II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5024 

To prevent the theft of catalytic converters and other precious metal car 

parts, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To prevent the theft of catalytic converters and other 

precious metal car parts, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Auto Recy5 cling Theft Act’’ or the ‘‘PART Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW MOTOR VEHICLE REGU7 LATIONS RELATING TO CATALYTIC CON8 VERTERS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 


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1 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (referred 

2 to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall— 

3 (1) issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to re4 vise the motor vehicle theft prevention standard con5 tained in section 541.5 of title 49, Code of Federal 

6 Regulations (or a successor regulation), to include 

7 catalytic converters among the parts specified in 

8 subsection (a) of that section; 

9 (2) issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to re10 vise part 543 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula11 tions (or successor regulations), to require that, not12 withstanding the granting of a petition under that 

13 part, all catalytic converters be marked in accord14 ance with section 541.5 of that title (as revised pur15 suant to paragraph (1)); and 

16 (3) update other regulations, as necessary, to 

17 ensure that, with respect to catalytic converters, the 

18 requirements of section 541.5 and part 543 of title 

19 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as revised in ac20 cordance with paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively), 

21 apply to any vehicle covered by part 565 of that title 

22 (or successor regulations). 

23 (b) APPLICATION.—Notwithstanding any provision of 

24 chapter 331 of title 49, United States Code, in the case 

25 of a vehicle described in section 565.2 of title 49, Code 


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1 of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), that 

2 has not been sold to the first purchaser (as defined in sec3 tion 33101 of title 49, United States Code), the require4 ments added to section 541.5 of title 49, Code of Federal 

5 Regulations (or a successor regulation), by the Adminis6 trator in accordance with paragraph (1) of subsection (a) 

7 shall apply to the vehicle beginning on the date that is 

8 180 days after the date on which the Administrator makes 

9 the revisions and updates required by that subsection, re10 gardless of the model year of the vehicle or the date on 

11 which the vehicle is manufactured. 

12 (c) MARKING OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS NOT13 WITHSTANDING AN EXEMPTION.—Section 33106 of title 

14 49, United States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (c)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

19 paragraph (4); and 

20 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(3) a certification that the catalytic converter 

23 will be marked in accordance with sections 33101 

24 through 33104, including associated regulations; 

25 and’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(f) REQUIREMENTS FOR MARKING CATALYTIC CON3 VERTERS.—The Administrator of the National Highway 

4 Traffic Safety Administration shall promulgate regula5 tions requiring catalytic converters on a vehicle line to be 

6 marked in accordance with sections 33101 through 33104, 

7 including associated regulations.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR VIN STAMPING. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) COVERED ACTIVITY.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered ac12 tivity’’, with respect to a motor vehicle, means 

13 die or pin stamping of the full vehicle identifica14 tion number on the outside of the catalytic con15 verter in a conspicuous manner. 

16 (B) STAMPING.—For purposes of subpara17 graph (A), the term ‘‘stamping’’ means stamp18 ing— 

19 (i) in a typed (not handwritten) font; 

20 and 

21 (ii) covered through the application of 

22 a coat of high-visibility, high-heat theft de23 terrence paint. 

24 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti25 ty’’ means— 


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1 (A) a law enforcement agency; 

2 (B) an automobile dealer; 

3 (C) an automobile repair shop and service 

4 center; and 

5 (D) a nonprofit organization. 

6 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of Transportation. 

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es10 tablish a program to provide grants to eligible entities to 

11 carry out covered activities (excluding wages) relating to 

12 catalytic converters. 

13 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

14 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

15 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 

16 and containing such information as the Secretary may re17 quire. 

18 (d) REQUIREMENT.—A covered activity carried out 

19 with a grant awarded under this section shall be carried 

20 out at no cost to the owner of— 

21 (1) the motor vehicle being stamped; or 

22 (2) any motor vehicle otherwise receiving serv23 ice from an eligible entity. 

24 (e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec25 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to— 


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1 (1) eligible entities operating in areas with the 

2 highest need for covered activities, including the 

3 areas with the highest rates of catalytic converter 

4 theft, as determined by the Secretary; and 

5 (2) eligible entities that are in possession of 

6 motor vehicles that are subject to the requirement 

7 described in section 2(b). 

8 (f) PROCEDURES FOR MARKING.—In carrying out 

9 the grant program under this section, the Secretary shall 

10 issue such regulations as are necessary to establish proce11 dures to mark catalytic converters of vehicles most likely 

12 to be targeted for theft with unique identification numbers 

13 using a combination of die or pin stamping and high-visi14 bility, high-heat theft deterrence paint without damaging 

15 the function of the catalytic converter. 

16 (g) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 

18 for 10 years, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re19 port on the grant program established under subsection 

20 (b) that includes a description of the progress, results, and 

21 any findings of the grant program, including— 

22 (1) the total number of catalytic converters 

23 marked under the grant program; and 


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1 (2)(A) to the extent known, whether any cata2 lytic converters marked under the grant program 

3 were stolen; and 

4 (B) the outcome of any criminal investigation 

5 relating to those thefts. 

