Intermodal Safe Container Transportation Amendments Act of 1996

Summary: Intermodal Safe Container Transportation Amendments Act of 1996 - Amends Federal transportation law to revise the prior notification requirements for intermodal freight transportation. 
Requires a person who tenders to a first carrier that is a motor carrier (currently, any carrier) a container or trailer with a gross cargo weight of more than 29,000 pounds (currently, 10,000 pounds, including packing material and pallets) for intermodal transportation to give prior notification of the cargo weight and a reasonable description of its contents to the motor carrier. 
Allows such notification to be made by telephone, and allows the required certification of the container or trailer contents to be electronic.  Sets forth administrative and civil penalties for persons who inaccurately transfer certification information. 
Allows a motor carrier to presume that the gross cargo weight of a container or trailer is under 29,001 pounds if it receives no certification before or when a loaded intermodal container or trailer is tendered to it.  Declares that a copy of a certification is not required to accompany the intermodal container or trailer. 
Adds to the circumstances giving certain persons a lien against the contents of the container or trailer as a result of a violation of a State's gross vehicle weight laws.  Includes among such circumstances:  (1) failure of the party required to provide certification of gross cargo weight to the first carrier to provide it; (2) failure of the party required to forward such certification to forward it; or (3) error in the transfer of information on the certification to another document.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Intermodal Safe Container 
Transportation Amendments Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE.

    Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an 
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal 
of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to 
be made to a section or other provision of title 49 of the United 
States Code.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 5901 (relating to definitions) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
            ``(1) except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the 
        definitions in section 13102 of this title apply.'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs 
        (7) and (8), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) `gross cargo weight' means the weight of the cargo, 
        packaging materials (including ice), pallets, and dunnage.''.

SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION.

    (a) Prior Notification.--Subsection (a) of section 5902 (relating 
to prior notification) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Before a person tenders to a first 
        carrier for intermodal transportation a'' and inserting ``If 
        the first carrier to which any'';
            (2) by striking ``10,000 pounds (including packing material 
        and pallets), the person shall give the carrier a written'' and 
        inserting ``29,000 pounds is tendered for intermodal 
        transportation is a motor carrier, the person tendering the 
        container or trailer shall give the motor carrier a'';
            (3) by striking ``trailer.'' and inserting ``trailer before 
        the tendering of the container or trailer.'';
            (4) by striking ``electronically.'' and inserting 
        ``electronically or by telephone.''; and
            (5) by adding at the end thereof the following: ``This 
        subsection applies to any person within the United States who 
        tenders a container or trailer subject to this chapter for 
        intermodal transportation if the first carrier is a motor 
        carrier.''.
    (b) Certification.--Subsection (b) of section 5902 (relating to 
certification) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Certification.--
            ``(1) In general.--A person who tenders a loaded container 
        or trailer with an actual gross cargo weight of more than 
        29,000 pounds to a first carrier for intermodal transportation 
        shall provide a certification of the contents of the container 
        or trailer in writing, or electronically, before or when the 
        container or trailer is so tendered.
            ``(2) Contents of certification.--The certification 
        required by paragraph (1) shall include--
                    ``(A) the actual gross cargo weight;
                    ``(B) a reasonable description of the contents of 
                the container or trailer;
                    ``(C) the identity of the certifying party;
                    ``(D) the container or trailer number; and
                    ``(E) the date of certification or transfer of data 
                to another document, as provided for in paragraph (3).
            ``(3) Transfer of certification data.--A carrier who 
        receives a certification may transfer the information contained 
        in the certification to another document or to electronic 
        format for forwarding to a subsequent carrier. The person 
        transferring the information shall state on the forwarded 
        document the date on which the data was transferred and the 
        identity of the party who performed the transfer.
            ``(4) Shipping documents.--For purposes of this chapter, a 
        shipping document, prepared by the person who tenders a 
        container or trailer to a first carrier, that contains the 
        information required by paragraph (2) meets the requirements of 
        paragraph (1).
            ``(5) Use of `freight all kinds' term.--The term `Freight 
        All Kinds' or `FAK' may not be used for the purpose of 
        certification under section 5902(b) after December 31, 2000, as 
        a commodity description for a trailer or container if the 
        weight of any commodity in the trailer or container equals or 
        exceeds 20 percent of the total weight of the contents of the 
        trailer or container. This subsection does not prohibit the use 
        of the term after that date for rating purposes.
            ``(6) Separate document marking.--If a separate document is 
        used to meet the requirements of paragraph (1), it shall be 
        conspicuously marked `INTERMODAL CERTIFICATION'.
            ``(7) Applicability.--This subsection applies to any 
        person, domestic or foreign, who first tenders a container or 
        trailer subject to this chapter for intermodal transportation 
        within the United States.''.
    (c) Forwarding Certifications.--Subsection (c) of section 5902 
(relating to forwarding certifications to subsequent carriers) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``transportation.'' and inserting 
        ``transportation before or when the loaded intermodal container 
        or trailer is tendered to the subsequent carrier. If no 
        certification is received by the subsequent carrier before or 
        when the container or trailer is tendered to it, the subsequent 
        carrier may presume that no certification is required.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end thereof the following: ``If a 
        person inaccurately transfers the information on the 
        certification, or fails to forward the certification to a 
        subsequent carrier, then that person is liable to any person 
        who incurs any bond, fine, penalty, cost (including storage), 
        or interest for any such fine, penalty, cost (including 
        storage), or interest incurred as a result of the inaccurate 
        transfer of information or failure to forward the 
        certification. A subsequent carrier who incurs a bond, fine, 
        penalty, or cost (including storage), or interest as a result 
        of the inaccurate transfer of the information, or the failure 
        to forward the certification, shall have a lien against the 
        contents of the container or trailer under section 5905 in the 
        amount of the bond, fine, penalty, or cost (including storage), 
        or interest and all court costs and legal fees incurred by the 
        carrier as a result of such inaccurate transfer or failure.''.
    (d) Liability.--Section 5902 is amended by redesignating subsection 
(d) as subsection (e), and by inserting after subsection (c) the 
following:
    ``(d) Liability to Owner or Beneficial Owner.--If--
            ``(1) a person inaccurately transfers information on a 
        certification required by subsection (b)(1), or fails to 
forward a certification to the subsequent carrier;
            ``(2) as a result of the inaccurate transfer of such 
        information or a failure to forward a certification, the 
        subsequent carrier incurs a bond, fine, penalty, or cost 
        (including storage), or interest; and
            ``(3) that subsequent carrier exercises its rights to a 
        lien under section 5905,
then that person is liable to the owner or beneficial owner, or to any 
other person paying the amount of the lien to the subsequent carrier, 
for the amount of the lien and all costs related to the imposition of 
the lien, including court costs and legal fees incurred in connection 
with it.
    (e) Nonapplication.--Subsection (e) of section 5902, as 
redesignated, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs 
        (2) and (3), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redesignated, the 
        following:
            ``(1) The notification and certification requirements of 
        subsections (a) and (b) of this section do not apply to any 
        intermodal container or trailer containing consolidated 
        shipments loaded by a motor carrier if that motor carrier--
                    ``(A) performs the highway portion of the 
                intermodal movement; or
                    ``(B) assumes the responsibility for any weight-
                related fine or penalty incurred by any other motor 
                carrier that performs a part of the highway 
                transportation.''.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITIONS.

