Anthropomorphic Test Devices; THOR 50th Percentile Adult Male Test Dummy; Incorporation by Reference

• Published date: 09 July 2024
• Citation: 89 FR 56251
• Pages: 56251-56253
• FR Document: 2024-14546
• Section: Proposed rules
• Issuer: Transportation Department,National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2024)

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2024)]
                [Proposed Rules]
                [Pages 56251-56253]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2024-14546]
                [[Page 56251]]
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                DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
                National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
                49 CFR Part 572
                [Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0031]
                RIN 2127-AM20
                Anthropomorphic Test Devices; THOR 50th Percentile Adult Male
                Test Dummy; Incorporation by Reference
                AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
                Department of Transportation (DOT).
                ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM).
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                SUMMARY: This document announces the availability of documents
                supplementing NHTSA's September 2023 notice of proposed rulemaking to
                amend NHTSA's regulations to include an advanced crash test dummy, the
                Test Device for Human Occupant Restraint 50th percentile adult male.
                DATES: The documents referenced in this notification will be available
                in the docket as of July 9, 2024.You should submit your comments early
                enough to be received not later than August 8, 2024.
                ADDRESSES: You may submit comments electronically to the docket
                identified in the heading of this document by visiting the Federal
                eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
                instructions for submitting comments. Alternatively, you can file comments using the following methods: Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of
                Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor,
                Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room
                W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET,
                Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure someone is
                there to help you, please call (202) 366-9826 before coming. Fax: (202) 493-2251. Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
                docket number or Regulatory Information Number (RIN) for this
                rulemaking. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and
                additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public
                Participation heading of the Supplementary Information section of this
                document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change
                to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
                provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below. Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
                comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov. You may also
                access the docket at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Room
                W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
                through Friday, except Federal Holidays. Telephone: (202) 366-9826. Confidential Business Information: If you claim that any of the
                information in your comment (including any additional documents or
                attachments) constitutes confidential business information within the
                meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) or is protected from disclosure pursuant
                to 18 U.S.C. 1905, please see the detailed instructions given under the
                Public Participation heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
                of this document. Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits
                comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT
                posts these comments, without edit, to www.regulations.gov, as
                described in the system of records notice, DOT/ALL-14 FDMS, accessible
                through www.dot.gov/privacy. To facilitate comment tracking and
                response, we encourage commenters to provide their name, or the name of
                their organization; however, submission of names is completely
                optional. 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).
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues, you may contact
                Mr. Garry Brock, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, Telephone: (202)
                366-1740; Email: [email protected]; Facsimile: (202) 493-2739. For
                legal issues, you may contact Mr. John Piazza, Office of Chief Counsel,
                Telephone: (202) 366-2992; Email: [email protected]; Facsimile: (202)
                366-3820. The address of these officials is: the National Highway
                Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington,
                DC, 20590.
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 7, 2023, NHTSA published a
                Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend NHTSA's regulations to
                include an advanced crash test dummy, the Test Device for Human
                Occupant Restraint (THOR) 50th percentile adult male (THOR-50M). The
                dummy represents an adult male of roughly average height and weight and
                is designed for use in frontal crash tests. The documentation for the
                dummy, including detailed design information, engineering drawings,
                qualification tests, and procedures for assembly and inspection, would
                be incorporated by reference in 49 CFR part 572, Anthropomorphic Test
                Devices. This document notices the availability of additional research
                reports and a memorandum of understanding that are being placed in the
                research and rulemaking dockets, respectively. These documents are
                briefly described below.
                Research Reports The NPRM referenced a variety of research NHTSA had conducted to
                support the development of the THOR-50M dummy. Most of this research
                was published or made available in the research docket before the NPRM
                was published. However, the NPRM noted that research in several areas
                was ongoing and that additional research reports would be docketed
                after the NPRM was published. That research has been completed and NHTSA is now docketing the
                associated research reports. As we did for other research reports and
                documentation referenced in the NPRM, these reports are being placed in
                the research docket, Docket No. NHTSA-2019-0106, and not the docket for
                this rulemaking.\1\ Nevertheless, NHTSA intends these documents to be
                included as part of the rulemaking record for this rulemaking action.
                The following documents are being docketed:
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ As we explained in the NPRM, NHTSA did not place the dummy
                documentation and related research reports in the docket for this
                rulemaking action to avoid potential confusion from having identical
                documents docketed at different times in different dockets. A
                memorandum explaining this determination was docketed along with the
                NPRM.
