Vehicles Built in Two or More Stages

The final rule amends four different parts of title 49 to address the certification issues related to vehicles built in two or more stages and, to a lesser degree, to altered vehicles. The amendments allow the use of pass-through certification so that it can be used not only for multi-stage vehicles based on chassis-cabs, but also for those based on other types of incomplete vehicles. The amendments also create a new process under which intermediate and final-stage manufacturers and alterers can obtain temporary exemptions from dynamic performance requirements, and provide an automatic one year of additional lead time for new safety requirements for intermediate and final-stage manufacturers and alterers, unless the agency determines with respect to a particular requirement that a longer or shorter time period is appropriate. This final rule also refines the agency's interpretation of "vehicle type" to more appropriately reflect the congressional and judicial considerations. Because vehicles built in two or more stages are more properly considered a "vehicle type," the agency will be able more properly to consider the benefits and burdens of various compliance options when developing Federal motor vehicle standards.