Rulemaking Procedures; Petitions for Reconsideration; Petitions for Extension of Comment Period

This rule makes two amendments to NHTSA's procedural rules. The first amendment requires petitions for extension of the period for submitting written comments on a notice such as a notice of proposed rulemaking to be submitted at least 15 days before the closing date for the comment period. Previously, petitions could be submitted up to 10 days before the closing date. This change will give NHTSA additional time to process these petitions and thus ensure that, when a petition is granted, the notice extending the comment period can be published well before the original closing date. The second amendment provides that the agency will accept petitions for reconsideration of a final rule if they are received not more than 45 days after the publication of the final rule. Previously, petitions for reconsideration had to be received not more than 30 days following publication of a final rule. NHTSA believes that the extension is warranted by the complexity of many of its final rules. The additional time will allow interested parties to review the rules more effectively and better prepare their petitions for reconsideration.