IB 

Union Calendar No. 625 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8449 

[Report No. 118–740, Part I] 

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 

NOVEMBER 18, 2024 

Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with amendments 

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

NOVEMBER 18, 2024 

Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Homeland Security discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 17, 2024] 


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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. 


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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: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

10 Emergency Management Agency. 

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

12 broadcast band’’ means the band of frequencies be13 tween 535 kilohertz and 1705 kilohertz, inclusive. 

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

15 broadcast station’’ means a radio broadcast station— 

16 (A) licensed by the Federal Communications 

17 Commission for the dissemination of radio com18 munications intended to be received by the pub19 lic; and 

20 (B) operated on a channel in the AM broad21 cast band. 

22 (4) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

23 The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ 

24 means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

2 and Transportation of the Senate; 

3 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

4 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

5 (C) the Committee on Transportation and 

6 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 

7 (D) the Committee on Homeland Security 

8 of the House of Representatives; and 

9 (E) the Committee on Energy and Com10 merce of the House of Representatives. 

11 (5) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Comp12 troller General’’ means the Comptroller General of the 

13 United States. 

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

15 of equipment or an apparatus that is designed— 

16 (A) to receive signals transmitted by a 

17 radio broadcast station; and 

18 (B) to play back content or programming 

19 derived from those signals. 

20 (7) DIGITAL AUDIO AM BROADCAST STATION.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘digital audio 

22 AM broadcast station’’ means an AM broadcast 

23 station that uses an In Band On Channel DAB 

24 System (as defined in section 73.402 of title 47, 


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1 Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regu2 lation)) for broadcasting purposes. 

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

4 AM broadcast station’’ does not include an All5 digital AM station (as defined in section 73.402 

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

7 successor regulation)). 

8 (8) IPAWS.—The term ‘‘IPAWS’’ means the 

9 public alert and warning system of the United States 

10 described in section 526 of the Homeland Security 

11 Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 321o). 

12 (9) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufacturer’’ 

13 has the meaning given the term in section 30102(a) 

14 of title 49, United States Code. 

15 (10) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

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

17 term in section 32101 of title 49, United States Code. 

18 (11) RADIO BROADCAST STATION.—The term 

19 ‘‘radio broadcast station’’ has the meaning given the 

20 term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 

21 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

22 (12) RADIO STATION LICENSE.—The term ‘‘radio 

23 station license’’ has the meaning given the term in 

24 section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

25 U.S.C. 153). 


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1 (13) RECEIVE.—The term ‘‘receive’’ means to re2 ceive a broadcast signal via over-the-air transmission. 

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

4 the Secretary of Transportation. 

5 (15) SIGNAL.—The term ‘‘signal’’ means radio 

6 frequency energy that a holder of a radio station li7 cense intentionally emits or causes to be emitted at a 

8 specified frequency for the purpose of transmitting 

9 content or programming to the public. 

10 (16) STANDARD EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘stand11 ard equipment’’ means motor vehicle equipment (as 

12 defined in section 30102(a) of title 49, United States 

13 Code) that— 

14 (A) is installed as a system, part, or compo15 nent of a passenger motor vehicle as originally 

16 manufactured; and 

17 (B) the manufacturer of the passenger 

18 motor vehicle recommends or authorizes to be in19 cluded in the passenger motor vehicle for no ad20 ditional or separate monetary fee, payment, or 

21 surcharge, beyond the base price of the passenger 

22 motor vehicle. 

23 (17) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 

24 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

25 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 


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1 United States, and each federally recognized Indian 

2 Tribe. 

3 SEC. 3. AM BROADCAST STATIONS RULE. 

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

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation 

6 with the Administrator and the Federal Communications 

7 Commission, shall issue a rule— 

8 (1) requiring devices that can receive signals and 

9 play content transmitted by AM broadcast stations be 

10 installed as standard equipment in passenger motor 

11 vehicles— 

12 (A) manufactured in the United States for 

13 sale in the United States, imported into the 

14 United States, or shipped in interstate com15 merce; and 

16 (B) manufactured after the effective date of 

17 the rule; 

18 (2) requiring access to AM broadcast stations 

19 through the devices required under paragraph (1) in 

20 a manner that is easily accessible to drivers; and 

21 (3) allowing a manufacturer to comply with that 

22 rule by installing devices as described in paragraph 

23 (1) that can receive signals and play content trans24 mitted by digital audio AM broadcast stations. 

25 (b) COMPLIANCE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), in issuing the rule required under sub3 section (a), the Secretary shall establish an effective 

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

5 more than 3 years, after the date on which the rule 

6 is issued. 

7 (2) CERTAIN MANUFACTURERS.—In issuing the 

8 rule required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

9 establish an effective date for the rule that is at least 

10 4 years after the date on which the rule is issued with 

11 respect to manufacturers that manufactured not more 

12 than 40,000 passenger motor vehicles for sale in the 

13 United States in 2022. 

14 (c) INTERIM REQUIREMENT.—For passenger motor ve15 hicles manufactured after the date of enactment of this Act 

16 and manufactured in the United States for sale in the 

17 United States, imported into the United States, or shipped 

18 in interstate commerce during the period beginning on the 

19 day after the date of enactment of this Act and ending on 

20 the day before the effective date of the rule issued under sub21 section (a) that do not include devices that can receive sig22 nals and play content transmitted by AM broadcast sta23 tions, the manufacturer of the passenger motor vehicles— 

24 (1) shall provide clear and conspicuous labeling 

25 to inform purchasers of those passenger motor vehicles 


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1 that the passenger motor vehicles do not include de2 vices that can receive signals and play content trans3 mitted by AM broadcast stations; and 

4 (2) may not charge an additional or separate 

5 monetary fee, payment, or surcharge, beyond the base 

6 price of the passenger motor vehicles, for access to AM 

7 broadcast stations for the period described in this sub8 section. 

9 (d) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—After the date 

10 of enactment of this Act, a State or a political subdivision 

11 of a State may not prescribe or continue in effect a law, 

12 regulation, or other requirement applicable to access to AM 

13 broadcast stations in passenger motor vehicles. 

14 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— 

15 (1) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person who violates 

16 the rule issued under subsection (a) shall be liable to 

17 the United States Government for a civil penalty 

18 under section 30165(a)(1) of title 49, United States 

19 Code, as if that rule were a regulation described in 

20 that section. 

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

22 bring a civil action under section 30163 of title 49, 

23 United States Code, in an appropriate district court 

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

25 issued under subsection (a) of this section, as if that 


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1 rule were a regulation described in subsection (a)(1) 

2 of that section 30163. 

3 (f) GAO STUDY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 

5 conduct a comprehensive study on disseminating 

6 emergency alerts and warnings to the public. 

7 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The study required under 

8 paragraph (1) shall include— 

9 (A) an assessment of— 

10 (i) the role of passenger motor vehicles 

11 in IPAWS communications, including by 

12 providing access to AM broadcast stations; 

13 (ii) the advantages, effectiveness, limi14 tations, resilience, and accessibility of exist15 ing IPAWS communication technologies, in16 cluding AM broadcast stations in passenger 

17 motor vehicles; 

18 (iii) the advantages, effectiveness, limi19 tations, resilience, and accessibility of AM 

20 broadcast stations relative to other IPAWS 

21 communication technologies in passenger 

22 motor vehicles; and 

23 (iv) whether other IPAWS communica24 tion technologies are capable of ensuring the 

25 President (or a designee) can reach at least 


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1 90 percent of the population of the United 

2 States at a time of crisis, including at 

3 night; and 

4 (B) a description of any ongoing efforts to 

5 integrate new and emerging technologies and 

6 communication platforms into the IPAWS 

7 framework. 

8 (3) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In conducting 

9 the study required under paragraph (1), the Comp10 troller General shall consult with— 

11 (A) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 

12 (B) the Federal Communications Commis13 sion; 

14 (C) the National Telecommunications and 

15 Information Administration; 

16 (D) the Secretary; 

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

18 local emergency management officials; 

19 (F) first responders; 

20 (G) technology experts in resilience and ac21 cessibility; 

22 (H) radio broadcasters; 

23 (I) manufacturers of passenger motor vehi24 cles; and 


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1 (J) other relevant stakeholders, as deter2 mined by the Comptroller General. 

3 (4) BRIEFING AND REPORT.— 

4 (A) BRIEFING.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

6 General shall brief the appropriate committees of 

7 Congress on the results of the study required by 

8 paragraph (1), including recommendations for 

9 legislation and administrative action as the 

10 Comptroller General determines appropriate. 

11 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date on which the Comptroller General 

13 provides the briefing required under subpara14 graph (A), the Comptroller General shall submit 

15 to the appropriate committees of Congress a re16 port describing the results of the study required 

17 under paragraph (1), including recommenda18 tions for legislation and administrative action as 

19 the Comptroller General determines appropriate. 

20 (g) REVIEW.—Not less frequently than once every 5 

21 years after the date on which the Secretary issues the rule 

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

23 with the Administrator and the Federal Communications 

24 Commission, shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

25 Congress a report that shall include an assessment of— 


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1 (1) the impacts of the rule issued under that sub2 section, including the impacts on public safety; and 

3 (2) possible changes to IPAWS communication 

4 technologies that would enable resilient and accessible 

5 alerts to drivers and passengers of passenger motor 

6 vehicles. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to require the 

Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring access to AM broadcast stations in passenger motor vehicles, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 625 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8449 

[Report No. 118–740, Part I] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue 

in motor vehicles, and for other purposes. a rule requiring access to AM broadcast stations 

NOVEMBER 18, 2024 

Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

with amendments 

NOVEMBER 18, 2024 

Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and 

and ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union Homeland Security discharged; committed to the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Nov 18, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H8449.RH H8449

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