I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8449 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring access 

to AM broadcast stations in motor vehicles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2024 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and 

Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule 

requiring access to AM broadcast stations in 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 ‘‘AM Radio for Every 

5 Vehicle Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

3 Emergency Management Agency. 

4 (2) AM BROADCAST BAND.—The term ‘‘AM 

5 broadcast band’’ means the band of frequencies be6 tween 535 kilohertz and 1705 kilohertz, inclusive. 

7 (3) AM BROADCAST STATION.—The term ‘‘AM 

8 broadcast station’’ means a broadcast station li9 censed for the dissemination of radio communica10 tions— 

11 (A) intended to be received by the public; 

12 and 

13 (B) operated on a channel in the AM 

14 broadcast band. 

15 (4) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON16 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con17 gress’’ means— 

18 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

19 and Transportation of the Senate; 

20 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

21 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

22 (C) the Committee on Transportation and 

23 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 

24 (D) the Committee on Homeland Security 

25 of the House of Representatives; and 


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1 (E) the Committee on Energy and Com2 merce of the House of Representatives. 

3 (5) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The term 

4 ‘‘Comptroller General’’ means the Comptroller Gen5 eral of the United States. 

6 (6) DEVICE.—The term ‘‘device’’ means a piece 

7 of equipment or an apparatus that is designed— 

8 (A) to receive signals transmitted by a 

9 radio broadcast station (as defined in section 3 

10 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

11 153)); and 

12 (B) to play back content or programming 

13 derived from those signals. 

14 (7) DIGITAL AUDIO AM BROADCAST STATION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘digital 

16 audio AM broadcast station’’ means an AM 

17 broadcast station that— 

18 (i) is licensed by the Federal Commu19 nications Commission; and 

20 (ii) uses an In-band On-channel sys21 tem (as defined in section 73.402 of title 

22 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or a suc23 cessor regulation)) for broadcasting pur24 poses. 


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1 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘digital audio 

2 AM broadcast station’’ does not include an all3 digital AM station (as defined in section 73.402 

4 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or a 

5 successor regulation)). 

6 (8) INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING

7 SYSTEM; IPAWS.—The terms ‘‘Integrated Public 

8 Alert and Warning System’’ and ‘‘IPAWS’’ mean 

9 the public alert and warning system of the United 

10 States described in section 526 of the Homeland Se11 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 321o). 

12 (9) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac13 turer’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

14 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code. 

15 (10) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

16 ‘‘passenger motor vehicle’’ has the meaning given 

17 the term in section 32101 of title 49, United States 

18 Code. 

19 (11) RECEIVE.—The term ‘‘receive’’ means to 

20 receive a broadcast signal via over-the-air trans21 mission. 

22 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

23 means the Secretary of Transportation. 

24 (13) SIGNAL.—The term ‘‘signal’’ means radio 

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1 cense granted or authorized by the Federal Commu2 nications Commission pursuant to sections 301 and 

3 307 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

4 301, 307) intentionally emits or causes to be emitted 

5 at a specified frequency for the purpose of transmit6 ting content or programming to the public. 

7 (14) STANDARD EQUIPMENT.—The term 

8 ‘‘standard equipment’’ means motor vehicle equip9 ment (as defined in section 30102(a) of title 49, 

10 United States Code) that— 

11 (A) is installed as a system, part, or com12 ponent of a motor vehicle as originally manu13 factured; and 

14 (B) the manufacturer of the motor vehicle 

15 recommends or authorizes to be included in the 

16 motor vehicle for no additional or separate 

17 monetary fee, payment, or surcharge, beyond 

18 the base price of a motor vehicle. 

19 SEC. 3. AM BROADCAST STATIONS RULE. 

20 (a) RULE REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con22 sultation with the Administrator and the Federal Commu23 nications Commission, shall issue a rule— 

24 (1) requiring devices that can receive signals 

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1 tions be installed as standard equipment in pas2 senger motor vehicles— 

3 (A) manufactured in the United States, 

4 imported into the United States, or shipped in 

5 interstate commerce; and 

6 (B) manufactured after the effective date 

7 of the rule; 

8 (2) requiring access to AM broadcast stations 

9 in a manner that is easily accessible to a driver after 

10 the effective date of the rule; and 

11 (3) allowing a manufacturer to comply with 

12 that rule by installing devices that can receive sig13 nals and play content transmitted by digital audio 

14 AM broadcast stations as standard equipment in 

15 passenger motor vehicles manufactured in the 

16 United States, imported into the United States, or 

17 shipped in interstate commerce after the effective 

18 date of the rule. 

19 (b) COMPLIANCE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (2), in issuing the rule required under sub22 section (a), the Secretary shall establish an effective 

23 date for the rule that is not less than 2 years, but 

24 not more than 3 years, after the date on which the 

25 rule is issued. 


