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49 CFR 512 contains the procedures and standards by which NHTSA will consider claims that information submitted to the agency is entitled confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b). The current regulation provides that NHTSA will respond to all requests for confidential treatment within a reasonable time. The growth of the number of entities regulated by NHTSA, the expansion of the Agency's regulatory responsibilities and the tremendous growth in the amount of data encompassed by requests because of the advent of electronic data have combined to make processing these requests unduly burdensome. To preserve agency resources, this rulemaking would establish that NHTSA would only process requests for confidential treatment when it receives a FOIA request for the data, when a review and response are needed to ensure that requests are properly submitted or when a review and response are in the public interest. The rule also would modify the existing procedures for submitting requests for confidential treatment by providing a means by which submitters can provide their requests to NHTSA by either following the existing requirements for hard-copy submissions or by making their requests electronically. This rulemaking would increase efficiency and save the submitted costs for delivery of the material to NHTSA.