The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published the below notices of final rulemaking in the Federal Register this month. Specifically, NHTSA published four delays of the effective dates of recent final rules following last month’s “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” presidential memorandum directing agencies to further review final rules that have not yet taken effect. See below for brief summaries of the new rules’ extended effective dates.
- Anthropomorphic Test Devices: Hybrid III 5th Percentile Female Test Dummy; Incorporation by Reference (Feb. 14): NHTSA delayed the effective date of its January 3, 2025, final rule revising specifications for the Hybrid III 5th Percentile Female Test Dummy to March 20, 2025.
- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard: Child Restraint Systems, Child Restraint Anchorage Systems, Incorporation by Reference (Feb. 14): NHTSA delayed the final date of its January 7, 2025 final rule amending FMVSS No. 225 and 213b to March 20, 2025.
- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard: Occupant Crash Protection, Seat Belt Reminder Systems, Controls and Displays (Feb. 14): NHTSA delayed the final date of its January 3, 2025 final rule amending FMVSS No. 2018 to require a seat belt warning system for rear seats and enhance the seat belt warning requirements for the front outboard seats to March 20, 2025.
- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard: No. 305a Electric-Powered Vehicles: Electric Powertrain Integrity Global Technical Regulation No. 20; Incorporation by Reference (Feb. 14): NHTSA delayed the final date of its December 20, 2024 final rule adopting FMVSS 305a to replace FMVSS 305, “Electric-powered vehicles: Electrolyte spillage and electrical shock protection,” which includes requirements for propulsion batteries and for manufacturers to compile risk mitigation documentation and submit standardized emergency response information to assist first and second responders handling electric vehicles, to March 20, 2025.
None of the above delays currently impact the compliance dates set forth in the final rules.