This rule took over a decade to come together.
Here is the link to NHTSA www.NHTSA.Gov
The NHTSA EDR Ruling – 49 CFR Part 563:
Summary: Light vehicles built after Sept. 2012 must comply with 49 CFR Part 563 , which states it if any one of the items in Table 1 Data Elements Required for All Vehicles Equipped with an EDR is recorded then they all must be recorded and in accordance with the requirements in Table 1 and Table III Recorded Data Element Format. If the manufacturer records any data element in Table II Data Elements Required for Vehicles Under Specified Conditions then it must be recorded in accordance with the requirements in Table II and Table III. The recorder must survive in NHTSA’s 30mph barrier crash.
Manufacturers must release the ability to read the data publicly within 90 days of the first public sale of the vehicle. The manufacturer may specify the readout procedure. The NHTSA rule does not specifically require a manufacturer to have an independent EDR box. The manufacturer can technically comply by having no EDR data of any kind or the EDR data can be distributed around in the vehicle.
NHTSA estimates that 65 to 90% of all manufacturers have some kind of an EDR in new vehicles already which would imply the vast majority of vehicles will have EDR’s that must comply with the new rule for 2013 model year.
The rule is 207 pages long. The beginning part states NHTSA’s rationale for the rule and discusses at great length the comments received to the 2004 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The actual rules do not start until Page 187 with vehicle requirements starting on page 196. The original rule published in 2006 had a Sept. 2010 effective date, it was modified in January 2008 to have a Sept. 2012 effective date in response to manufacturer petitions for reconsideration.
