As part of the NHTSA Reauthorization Act of 1998,(6) Congress required the agency to conduct rulemaking to improve air bags. The Act directed NHTSA to issue, not later than September 1, 1998, "a notice of proposed rulemaking to improve occupant protection for occupants of different sizes, belted and unbelted, under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, while minimizing the risk to infants, children, and other occupants from injuries and deaths caused by air bags, by means that include advanced air bags."
The Act directs the agency to issue the final rule not later than September 1, 1999. However, if it determines that the final rule cannot be completed by that date, the final rule must be issued no later than March 1, 2000. The final rule must be consistent both with the provisions of the NHTSA Reauthorization Act of 1998 and with 49 U.S.C. § 30111, which specifies the requirements for Federal motor vehicle safety standards.
The final rule must become effective in phases as rapidly as practicable, beginning not earlier than September 1, 2002, and no sooner than 30 months after the issuance of the final rule, but not later than September 1, 2003. The final rule must become fully effective by September 1, 2005. However, if the phase-in of the final rule does not begin until September 1, 2003, NHTSA is authorized to delay making the final rule fully effective until September 1, 2006.
To encourage early compliance, NHTSA is directed to include in the NPRM means by which manufacturers may earn credits toward future compliance. Credits, on a one-vehicle for one-vehicle basis, may be earned for vehicles which are certified as being in full compliance with the final rule and which are so certified before the beginning of the phase-in period. They may also be earned during the phase-in if a manufacturer's production of complying vehicles for a model year exceeds the percentage of vehicles required to comply in that year.
In a paragraph titled "Coordination of Effective Dates," the Act provides that the unbelted sled test option "shall remain in effect unless and until changed by [the final rule for advanced air bags]." The Conference Report states that the current sled test certification option remains in effect "unless and until phased out according to the schedule in the final rule."