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1 (2) CERTAIN MANUFACTURERS.—In issuing the 

2 rule required under subsection (a), the Secretary 

3 shall establish an effective date for the rule that is 

4 at least 4 years after the date on which the rule is 

5 issued with respect to manufacturers that manufac6 tured not more than 40,000 passenger motor vehi7 cles for sale in the United States in 2022. 

8 (c) INTERIM REQUIREMENT.—For passenger motor 

9 vehicles manufactured after the date of enactment of this 

10 Act and manufactured in the United States, imported into 

11 the United States, or shipped in interstate commerce be12 tween the period of time beginning on the date of enact13 ment of this Act and ending on the effective date of the 

14 rule issued under subsection (a) that do not include de15 vices that can receive signals and play content transmitted 

16 by AM broadcast stations, the manufacturer of the pas17 senger motor vehicles— 

18 (1) shall provide clear and conspicuous labeling 

19 to inform purchasers of those passenger motor vehi20 cles that the passenger motor vehicles do not include 

21 devices that can receive signals and play content 

22 transmitted by AM broadcast stations; and 

23 (2) may not charge an additional or separate 

24 monetary fee, payment, or surcharge, beyond the 

25 base price of the passenger motor vehicles, for access 


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1 to AM broadcast stations for the period of time de2 scribed in this subsection. 

3 (d) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—When the rule 

4 issued under subsection (a) is in effect, a State or a polit5 ical subdivision of a State may not prescribe or continue 

6 in effect a law, regulation, or other requirement applicable 

7 to access to AM broadcast stations in passenger motor ve8 hicles. 

9 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— 

10 (1) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person failing to 

11 comply with the rule issued under subsection (a) 

12 shall be liable to the United States Government for 

13 a civil penalty in accordance with section 

14 30165(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code. 

15 (2) CIVIL ACTION.—The Attorney General may 

16 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 

17 of the United States to enjoin a violation of the rule 

18 issued under subsection (a) in accordance with sec19 tion 30163 of title 49, United States Code. 

20 (f) GAO STUDY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 

22 shall conduct a comprehensive study on dissemi23 nating emergency alerts and warnings to the public. 

24 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The study required 

25 under paragraph (1) shall include— 


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1 (A) an assessment of— 

2 (i) the role of passenger motor vehi3 cles in IPAWS communications, including 

4 by providing access to AM broadcast sta5 tions; 

6 (ii) the advantages, effectiveness, limi7 tations, resilience, and accessibility of ex8 isting IPAWS communication technologies, 

9 including AM broadcast stations in pas10 senger motor vehicles; 

11 (iii) the advantages, effectiveness, lim12 itations, resilience, and accessibility of AM 

13 broadcast stations relative to other IPAWS 

14 communication technologies in passenger 

15 motor vehicles; 

16 (iv) whether other IPAWS commu17 nication technologies are capable of ensur18 ing the President (or a designee) can reach 

19 at least 90 percent of the population of the 

20 United States at a time of crisis, including 

21 at night; and 

22 (B) a description of any ongoing efforts to 

23 integrate new and emerging technologies and 

24 communication platforms into the IPAWS 

25 framework. 


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1 (3) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In conducting 

2 the study required under paragraph (1), the Comp3 troller General shall consult with— 

4 (A) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 

5 (B) the Federal Communications Commis6 sion; 

7 (C) the National Telecommunications and 

8 Information Administration; 

9 (D) the Secretary; 

10 (E) Federal, State, Tribal, territorial, and 

11 local emergency management officials; 

12 (F) first responders; 

13 (G) technology experts in resilience and ac14 cessibility; 

15 (H) radio broadcasters; 

16 (I) manufacturers of passenger motor vehi17 cles; and 

18 (J) other relevant stakeholders, as deter19 mined by the Comptroller General. 

20 (g) BRIEFING AND REPORT.— 

21 (1) BRIEFING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller Gen23 eral shall brief the appropriate committees of Con24 gress on the results of the study required by sub25 section (f)(1), including recommendations for legislaVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:29 Jun 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8449.IH H8449

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1 tion and administrative action as the Comptroller 

2 General determines appropriate. 

3 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

4 the date on which the Comptroller General provides 

5 the briefing required under paragraph (1), the 

6 Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate 

7 committees of Congress a report describing the re8 sults of the study required under subsection (f)(1), 

9 including recommendations for legislation and ad10 ministrative action as the Comptroller General deter11 mines appropriate. 

12 (h) REVIEW.—Not less frequently than once every 5 

13 years after the date on which the Secretary issued the rule 

14 required by subsection (a), the Secretary, in coordination 

15 with the Administrator and the Federal Communications 

16 Commission, shall submit to the appropriate committees 

17 of Congress a report that shall include an assessment of— 

18 (1) the impacts of the rule issued under that 

19 subsection, including the impacts on public safety; 

20 and 

21 (2) changes to IPAWS communication tech22 nologies that enable resilient and accessible alerts to 

23 drivers and passengers of passenger motor vehicles. 

Æ 


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