    Section 5903 (relating to prohibitions) is amended--
            (1) by inserting after ``person'' a comma and the 
        following: ``to whom section 5902(b) applies,'';
            (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
    ``(b) Transporting Prior to Receiving Certification.--
    ``(1) Presumption.--If no certification is received by a motor 
carrier before or when a loaded intermodal container or trailer is 
tendered to it, the motor carrier may presume that the gross cargo 
weight of the container or trailer is less than 29,001 pounds.
    ``(2) Copy of certification not required to accompany container or 
trailer.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the 
contrary, a copy of the certification required by section 5902(b) is 
not required to accompany the intermodal container or trailer.''; and
            (3) by striking ``10,000 pounds (including packing 
        materials and pallets)'' in subsection (c)(1) and inserting 
        ``29,000 pound''.

SEC. 6. LIENS.

    Section 5905 (relating to liens) is amended--
    (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
    (a) General.--If a person involved in the intermodal transportation 
of a loaded container or trailer for which a certification is required 
by section 5902(b) of this title is required, because of a violation of 
a State's gross vehicle weight laws or regulations, to post a bond or 
pay a fine, penalty, cost (including storage), or interest resulting 
from--
            ``(1) erroneous information provided by the certifying 
        party in the certification to the first carrier in violation of 
        section 5903(a) of this title;
            ``(2) the failure of the party required to provide the 
        certification to the first carrier to provide it;
            ``(3) the failure of a person required under section 
        5902(c) to forward the certification to forward it; or
            ``(4) an error occurring in the transfer of information on 
        the certification to another document under section 5902(b)(3) 
        or (c),
then the person posting the bond, or paying the fine, penalty, costs 
(including storage), or interest has a lien against the contents equal 
to the amount of the bond, fine, penalty, cost (including storage), or 
interest incurred, until the person receives a payment of that amount 
from the owner or beneficial owner of the contents, or from the person 
responsible for making or forwarding the certification, or transferring 
the information from the certification to another document.'';
            (2) by inserting a comma and ``or the owner or beneficial 
        owner of the contents,'' after ``first carrier'' in subsection 
        (b)(1); and
            (3) by striking ``cost, or interest.'' in subsection (b)(1) 
        and inserting ``cost (including storage), or interest. The lien 
        shall remain in effect until the lien holder has received 
        payment for all costs and expenses described in subsection (a) 
        of this section.''.

SEC. 7. PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

    Section 5906 (relating to perishable agricultural commodities) is 
amended by striking ``Sections 5904(a)(2) and 5905 of this title do'' 
and inserting ``Section 5905 of this title does''.

SEC. 8. REGULATIONS; EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) Regulations.--Section 5907(a) (relating to regulations) is 
amended by striking the first sentence and inserting the following: 
``Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of the Intermodal 
Safe Container Transportation Amendments Act of 1996, the Secretary of 
Transportation shall initiate a proceeding to consider adoption or 
modification of regulations under this chapter to reflect the 
amendments made by that Act. The Secretary shall prescribe final 
regulations, if such regulations are needed, within 90 days after such 
date of enactment.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Section 5907(b) (relating to effective date) 
is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Effective Date.--This chapter is effective on the date of 
enactment of the Intermodal Safe Container Transportation Amendments 
Act of 1996. The Secretary shall implement the provisions of this 
chapter 180 days after such date of enactment.''.

SEC. 9. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 59 is amended by adding at the end thereof 
the following:
``Sec. 5908. Relationship to other laws
    ``Nothing in this chapter affects--
            ``(1) chapter 51 (relating to transportation of hazardous 
        material) or the regulations promulgated under that chapter; or
            ``(2) any State highway weight or size law or regulation 
        applicable to tractor-trailer combinations.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such chapter is 
amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

``5908. Relationship to other laws''