Blunt Rochester Leads Letter Demanding Answers on Incomplete Automobile Safety Standards
Washington,
October 28, 2019
|
Andrew Donnelly
(202-225-4165)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL), a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, led a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) inquiring about how the agency is addressing the concerning number of incomplete automobile safety rulemakings, reports, and research initiatives mandated by Congress. Blunt Rochester was joined by fellow Democratic members of the Energy and Commerce Committee in demanding answers from the federal agency responsible for keeping American highways safe. “NHTSA’s delays in fulfilling congressional directives suggests that NHTSA may face institutional challenges hindering its ability to accomplish its mission,” said Congresswoman Blunt Rochester. “With just over 37,000 motor vehicle deaths and 4.5 million serious injuries every year, it is imperative that NHTSA have the wherewithal to take decisive actions to update its safety standards in a timely manner and fulfill Congressional deadlines.” Among other requests, Blunt Rochester asked for:
Text of the letter, along with the full list of overdue rules, can be found here or below.
October 28, 2019
Mr. James C. Owens Deputy Administrator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE Washington, DC 20590
Dear Deputy Administrator Owens: We write to inquire about how you are addressing the concerning number of incomplete automobile safety rulemakings, reports, and research initiatives mandated by Congress. With passage of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) and the Moving America Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Congress sent strong and bipartisan directives to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to help reduce the high number of automobile fatalities and injuries on our nation’s roads. Unfortunately, these safety directives cannot save lives and improve the safety of America’s roads if they are not carried out as required by bipartisan acts of Congress. Regrettably, NHTSA has yet to implement nearly 20 congressionally-mandated rulemakings, reports, and research initiatives by their statutory deadlines. NHTSA’s delays in fulfilling congressional directives suggests that NHTSA may face institutional challenges hindering its ability to accomplish its mission. With just over 37,000 motor vehicle deaths and 4.5 million serious injuries every year, it is imperative that NHTSA have the wherewithal to take decisive actions to update its safety standards in a timely manner and fulfill Congressional deadlines. Without sufficient and appropriate capacity, expertise, and resources, NHTSA cannot ensure the deployment of sophisticated motor vehicle and transportation technologies are both safe for the American consumer and follow reasonable regulatory standards. Americans are depending on agencies like NHTSA to help bring emerging automobile technologies, like autonomous vehicles, to the nation’s roads and improve U.S. surface transportation. Congress will continue to seek meaningful reforms to the automobile regulatory framework overseen by NHTSA that ensures a healthy consumer environment by encouraging innovation without jeopardizing safety. Consequently, we respectfully request that you answer the following questions and provide the requested information regarding NHTSA’s efforts to complete these Congressional mandates: 1. At a recent hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Deputy Administrator Heidi King stated that “oftentimes” NHTSA does not meet congressional mandates by their statutory deadlines “because the engineers at NHTSA and the academic universities are finishing the research that will inform the rulemaking.” For each of the unfinished rulemakings, reports, and research initiatives in Appendix A, please provide the following information: a. An explanation for why each has not been completed by the statutory deadline. b. A list of actions taken to date and a timeline for the completion of remaining and needed actions. c. What research will be required, if any, to complete the mandate? Please provide a detailed description of the research effort. d. What institution is conducting or will be conducting that research? Please explain why that institution or those institutions have been selected to perform the research. e. Has the research commenced as of October 28, 2019? If so, when did the research begin? If not, why not? f. When will the research be completed? Please detail key milestones and expected completion dates. 2. In justifying why NHTSA has not completed several congressional safety mandates, Deputy Administrator Heidi King stated that “vehicles are more complicated than they have ever been before,” suggesting that NHTSA has had issues adapting to more technologically sophisticated vehicles. a. For each of the unfinished rulemakings, reports, and research initiatives in Appendix A, has technological advancement of motor vehicles delayed NHTSA from fulfilling the Congressional mandate by the statutory deadline. Please describe the obstacles, explain why those obstacles have delayed NHTSA, and detail all efforts to overcome those obstacles. b. How is NHTSA ensuring the agency’s knowledge and expertise evolves as vehicles become increasingly complex? 3. In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee regarding NHTSA’s inability to comply with statutorily mandated deadlines, Deputy Administrator Heidi King stated that NTHSA “issue[s] the rulemakings when we are ready.” a. Please provide NHTSA’s methodology for prioritizing rulemakings, reports, and research initiatives. b. What actions must be taken before NHTSA is “ready” to issue rulemakings? c. How do statutory deadlines factor into NHTSA’s prioritization? d. Please provide an explanation of the impact, if any, of categorizing rulemaking as economically significant as required by Executive Order 12866 on meeting statutory deadlines or otherwise promulgating rules in an expeditious manner. 4. As of June, there are 10 vacancies in the Rulemaking Office, eight vacancies in the Office of Vehicle Safety Research, and six vacancies in the National Center for Statistics and Analysis. Have staffing shortages impeded NHTSA’s ability to complete congressionally-mandated rulemaking? What specific actions have been taken to fill these vacancies? 5. Have funding limitations affected NHTSA’s ability to complete congressional mandates by their statutory deadline? If so, please explain. We thank you for your attention to this important matter. We respectfully request that you provide written responses no later than December 20, 2019. If you have any questions about our request, please contact Kevin Diamond in Rep. Blunt Rochester’s office at (202) 225-4165 or kevin.diamond@mail.house.gov.
Sincerely, Rep. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER Rep. BOBBY L. RUSH Rep. TONY CÁRDENAS Rep. JERRY MCNERNEY Rep. KATHY CASTOR Rep. NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGÁN ### |