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ``Comparison of the THOR-50M IR-TRACC Measurement Device
                to an Alternative S-Track Measurement Device'' ``Analysis of THOR-50M Alternate Configurations in Gold
                Standard Sled Testing'' ``Development of an Alternative Shoulder for the THOR-
                50M'' ``THOR-50M In-dummy Data Acquisition System Evaluation''
                Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Intellectual Property of
                Humanetics NHTSA is also placing in the rulemaking docket a memorandum of
                [[Page 56252]]
                understanding between NHTSA and Humanetics concerning the use of
                Humanetics proprietary information in NHTSA rulemaking activities.
                Humanetics is a global industrial technology group (including Human
                Solutions, Avalution, mg-sensors, ADT-LabTech, Fibercore, HITEC Sensor
                Development, and OpTek Systems) that, among other things, develops and
                manufacturers crash test dummies and components used in those dummies. As NHTSA explained in the NPRM, portions of the shoulder assembly
                specified in the 2018 drawing package (referred to as the SD-3
                shoulder) are covered by a patent issued to Humanetics. NHTSA has
                generally avoided specifying in part 572 patented components or
                copyrighted designs without either securing agreement from the rights-
                holder for the free use of (or reasonable license to) the item or
                developing an alternative unencumbered by any rights claims. In the
                NPRM, NHTSA explained the reasons for taking this position. Among other
                things, proprietary components may be modified by the proprietary
                source such that the original is no longer available, and the new part
                no longer fits. The proprietary source also may alter the part in ways
                that change the response of the dummy, such that dummies with the newer
                part do not provide the same response as dummies with the older
                part.\2\
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \2\ See Section VIII of the NPRM.
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHTSA therefore designed, built, and tested an alternative design
                for a part of the shoulder assembly referred to as the shoulder pivot
                assembly that is not subject to any intellectual property claims. The
                proposed drawing package (the 2023 drawing package) included
                specifications for the SD-3 shoulder pivot assembly as well as the
                alternate shoulder pivot assembly so that NHTSA could use either one.
                In the NPRM, NHTSA specifically solicited comment on whether the final
                drawing package should include the SD-3 shoulder, the alternate
                shoulder, or both. After the NPRM was published, NHTSA staff discussed with Humanetics
                the disposition of its intellectual property claims on various
                anthropomorphic test devices, including the THOR-50M.\3\ Humanetics'
                designs and drawings may include information that is subject to patent
                rights and/or copyrights. Based on these discussions, NHTSA and
                Humanetics reached the following understanding with respect to
                Humanetics proprietary information used either in an NPRM or final
                rule. (Below we briefly summarize this understanding; the full terms
                can be found in the Memorandum of Understanding.)
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \3\ These discussions were a continuation of discussions NHTSA
                and Humanetics have had over the past several years regarding the
                use of its proprietary information in NHTSA rulemaking activities.
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Under the Memorandum of Understanding, for proprietary information
                used as part of a NHTSA proposed rulemaking under part 572, NHTSA may
                use such information as long as the information includes language
                notifying the public that the design and/or drawings are property of
                Humanetics and are being provided by Humanetics to support evaluation
                and comment related to NHTSA's rulemaking process. Under the proposed
                rulemaking, design drawings may not be copied or used for any other
                purposes without the written consent of Humanetics and no license would
                be granted to any patented designs. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, for proprietary information
                used in a final rule issued under part 572, no restrictions will apply
                to copyrighted design and drawings upon the effective date of the final
                rule, and all restrictive notices used in a proposal document will be
                removed in the final rule. Similarly, no restrictions will apply to the
                patented design upon the effective date of the final rule if the final
                rule does not specify the use of another design as an alternative to
                the patented design. Specifically, Humanetics will provide to NHTSA for
                each applicable patent either a notice of abandonment of that patent to
                the United States Patent and Trademark Office or a letter stating that
                that patent will not be enforced against any third-party use. Likewise,
                if no alternative design is specified, all restrictive notices used in
                the proposal document associated with the use of the patented design
                will be removed as part of the publication of the final rule. In that
                circumstance, Humanetics will provide NHTSA a notice confirming that no
                restrictions on patented designs will apply. Based on the comments received to date, NHTSA notes a general
                preference for a single open-source shoulder design over a single
                proprietary shoulder or alternative designs. In line with these
                comments, and subject to the understanding reached with Humanetics,
                NHTSA has tentatively concluded that it would be preferable if the
                final rule specifies only the SD-3 shoulder. In addition, specifying
                only one shoulder design will help make the dummy responses more
                uniform. NHTSA seeks comment on this tentative conclusion.
