WASHINGTON (Sept. 10, 2010)—Nov. 2 is the deadline for interested parties to comment on whether the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's proposed information collection plan to help develop its tire fuel efficiency rule is adequate.
NHTSA issued its 195-page final rule on tire fuel efficiency ratings March 25, and held a public meeting on the rule's consumer information portion the next day. At that meeting, NHTSA officials and industry stakeholders agreed that an information collection program was necessary to determine the direction of the consumer information standard.
According to the notice published in the Sept. 3 Federal Register, NHTSA wants to conduct a two-phase research program on how to conduct the tire fuel efficiency consumer information program. The first will create two eight-person focus groups in each of three U.S. that are yet to be selected. The second involves on-site agency interviews at various tire dealerships, with an estimated 25 respondents total.
The agency seeks comment on whether the information gathered in this program would have practical utility; whether its estimates of the regulatory burden caused by the program is accurate; how to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and how to minimize the burden on the respondents, including automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.