Action
Final rule; response to petitions for reconsideration.
Summary
This final rule responds to petitions for reconsideration of the agency's newly expanded parts marking requirements. The Anti Car Theft Act of 1992 required NHTSA to conduct a rulemaking to extend the parts marking requirements to below median theft rate passenger cars and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 6,000 pounds or less, unless the Attorney General found that such a requirement would not substantially inhibit chop shop operations and motor vehicle thefts. The Attorney General did not make such a finding. Accordingly, in a final rule published in April 2004, NHTSA extended parts marking requirements to these vehicles. This document responds to petitions for reconsideration of the April 2004 final rule. Specifically, we are amending our procedures in order to begin processing parts marking exemption petitions prior to the effective date, and we are phasing-in the new requirements over a two-year period.