Child Passenger Protection Act

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Child Passenger Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The annual losses in the United States from motor 
        vehicle collisions are estimated to exceed 800 deaths and 
        80,000 injuries to children under the age of 5.
            (2) It is estimated that properly used child restraints in 
        motor vehicles can reduce the chance of serious or fatal injury 
        in a motor vehicle collision--
                    (A) by a factor of 69 percent with respect to 
                infants; and
                    (B) by a factor of 47 percent with respect to 
                children under the age of 5.
            (3) Some of the most common seating position designs that 
        have emerged in motor vehicles during the last decade make 
        secure installation of child restraints difficult and, in some 
        circumstances, impossible.
            (4) Results from regional child restraint clinics 
        demonstrated that 70 to 90 percent of child restraints are 
        improperly installed or otherwise misused and the improper 
        installation or other misuse is largely attributable to the 
        complication and wide variations in seat belt and child 
        restraint designs.
            (5) There is an immediate need to expand the availability 
        of national, State, and local child restraint education 
        programs and supporting resources and materials to assist 
        agencies and associated organizations in carrying out effective 
        public education concerning child restraints.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Child restraint education program.--The term ``child 
        restraint education program'' includes a publication, 
        audiovisual presentation, demonstration, or computerized child 
        restraint education program.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Transportation.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
        Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or 
        possession of the United States.

SEC. 4. CHILD PASSENGER EDUCATION.

    (a) Awards.--The Secretary may enter into contracts or cooperative 
agreements with, and may make grants to, State highway agencies and 
child passenger safety organizations that are recognized for their 
experience to obtain and distribute national, State, and local child 
restraint education programs and supporting educational materials.
    (b) Use of Funds.--Funds provided to an agency or organization 
under a contract, cooperative agreement, or grant under subsection (a) 
shall be used to implement child restraint programs that--
            (1) are designed to prevent deaths and injuries to children 
        under the age of 5; and
            (2) educate the public concerning--
                    (A) all aspects of the proper installation of child 
                restraints using standard seatbelt hardware, 
                supplemental hardware and modification devices (if 
                needed), including special installation techniques; and
                    (B) appropriate child restraint design selection 
                and placement and in harness threading and harness 
                adjustment; and
            (3) train and retrain child passenger safety professionals, 
        police officers, fire and emergency medical personnel, and 
        other educators concerning all aspects of child restraint use.
    (c) Distribution of Funds.--An agency or organization that receives 
funds made available to the agency or organization under a contract, 
cooperative agreement, or grant under subsection (a) shall, in carrying 
out subsection (b)--
            (1) use not more than 25 percent of those funds to support 
        nationwide child restraint education programs that are in 
        operation at the time that the funds are made available;
            (2) use not more than 25 percent of those funds to support 
        State child restraint education programs that are in operation 
        at the time that the funds are made available; and
            (3) use at least 50 percent of those funds to implement 
        national, State, and local child restraint education programs 
        that are not in operation at the time that the funds are made 
        available.

SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS AND REPORTS.

    (a) Applications.--To enter into a contract, cooperative agreement, 
or grant agreement under section 4(a), the appropriate official of an 
agency or organization described in that section shall submit an 
application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 
accompanied by such information as the Secretary may reasonably 
require.
    (b) Reports.--
            (1) In general.--The appropriate official of each agency or 
        organization that enters into a contract, cooperative 
        agreement, or grant agreement under section 4(a) shall prepare 
        and submit to the Secretary, an annual report for the period 
        covered by the contract, cooperative agreement, or grant 
        agreement.
            (2) Reports.--A report described in paragraph (1) shall--
                    (A) contain such information as the Secretary may 
                require; and
                    (B) at a minimum, describe the program activities 
                undertaken with the funds made available under the 
                contract, cooperative agreement, or grant agreement, 
                including--
                            (i) any child restraint education program 
                        that has been developed directly or indirectly 
                        by the agency or organization and the target 
                        population of that program;
                            (ii) support materials for such a program 
                        that have been obtained by that agency or 
                        organization and the method by which the agency 
                        or organization distributed those materials; 
                        and
                            (iii) any initiatives undertaken by the 
                        agency or organization to develop public-
                        private partnerships to secure non-Federal 
                        support for the development and distribution of 
                        child restraint education programs and 
                        materials.

SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare, and submit to 
Congress, a report on the implementation of this Act that includes a 
description of the programs undertaken and materials developed and 
distributed by the agencies and organizations that receive funds under 
section 4(a).

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    For the purpose of carrying out section 4, there are authorized to 
be appropriated to the Department of Transportation $7,500,000 for each 
of fiscal years 1998 and 1999, of which not more than $350,000 may be 
spent in any fiscal year for administrative costs.

Summary: Child Passenger Protection Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to enter into contracts with, and make grants to, State highway offices and experienced child passenger safety organizations to distribute national, State, and local motor vehicle child restraint education programs and supporting educational materials. Authorizes appropriations.