IB 

Union Calendar No. 87 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1773 

[Report No. 110–147] 

To limit the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to grant authority 

to motor carriers domiciled in Mexico to operate beyond United States 

municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2007 

Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas (for herself, Mr. DEFAZIO, and Mr. OBERSTAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

MAY 14, 2007 

Additional sponsors: Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, 

Mr. LANTOS, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, Mr. 

CARNAHAN, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee, Mrs. 

EMERSON, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. LOBIONDO, 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. 

ALTMIRE, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. SKELTON, 

Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. SHULER, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. KAGEN, Ms. 

CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. COSTELLO, 

Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. 

HIGGINS, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, Mr. ARCURI, Mr. PATRICK MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. HARE, 

Mr. POE, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. MOORE of 

Kansas, Mr. ELLSWORTH, Mr. ROSS, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. BERRY, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. ROSKAM

MAY 14, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 


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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 29, 2007] 

A BILL 

To limit the authority of the Secretary of Transportation 

to grant authority to motor carriers domiciled in Mexico 

to operate beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border. 

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 ‘‘Safe American Roads 

5 Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON GRANTING AUTHORITY. 

7 The Secretary of Transportation may not grant au8 thority to a motor carrier domiciled in Mexico to operate 

9 beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones 

10 on the United States-Mexico border, except under the pilot 

11 program authorized by this Act. 

12 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

14 may carry out, in accordance with section 350 of Public 

15 Law 107–87, section 31315(c) of title 49, United States 

16 Code, all Federal motor carrier safety laws and regulations, 

17 and this Act, a pilot program that grants authority to not 

18 more than 100 motor carriers domiciled in Mexico to operVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:50 May 14, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1773.RH H1773

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1 ate beyond United States municipalities and commercial 

2 zones on the United States-Mexico border. 

3 (b) LIMITATION ON COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES

4 PARTICIPATING IN PILOT PROGRAM.—The number of com5 mercial motor vehicles owned or leased by motor carriers 

6 domiciled in Mexico which may be used to participate in 

7 the pilot program shall not exceed 1,000. 

8 (c) PILOT PROGRAM PREREQUISITES.—The Secretary 

9 may not initiate the pilot program under subsection (a) 

10 until— 

11 (1) the Inspector General of the Department of 

12 Transportation submits to Congress and the Secretary 

13 a report— 

14 (A) independently verifying that the De15 partment is in compliance with each of the re16 quirements of subsections (a) and (b) of section 

17 350 of Public Law 107–87; and 

18 (B) including a determination of whether 

19 the Department has established sufficient mecha20 nisms— 

21 (i) to apply Federal motor carrier safe22 ty laws and regulations to motor carriers 

23 domiciled in Mexico; and 

24 (ii) to ensure compliance with such 

25 laws and regulations by motor carriers 


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1 domiciled in Mexico who will be granted 

2 authority to operate beyond United States 

3 municipalities and commercial zones on the 

4 United States-Mexico border; 

5 (2) the Secretary of Transportation— 

6 (A) takes such action as may be necessary 

7 to address any issues raised in the report of the 

8 Inspector General under paragraph (1); and 

9 (B) submits to Congress a detailed report 

10 describing such actions; 

11 (3) the Secretary determines that there is a pro12 gram in effect for motor carriers domiciled in the 

13 United States to be granted authority to begin oper14 ations in Mexico beyond commercial zones on the 

15 United States-Mexico border; 

16 (4) the Secretary publishes in the Federal Reg17 ister and provides sufficient opportunity for public 

18 comment on the following: 

19 (A) a detailed description of the pilot pro20 gram and the amount of funds the Secretary will 

21 need to expend to carry out the pilot program; 

22 (B) the findings of each pre-authorization 

23 safety audit conducted, before the date of enact24 ment of this Act, by inspectors of the Federal 

25 Motor Carrier Safety Administration of motor 


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1 carriers domiciled in Mexico and seeking to par2 ticipate in the pilot program; 

3 (C) a process by which the Secretary will be 

4 able to revoke Mexico-domiciled motor carrier op5 erating authority under the pilot program; 

6 (D) specific measures to be required by the 

7 Secretary to protect the health and safety of the 

8 public, including enforcement measures and pen9 alties for noncompliance; 

10 (E) specific measures to be required by the 

11 Secretary to enforce the requirements of section 

12 391.11(b)(2) of title 49, Code of Federal Regula13 tions, as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

14 Act; 

15 (F) specific standards to be used to evaluate 

16 the pilot program and compare any change in 

17 the level of motor carrier safety as a result of the 

18 pilot program; 

19 (G) penalties to be levied against carriers 

20 who, under the pilot program, violate section 

21 365.501(b) of title 49, Code of Federal Regula22 tions, as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

23 Act; 

24 (H) a list of Federal motor carrier safety 

25 laws and regulations for which the Secretary 


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1 will accept compliance with a Mexican law or 

2 regulation as the equivalent to compliance with 

3 a corresponding Federal motor carrier safety law 

4 or regulation, including commercial driver’s li5 cense requirements; and 

6 (I) for any law or regulation referred to in 

7 subparagraph (H) for which compliance with a 

8 Mexican law or regulation will be accepted, an 

9 analysis of how the requirements of the Mexican 

10 and United States laws and regulations differ; 

11 and 

12 (5) the Secretary establishes an independent re13 view panel under section 4 to monitor and evaluate 

14 the pilot program. 