6 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

7 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

8 $7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. 

9 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR PURCHASE OF CATALYTIC 

10 CONVERTERS AND RETENTION OF SELLER 

11 INFORMATION. 

12 (a) INCLUSION OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS.—Sec13 tion 33101(6) of title 49, United States Code, is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in subparagraph (K), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

16 after the semicolon at the end; 

17 (2) by resdesignating subparagraph (L) as sub18 paragraph (M); 

19 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (K) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(L) the catalytic converter; and’’; and 

22 (4) in subparagraph (M) (as so redesignated), 

23 by striking ‘‘subclauses (A)–(K) of this clause’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) through (L) of this 

25 paragraph’’. 


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1 (b) RETENTION OF RECORDS.—Section 33111 of the 

2 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (a), in the subsection heading, 

4 by striking ‘‘GENERAL REQUIREMENTS’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘PROHIBITIONS RELATED TO SELLING MOTOR

6 VEHICLE PARTS’’; 

7 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

8 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and 

9 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(b) RETENTION OF RECORDS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF PRECIOUS METALS.—In 

13 this subsection, the term ‘precious metals’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 109–27.5101 of 

15 title 41, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor 

16 regulation). 

17 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A seller of motor vehicles 

18 or motor vehicle parts that contain precious metals, 

19 including a person engaged in the business of sal20 vaging, dismantling, recycling, or repairing motor 

21 vehicles or motor vehicle parts that contain precious 

22 metals, shall provide to a purchaser on the sale of 

23 the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, as applica24 ble— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the name, address, telephone number, 

2 and a photocopy of a government-issued identi3 fication of the seller; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the make, model, vehicle identifica5 tion number, date of purchase, and a descrip6 tion of the motor vehicle or, with respect to a 

7 motor vehicle part, a description of the motor 

8 vehicle from which the part was removed. 

9 ‘‘(3) DURATION OF RETENTION.—A person 

10 shall retain the information described in paragraph 

11 (2) for a period of not less than 2 years.’’. 

12 (c) PROHIBITION ON SALE OF PARTIAL CATALYTIC

13 CONVERTERS.—It shall be unlawful to sell or purchase 

14 any— 

15 (1) partial or de-canned catalytic converter 

16 parts; or 

17 (2) catalytic converter which has had identi18 fying markings removed or otherwise tampered with. 

19 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General shall pre20 scribe regulations to carry out this section and the amend21 ments made by this section, including the enforcement and 

22 penalties that apply to a violation of this section and the 

23 amendments made by this section. 


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1 SEC. 5. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

2 (a) THEFT OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS.—Chapter 

3 31 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

4 (1) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 671. Theft of catalytic converters 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘pre7 cious metals’ has the meaning given the term in section 

8 109–27.5101 of title 41, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

9 any successor regulation. 

10 ‘‘(b) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful to steal or 

11 knowingly and unlawfully take, carry away, or conceal a 

12 catalytic converter from another person’s motor vehicle, 

13 or knowingly purchase such a catalytic converter, with the 

14 intent to distribute, sell, or dispose of the catalytic con15 verter or any precious metal removed therefrom in inter16 state or foreign commerce. 

17 ‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

18 (b) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 

19 than 5 years, or both.’’; and 

20 (2) in the table of sections, by adding at the 

21 end the following: 

‘‘671. Theft of catalytic converters.’’. 

22 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2311 of title 18, United 

23 States Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘for running 

24 on land but not on rails;’’ the following: 


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1 ‘‘ ‘Precious metals’ has the meaning given the term 

2 in section 109–27.5101 of title 41, Code of Federal Regu3 lations, or any successor regulation;’’. 

4 (c) TRAFFICKING IN CAR PARTS CONTAINING PRE5 CIOUS METALS.—Section 2321 of title 18, United States 

6 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(d) TRAFFICKING IN MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS CON8 TAINING PRECIOUS METALS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful to buy, re10 ceive, possess, or obtain control of, with intent to sell 

11 or otherwise dispose of, a catalytic converter (includ12 ing a de-canned catalytic converter), knowing that 

13 the catalytic converter has been stolen. 

14 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para15 graph (1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 

16 not more than 5 years, or both.’’. 

17 (d) CHOP SHOPS.—Section 2322(b) of title 18, 

18 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

20 term ‘chop shop’ means any building, lot, facility, or other 

21 structure or premise where 1 or more persons engage in 

22 receiving, concealing, destroying, disassembling, disman23 tling, reassembling, or storing any motor vehicle or motor 

24 vehicle part that has been unlawfully obtained in order to 

25 alter, counterfeit, deface, destroy, disguise, falsify, forge, 


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1 obliterate, extract any precious metal therefrom, or re2 move the identity, including the vehicle identification num3 ber or derivative thereof, or other identification marking, 

4 of the vehicle or vehicle part and to distribute, sell, or dis5 pose of the vehicle or vehicle part, or precious metal ex6 tracted from the vehicle or vehicle part, in interstate or 

7 foreign commerce.’’. 

Æ 


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