Statement of Administration Policy: S. 673 - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Authorization Act of 1989

(Senate)
(Bryan (D) Nevada and 6 others)

The Administration opposes enactment of S. 673 because it would:

• impose numerous overly-prescriptive regulatory requirements;
  
  
• direct the Department of Transportation to undertake or complete complex rulemaking actions within excessively short timeframes (and thus interfere with research needed for effective vehicle safety standards, and with legal requirements for the full consideration of public comments on proposed actions);
  
  
• mandate costly and time-consuming studies, most of which would duplicate earlier work and also require the commitment of substantial resources;
  
  
• increase the likelihood of litigation over DOT vehicle safety activities, which would divert DOT resources away from its primary safety mission; and
  
  
• establish new, narrow, categorical grant programs with burdensome eligibility and administrative requirements and which largely duplicate existing DOT grant programs.