I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2057 

To protect the rights of consumers to diagnose, service, maintain, and repair 

their motor vehicles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2009 

Mr. TOWNS (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, and Ms. ESHOO) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To protect the rights of consumers to diagnose, service, 

maintain, and repair their motor vehicles, 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 ‘‘Motor Vehicle Owners 

5 Right to Repair Act of 2009.’’ 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Motor vehicle owners are entitled to choose 

2 which service provider will diagnose, service, main3 tain, or repair their motor vehicles. 

4 (2) Promoting competition in price and quality 

5 for the diagnosis of problems, service, maintenance, 

6 and repair of motor vehicles will benefit consumers. 

7 (3) Regular diagnosis, service, maintenance, 

8 and repair of motor vehicles, motor vehicle equip9 ment, and motor vehicle systems such as pollution 

10 control, transmission, antilock brakes, electronic and 

11 mechanical systems, heating and air-conditioning, 

12 and steering are essential to America’s mobility, 

13 minimizing fuel consumption, protecting the environ14 ment, and enabling the highest levels of safety pos15 sible in modern motor vehicles. 

16 (4) Computers of various kinds are now used by 

17 manufacturers in motor vehicle equipment and 

18 motor vehicle systems. On-board computer tech19 nology controls virtually all of the vehicle’s systems, 

20 and only service technicians with the necessary tools 

21 and information can access the computers to per22 form diagnosis, service, maintenance, and repair of 

23 the vehicle. 

24 (5) Manufacturers have made available to their 

25 authorized dealers and service providers the informaVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:01 Apr 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2057.IH H2057

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1 tion, tools, codes, and replacement equipment nec2 essary to diagnose problems and to service, main3 tain, and repair motor vehicles that incorporate com4 puters in their motor vehicle systems. 

5 (6) Consumers in the United States have bene6 fited from the availability of a wide choice of service 

7 providers for their motor vehicles. The American 

8 economy has also benefited from the availability of 

9 an aftermarket tools and parts supply that provides 

10 jobs to over 5 million workers in 495,000 businesses, 

11 and generates $200 billion in annual sales. 

12 (7) Vehicles are now being equipped with sys13 tems that permit vehicles to communicate repair and 

14 diagnostic information wirelessly with the vehicle 

15 manufacturer and repair facilities. Car owners have 

16 the right to choose where and to whom information 

17 generated by their vehicle and vehicle computers is 

18 sent. 

19 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

20 (1) to protect motor vehicle owners’ right to 

21 choose a service provider for the diagnosis, service, 

22 maintenance, and repair of their motor vehicles; 

23 (2) to promote competition in price and quality 

24 among service providers; and 


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1 (3) to promote safety and fuel efficiency by al2 lowing consumers to choose among competing service 

3 providers. 

4 SEC. 3. MANUFACTURER REQUIREMENTS. 

5 (a) DUTY TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION.—The manu6 facturer of a motor vehicle sold, leased, or otherwise intro7 duced into commerce in the United States must provide 

8 to the motor vehicle owner and service providers, using 

9 reasonable business means and on a non-discriminatory 

10 basis, all information to diagnose, service, maintain, or re11 pair the motor vehicle. This information must include— 

12 (1) information about safety alerts, recalls, 

13 service bulletins and the need for adjustments to 

14 maintain vehicle efficiency, safety and convenience; 

15 and 

16 (2) all information of any kind provided di17 rectly, indirectly, or wirelessly to new car dealers or 

18 any repair facility to diagnose, service, maintain, re19 pair, activate, certify, or install any motor vehicle 

20 equipment (including replacement parts and equip21 ment) in a motor vehicle. 

22 (b) DUTY TO MAKE TOOLS AVAILABLE.—The manu23 facturer of a motor vehicle sold, leased, or otherwise intro24 duced into commerce in the United States must offer for 

25 sale to the motor vehicle owner and to all service providers 


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1 on a reasonable and non-discriminatory basis, any tool for 

2 the diagnosis, service, maintenance, or repair of a motor 

3 vehicle, and provide all information that enables aftermar4 ket tool companies to manufacture tools with the same 

5 functional characteristics as those tools made available by 

6 the manufacturers to authorized dealers. 

7 (c) REPLACEMENT EQUIPMENT.—The manufacturer 

8 of a motor vehicle sold, leased, or otherwise introduced 

9 into commerce in the United States must offer for sale 

10 to motor vehicle owners, and to all service providers on 

11 reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, all equipment 

12 for diagnosis, service, maintenance, or repair of a motor 

13 vehicle. 

14 (d) PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS.— 

15 (1) A manufacturer may not be required to 

16 publicly disclose information that, if made public, 

17 would divulge methods or processes entitled to pro18 tection as trade secrets. 

19 (2) No information may be withheld by a manu20 facturer on the ground that it is a trade secret if 

21 that information is provided (directly or indirectly) 

22 to authorized dealers or service providers. 

