NHTSA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) with regards to the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which required the Secretary of Transportation to extend the period of time manufacturers of motor vehicles, tires and child restraint systems must retain records concerning defects and malfunctions.

The FAST Act directed the Secretary to issue a rule increasing the time of record retention to a period not less than ten years, instead of the five years presently required. This would only apply to requirements under CFR 576.6. NHTSA is not extending the period for which manufacturers are required to retain records underlying information reported to NHTSA pursuant to 49 CFR part 579. The effects of extending the time that records underlying information reported under part 579 must be retained would be limited to motor vehicle equipment manufacturers who do not manufacturer child restraint systems or tires.

Comments to the agency are due no later than July 15, 2019. The entire NPRM can be viewed here.