                How do I prepare and submit comments? Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your
                comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the agency
                name and the docket number or RIN in your comments. Your comments must not be more than 15 pages long. (49 CFR 553.21).
                We established this limit to encourage you to write your primary
                comments in a concise fashion. However, you may attach necessary
                additional documents to your comments. There is no limit on the length
                of the attachments. If you are submitting comments electronically as a PDF (Adobe)
                file, NHTSA asks that the documents be submitted using the Optical
                Character Recognition process, thus allowing NHTSA to search and copy
                certain portions of your submissions. Please note that pursuant to the Data Quality Act, for substantive
                data to be relied upon and used by the agency, it must meet the
                information quality standards set forth in the OMB and DOT Data Quality
                Act guidelines. Accordingly, we encourage you to consult the guidelines
                in preparing your comments. OMB's guidelines may be accessed at https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/dot-information-dissemination-quality-guidelines.
                How can I be sure that my comments were received? If you wish the Docket to notify you upon its receipt of your
                comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the envelope
                containing your comments. Upon receiving your comments, the Docket will
                return the postcard by mail.
                How do I submit confidential business information? You should submit a redacted ``public version'' of your comment
                (including redacted versions of any additional documents or
                attachments) to the docket using any of the methods identified under
                ADDRESSES. This ``public version'' of your comment should contain only
                the portions for which no claim of confidential treatment is made and
                from which those portions for which confidential treatment is claimed
                have been redacted. See below for further instructions on how to do
                this. You also need to submit a request for confidential treatment
                directly to the Office of Chief Counsel. Requests for confidential
                treatment are governed by 49 CFR part 512. Your request must set forth
                the information specified in part
                [[Page 56253]]
                512. This includes the materials for which confidentiality is being
                requested (as explained in more detail below); supporting information,
                pursuant to part 512.8; and a certificate, pursuant to part 512.4(b)
                and part 512, appendix A. You are required to submit to the Office of Chief Counsel one
                unredacted ``confidential version'' of the information for which you
                are seeking confidential treatment. Pursuant to part 512.6, the words
                ``ENTIRE PAGE CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION'' or ``CONFIDENTIAL
                BUSINESS INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN BRACKETS'' (as applicable) must
                appear at the top of each page containing information claimed to be
                confidential. In the latter situation, where not all information on the
                page is claimed to be confidential, identify each item of information
                for which confidentiality is requested within brackets: ``[ ].'' You are also required to submit to the Office of Chief Counsel one
                redacted ``public version'' of the information for which you are
                seeking confidential treatment. Pursuant to part 512.5(a)(2), the
                redacted ``public version'' should include redactions of any
                information for which you are seeking confidential treatment (i.e., the
                only information that should be unredacted is information for which you
                are not seeking confidential treatment). NHTSA is currently treating electronic submission as an acceptable
                method for submitting confidential business information to the agency
                under part 512. Please do not send a hardcopy of a request for
                confidential treatment to NHTSA's headquarters. The request should be
                sent to Dan Rabinovitz in the Office of the Chief Counsel at
                [email protected]. You may either submit your request via email
                or request a secure file transfer link. If you are submitting the
                request via email, please also email a courtesy copy of the request to
                John Piazza at [email protected].
                Will the Agency consider late comments? We will consider all comments received before the close of business
                on the comment closing date indicated above under DATES. To the extent
                possible, we will also consider comments that the docket receives after
                that date. If the docket receives a comment too late for us to consider
                in developing a final rule (assuming that one is issued), we 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 by the docket at the address
                given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the docket are indicated
                above in the same location. You may also see the comments on the
                internet. To read the comments on the internet, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for accessing the
                dockets. Please note that even after the comment closing date, we will
                continue to file relevant information in the docket as it becomes
                available. Further, some people may submit late comments. Accordingly,
                we recommend that you periodically check the Docket for new material.
                You can arrange with the docket to be notified when others file
                comments in the docket. See www.regulations.gov for more information. Issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.95 and 501.5.
                Sophie Shulman,
                Deputy Administrator.
                [FR Doc. 2024-14546 Filed 7-8-24; 8:45 am]
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