The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published the below notices of final rulemaking this month. Specifically, NHTSA published one correction to its recent final rule on child restraint systems, and two notifications of enforcement discretion announcing that it would not enforce the requirements of two of its new final rules until March 20, pursuant to the “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” presidential memorandum. The agency did not take further actions on these rules after March 20 and they remain effective.

• Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards: Child Restraint Systems, Child Restraint Anchorage Systems, Incorporation by Reference; Correction (March 3): NHTSA corrected its January 7, 2025 final rule amending FMVSS No. 225 (child restraint anchorage systems) and FMVSS No. 213b (child restraint systems) to clarify the compliance date for the FMVSS No. 213b amendments. The final rule has been corrected to provide that: (1) vehicle manufacturers will have a three-year phase-in period to comply with the updated requirements to FMVSS 225, with 100 percent of vehicles to be updated by September 1, 2030; and (2) child restraint systems manufacturers must comply with the amendments to FMVSS No. 213b by January 8, 2028. The correction makes further amendments to clarify that the amended rules will only apply to child restraint systems manufactured after January 8, 2028, and that child restraint systems manufactured prior to January 8, 2028 may continue to comply with the current requirements.

• Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards: Bus Rollover Structural Integrity; Notification of enforcement discretion (March 3): NHTSA announced that it would delay taking enforcement action against regulated entities for failing to comply with its Bus Rollover Structural Integrity final rule, which implements the new FMVSS No. 227, until March 20, 2025, to allow “the officials appointed or designated by the President to review the final rule to ensure that it is consistent with the law and Administration policies.” The rule originally became effective on December 30, 2024.

• Implementing the Whistleblower Provisions of the Vehicle Safety Act; Notification of enforcement discretion (March 3): NHTSA announced that it would delay taking enforcement action against regulated entities for failing to comply with its new whistleblower rules until March 20, 2025, to allow “the officials appointed or designated by the President to review the final rule to ensure that it is consistent with the law and Administration policies.” The rule originally became effective on January 16, 2025.