTSA requests comments on the benefits and costs of this NPRM.
B. Regulatory Flexibility Act Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act SBREFA of 1996, whenever an agency is required to publish a notice of rulemaking for any proposed or final rule, it must prepare and make available for public comment a regulatory flexibility analysis that describes the effect of the rule on small entities i.e., small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. The Small Business Administrations regulations at 13 CFR part 121 define a small business, in part, as a business entity which operates primarily within the United States. 13 CFR 121.105a.
However, no regulatory flexibility analysis is required if the head of an agency certifies the rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
SBREFA amended the Regulatory Flexibility Act to require Federal agencies to provide a statement of the factual basis for certifying that a rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
NHTSA has considered the effects of this proposal under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. I certify that this proposal will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This proposal would directly impact the government, as it affects only the test procedures NHTSA uses in its FMVSSs and regulations that reference tire performance. It affects manufacturers of tires and of motor vehicles only to the
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