Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards: Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages; Incorporation by Reference

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>49 CFR Part 571</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. NHTSA-2024-0025]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2127-AL05</RIN> <SUBJECT>Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards: Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages; Incorporation by Reference</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This document amends the procedures for testing the strength of seat belt anchorages in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 210, “Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages.” The amendments clarify the positioning of the test device currently specified in the standard and add an optional test device (and corresponding test procedures) as a certification alternative. These amendments respond to an earlier court decision which found that the regulatory test procedures do not provide manufacturers adequate notice of how NHTSA would conduct the test. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> <E T="03">Effective date:</E> This rule is effective October 17, 2024. <E T="03">Incorporation by reference date:</E> The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in this rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of October 17, 2024. <E T="03">Compliance date:</E> The compliance date is September 1, 2027, with optional early compliance permitted. Multi-stage manufacturers and alterers would have an additional year to comply. <E T="03">Petition for reconsideration:</E> Petitions for reconsideration of this final rule must be received not later than November 1, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Petitions for reconsideration of this final rule must refer to the docket number set forth above and be submitted to the Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Note that all petitions received will be posted without change to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> including any personal information provided. <E T="03">Confidential Business Information:</E> If you wish to submit any information under a claim of confidentiality, you should submit your complete submission, including the information you claim to be confidential business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the address given under <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.</E> In addition, you should submit a copy, from which you have deleted the claimed confidential business information, to Docket Management at the address given above. When you send a submission 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). Please see further information in the Regulatory Notices and Analyses section of this preamble. <E T="03">Privacy Act:</E> The petition will be placed in the docket. Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all documents 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 <E T="04">Federal Register</E> published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit <E T="03">https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/privacy/privacy-act-system-records-notices.</E> <E T="03">Docket:</E> For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to <E T="03">www.regulations.gov,</E> or the street address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For non-legal issues, you may contact Mr. Joshua McNeil, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, Telephone: (202) 366-7612; Email: <E T="03">Joshua.McNeil@dot.gov;</E> Facsimile: (202) 493-2739. For legal issues, you may contact Mr. John Piazza, Office of Chief Counsel, Telephone: (202) 366-2992; Email: <E T="03">John.Piazza@dot.gov;</E> Facsimile: (202) 366-3820. The address of these officials is: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Executive Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. FMVSS No. 210</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. 2012 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. 2015 Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. 2018 Notice of Availability</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. International and Industry Consensus Anchorage Strength Requirements and Test Procedures</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. NHTSA's Statutory Authority</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. NHTSA Research and Testing</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Research Docketed With the NPRM</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Research Docketed in 2018</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Final Rule and Response to Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Force Application Device</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. FAD Design</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. Durability and Strength of FADs</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. FAD Material and Potential Seat Belt Slippage</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iii. Weight of the FADs</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iv. Dimensions of the FADs</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">v. FAD Abdomen Area</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">vi. Bridged Pull Yoke</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">vii. Clarifying Attachment to Force Actuator</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">viii. Human Form Design</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ix. Effect on Seat Back Deformation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">x. Missing Tolerance Values</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">xi. Design Drawings and Supplemental 3-D Data</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. FAD Test Procedure</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. Positioning Procedure</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. Selections of FAD1 or FAD2 and Contact Between Adjacent FADs and Vehicle Interior</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iii. Use of FAD2 on Buses and Heavy-Duty Trucks</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iv. Bottoming Out of Hydraulic Cylinders</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Repeatability</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Equivalence With the Body Blocks</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">5. Familiarity With the FAD by Stakeholders</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">6. Testing Costs</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. Costs of Testing With the FAD</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. Potential Re-Certification Costs</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">7. Incorporation by Reference</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Body Blocks</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Retention of Body Blocks and Appropriateness of Specifying Zones for Body Block Placement</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Reference Point for Determining Zone Locations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Applicability of Zones to a Range of Vehicle and Seat Designs and Factors Affecting Position of Body Blocks at Preload</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Size of Zones, Variability of Test Results, and Effect on Compliance</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">5. Laboratory Safety Concerns</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">6. Lack of Regulatory Test Procedure Language and Requested Public Workshop</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">7. Alternative Solutions Suggested by NPRM Commenters</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Issues Common to the FAD and Body Blocks</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Shoulder Belt Height Adjustment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Preload Force Magnitude and Duration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Seat Adjustment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Seat Belt Pretension and Routing</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">5. Hold Time Requirement</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">6. Force Application Angle</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">7. Use of a Dedicated Test Belt</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">8. Testing of Side-Facing Seats</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">9. Compliance Options</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">10. Regulatory Alternatives</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">11. Leadtime</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Regulatory Notices and Analyses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Appendices to the Preamble</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Executive Summary</HD> Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 210, “Seat belt assembly anchorages,” establishes requirements for seat belt anchorages, which are the part of the vehicle that transfers seat belt loads to the vehicle structure. The standard sets out a variety of requirements for seat belt anchorages, including performance requirements that ensure that the anchorages are strong enough to remain attached to the vehicle structure in a crash. The standard requires seat belt anchorages to withstand specified forces when tested according to the test procedures specified in the standard. The test forces are applied to the seat belts by test devices referred to as “body blocks,” which essentially take the place of an occupant. The body blocks are placed on the seat, secured with the seat belt, and attached to a force actuator that applies the specified test forces. The standard has included the anchorage strength requirements and body blocks since its inception in 1967. International regulations and industry consensus standards also contain seat belt anchorage strength requirements, which, although different from FMVSS No. 210 in various ways, generally mirror FMVSS No. 210 by specifying the use of body blocks similar to the FMVSS No. 210 body blocks. This final rule amends the test procedures for the standard's seat belt anchorages strength requirements. The current standard specifies a variety of aspects of the test procedure, but does not specify precisely where on the vehicle seat NHTSA will position the body blocks at the start of the test before the test loads are applied. This lack of specificity has, in the past, resulted in manufactur ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 284k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━