15 SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REVIEW PANEL. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PANEL.—The Secretary of 

17 Transportation shall establish an independent review panel 

18 to monitor and evaluate the pilot program under section 

19 3. The panel shall be composed of 3 individuals appointed 

20 by the Secretary. 

21 (b) DUTIES.— 

22 (1) EVALUATION.—The independent review panel 

23 shall— 

24 (A) evaluate any effects that the pilot pro25 gram has on motor carrier safety, including an 


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1 analysis of any crashes involving motor carriers 

2 participating in the pilot program and a deter3 mination of whether the pilot program has had 

4 an adverse effect on motor carrier safety; and 

5 (B) make, in writing, recommendations to 

6 the Secretary. 

7 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—If the independent re8 view panel determines that the pilot program has had 

9 an adverse effect on motor carrier safety, the panel 

10 shall recommend, in writing, to the Secretary— 

11 (A) such modifications to the pilot program 

12 as the panel determines are necessary to address 

13 such adverse effect; or 

14 (B) termination of the pilot program. 

15 (c) RESPONSE.—Not later than 5 days after the date 

16 of a written determination of the independent review panel 

17 that the pilot program has had an adverse effect on motor 

18 carrier safety, the Secretary shall take such action as may 

19 be necessary to address such adverse effect or terminate the 

20 pilot program. 

21 SEC. 5. INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the De23 partment of Transportation— 

24 (1) shall monitor and review the pilot program; 


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1 (2) not later than 12 months after the date of 

2 initiation of the pilot program, shall submit to Con3 gress and the Secretary of Transportation a 12-month 

4 interim report on the Inspector General’s findings re5 garding the pilot program; and 

6 (3) not later than 18 months after the date of 

7 initiation of the pilot program, shall submit to Con8 gress and the Secretary an 18-month interim report 

9 with the Inspector General’s findings regarding the 

10 pilot program. 

11 (b) SAFETY DETERMINATIONS.—The interim reports 

12 submitted under subsection (a) shall include the determina13 tion of the Inspector General of— 

14 (1) whether the Secretary has established suffi15 cient mechanisms to determine whether the pilot pro16 gram is having any adverse effects on motor carrier 

17 safety; 

18 (2) whether the Secretary is taking sufficient ac19 tion to ensure that motor carriers domiciled in Mex20 ico and participating in the pilot program are in 

21 compliance with all Federal motor carrier safety laws 

22 and regulations and section 350 of Public Law 107– 

23 87; and 

24 (3) the sufficiency of monitoring and enforce25 ment activities by the Secretary and States to ensure 


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1 compliance with such laws and regulations by such 

2 carriers. 

3 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 days 

4 after the date of submission of the 18-month interim report 

5 of the Inspector General under this section, the Secretary 

6 shall submit to Congress a report on— 

7 (1) the actions the Secretary is taking to address 

8 any motor carrier safety issues raised in one or both 

9 of the interim reports of the Inspector General; 

10 (2) evaluation of the Secretary whether granting 

11 authority to additional motor carriers domiciled in 

12 Mexico to operate beyond United States municipali13 ties and commercial zones on the United States-Mex14 ico border would have any adverse effects on motor 

15 carrier safety; 

16 (3) modifications to Federal motor carrier safety 

17 laws and regulations or special procedures that the 

18 Secretary determines are necessary to enhance the 

19 safety of operations of motor carriers domiciled in 

20 Mexico in the United States; and 

21 (4) any recommendations for legislation to make 

22 the pilot program permanent or to expand operations 

23 of motor carriers domiciled in Mexico in the United 

24 States beyond municipalities and commercial zones 

25 on the United States-Mexico border. 


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1 SEC. 6. DURATION OF PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

3 may carry out the pilot program under this Act for a period 

4 not to exceed 3 years; except that, if the Secretary does not 

5 comply with any provision of this Act, the authority of the 

6 Secretary to carry out the pilot program terminates. 

7 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

8 last day of the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit 

9 to Congress a final report on the pilot program. 


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Union Calendar No. 87 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1773 

[Report No. 110

–147] 

A BILL 

To limit the authority of the Secretary of TransporUnited States-Mexico border. municipalities and commercial zones on the ciled in Mexico to operate beyond United States tation to grant authority to motor carriers domiMAY 14, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS