NHTSA rewrites Part 555 so exemptions can reach vehicles already built
An interim final rule struck the provision limiting a temporary exemption to vehicles manufactured on or after its effective date, effective immediately with comments due August 31.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration amended its temporary-exemption regulations by interim final rule on July 31, removing the language that limited an exemption to vehicles built on or after the date it took effect. The rule was effective immediately; comments are due no later than August 31 under docket NHTSA-2026-1585.
Part 555 is the procedure through which a vehicle that does not comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards can legally be sold or operated in the United States. Since 1974, section 555.7(f) had stated that a grant exempted vehicles manufactured on and after its effective date. The agency struck that sentence and added a new paragraph carrying the same default “unless otherwise determined by the Administrator.”
NHTSA argued that the statute behind the regulation, 49 U.S.C. 30113, never restricted exemptions to future production, and cited Executive Order 14219, which directs agencies to modify regulations that do not comport with the best reading of their authority. A footnote records that the change renders moot a petition filed by Cruise. The rule also removed the requirement that an application be submitted in three paper copies and specified electronic filing instead.
The agency issued the amendment without prior notice and comment, treating it as interpretive — the same basis on which the 1974 paragraph it replaces was adopted. It is a separate document from the interim Part 555 guidance and the automated-vehicle framework updates published the same day, which set out what an applicant should show rather than what an exemption may cover.