23 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of enforcing com25 pliance with this Act, the Federal Trade Commission may 


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1 utilize all authority conferred on it by the Federal Trade 

2 Commission Act, or otherwise. 

3 (b) VIOLATION OF SECTION 3.—A violation of section 

4 3 of this Act constitutes an unfair method of competition 

5 and an unfair or deceptive act or practice within the mean6 ing of section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission 

7 Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(1)). 

8 (c) VIOLATION OF A RULE.—Violation of a rule pre9 scribed under section 4(d) of this Act constitutes violation 

10 of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice 

11 prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 

12 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

13 (d) RULEMAKING.—The Federal Trade Commission 

14 may prescribe rules to implement this Act. 

15 (e) COOPERATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF TRANS16 PORTATION.—The Federal Trade Commission must co17 operate with the Department of Transportation to publish 

18 technical service bulletins on a Federal Internet Website. 

19 (f) LIMITATION.—The Federal Trade Commission 

20 may not prescribe rules that— 

21 (1) interfere with the authority of the Adminis22 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

23 under section 202(m) of the Clean Air Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 7521(m)) with regard to motor vehicle emis25 sions control diagnostics systems; or 


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1 (2) conflict with rules prescribed by the Admin2 istrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

3 SEC. 5. ACTION BY STATES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever an attorney general of 

5 any State has reason to believe that the interests of the 

6 residents of that State have been or are being threatened 

7 or adversely affected by a violation of section 3 of this 

8 Act, or by the violation of a rule promulgated by the Fed9 eral Trade Commission to implement this Act, the State, 

10 as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of 

11 its residents to enjoin violations, to obtain damages, res12 titution, or other compensation on behalf of residents of 

13 the State, or to obtain such further relief as the court may 

14 deem appropriate. 

15 (b) NOTICE.—The State must serve prior written no16 tice of any civil action under subsection (a) of this section 

17 upon the Federal Trade Commission with a copy of its 

18 complaint, except that if it is not feasible for the State 

19 to provide such prior notice, the State must serve notice 

20 immediately upon instituting an action. Upon receiving a 

21 notice of a civil action, the Federal Trade Commission 

22 may— 

23 (1) intervene in the action; 

24 (2) upon intervening, to be heard on all matters 

25 arising therein; and 


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1 (3) to appeal. 

2 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing any 

3 civil action under subsection (a) of this section, nothing 

4 in this chapter will prevent an attorney general from exer5 cising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the 

6 laws of such State to conduct investigations or to admin7 ister oaths or affirmations or to compel the attendance 

8 of witnesses or the production of documentary and other 

9 evidence. 

10 (d) ACTIONS BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.— 

11 Whenever a civil action has been instituted by or the Fed12 eral Trade Commission for violation of any rule prescribed 

13 under section 4(d) of this Act, no State may, during the 

14 pendency of the action instituted by the Federal Trade 

15 Commission, institute a civil action under this Act against 

16 any defendant named in the complaint in such action for 

17 violation of any rule as alleged in such complaint. 

18 (e) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.— 

19 (1) Nothing contained in this section may pro20 hibit an authorized State official from proceeding in 

21 State court on the basis of an alleged violation of 

22 any civil or criminal statute of such State. 

23 (2) In addition to actions brought by an attor24 ney general of a State under subsection (a) of this 


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1 section, an action may be brought by officers of a 

2 State who are so authorized. 

3 SEC. 6. CONSUMERS’ RIGHTS. 

4 A consumer or service provider may bring a civil ac5 tion to enjoin any violation of section 3 of this Act or of 

6 any rule issued pursuant to this Act and for damages (in7 cluding court costs and reasonable attorney and expert 

8 witness fees). The action may be brought in any court of 

9 competent jurisdiction. 

10 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) The term ‘‘commerce’’ has the meaning 

13 given that term in section 4 of the Federal Trade 

14 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44). 

15 (2) The terms ‘‘manufacturer’’, ‘‘motor vehi16 cle’’, and ‘‘motor vehicle equipment’’ have the mean17 ings given those terms in section 30102(a) of title 

18 49, United States Code. 

19 (3) The term ‘‘motor vehicle owner’’ and the 

20 term ‘‘consumer’’ mean any person who owns, 

21 leases, or otherwise has the legal right to use and 

22 possess a motor vehicle, or the agent of such person. 

23 (4) The term ‘‘service provider’’ means any per24 son engaged in the diagnosis, service, maintenance, 

25 or repair of motor vehicles or motor vehicle engines. 


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1 (5) The term ‘‘replacement equipment’’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 30102(b)(1) of 

3 title 49, United States Code. 

4 (6) The term ‘‘model year’’ has the meaning 

5 given that term in section 32901(a) of title 49, 

6 United States Code. 

7 (7) The term ‘‘dealer’’ has the meaning given 

8 that term in section 30102(a) of title 49, United 

9 States Code. 

10 (8) The term ‘‘technical service bulletin’’ means 

11 a communication sent to a dealer about the diag12 nosis, service, maintenance or repair of a motor ve13 hicle or item of motor vehicle equipment and shall 

14 include all communications sent to the Secretary of 

15 Transportation under sections 30166(f) and 

16 30166(m)(3)(A)(ii) of title 49, United States Code. 

Æ 


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