II 

Calendar No. 561 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 921 

[Report No. 113–253] 

To amend chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, to prohibit the 

rental of motor vehicles that contain a defect related to motor vehicle 

safety, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 9, 2013 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. MCCASKILL, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. CASEY, and 

Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, without amendment 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, 

to prohibit the rental of motor vehicles that contain 

a defect related to motor vehicle safety, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Raechel and Jacqueline 

3 Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 Section 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and (11) 

8 as paragraphs (12) and (13), respectively; 

9 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

10 (9) as paragraphs (2) through (10), respectively; 

11 (3) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redes12 ignated, the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) ‘covered rental vehicle’ means a motor ve14 hicle that— 

15 ‘‘(A) has a gross vehicle weight rating of 

16 10,000 pounds or less; 

17 ‘‘(B) is rented without a driver for an ini18 tial term of less than 4 months; and 

19 ‘‘(C) is part of a motor vehicle fleet of 5 

20 or more motor vehicles that are used for rental 

21 purposes by a rental company.’’; and 

22 (4) by inserting after paragraph (10), as redes23 ignated, the following: 

24 ‘‘(11) ‘rental company’ means a person who— 

25 ‘‘(A) is engaged in the business of renting 

26 covered rental vehicles; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) uses for rental purposes a motor ve2 hicle fleet of 5 or more covered rental vehi3 cles.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. REMEDIES FOR DEFECTS AND NONCOMPLIANCE. 

5 Section 30120(i) of title 49, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in the subsection heading, by adding ‘‘, OR

8 RENTAL’’ at the end; 

9 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘(1) If notification’’ and 

11 inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If notification’’; 

13 (B) by indenting subparagraphs (A) and 

14 (B) four ems from the left margin; 

15 (C) by inserting ‘‘or the manufacturer has 

16 provided to a rental company notification about 

17 a covered rental vehicle in the company’s pos18 session at the time of notification’’ after ‘‘time 

19 of notification’’; 

20 (D) by striking ‘‘the dealer may sell or 

21 lease,’’ and inserting ‘‘the dealer or rental com22 pany may sell, lease, or rent’’; and 

23 (E) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sale 

24 or lease’’ and inserting ‘‘sale, lease, or rental 

25 agreement’’; 


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1 (3) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

4 this subsection may be construed to prohibit a dealer 

5 or rental company from offering the vehicle or equip6 ment for sale, lease, or rent.’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘(3) SPECIFIC RULES FOR RENTAL COMPA9 NIES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

11 provided under this paragraph, a rental com12 pany shall comply with the limitations on sale, 

13 lease, or rental set forth in subparagraph (C) 

14 and paragraph (1) as soon as practicable, but 

15 not later than 24 hours after the earliest re16 ceipt of the notice to owner under subsection 

17 (b) or (c) of section 30118 (including the vehi18 cle identification number for the covered vehi19 cle) by the rental company, whether by elec20 tronic means or first class mail. 

21 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR LARGE VEHICLE

22 FLEETS.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), 

23 if a rental company receives a notice to owner 

24 covering more than 5,000 motor vehicles in its 

25 fleet, the rental company shall comply with the 


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1 limitations on sale, lease, or rental set forth in 

2 subparagraph (C) and paragraph (1) as soon as 

3 practicable, but not later than 48 hours after 

4 the earliest receipt of the notice to owner under 

5 subsection (b) or (c) of section 30018 (includ6 ing the vehicle identification number for the 

7 covered vehicle) by the rental company, whether 

8 by electronic means or first class mail. 

9 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR WHEN REMEDIES

10 NOT IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE.—If a notifica11 tion required under subsection (b) or (c) of sec12 tion 30118 indicates that the remedy for the 

13 defect or noncompliance is not immediately 

14 available and specifies actions to temporarily 

15 alter the vehicle that eliminate the safety risk 

16 posed by the defect or noncompliance, the rent17 al company, after causing the specified actions 

18 to be performed, may rent (but may not sell or 

19 lease) the motor vehicle. Once the remedy for 

20 the rental vehicle becomes available to the rent21 al company, the rental company may not rent 

22 the vehicle until the vehicle has been remedied, 

23 as provided in subsection (a). 

24 ‘‘(D) INAPPLICABILITY TO JUNK AUTO25 MOBILES.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), this 


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1 subsection does not prohibit a rental company 

2 from selling a covered rental vehicle if such ve3 hicle— 

4 ‘‘(i) meets the definition of a junk 

5 automobile under section 201 of the Anti6 Car Theft Act of 1992 (49 U.S.C. 30501); 

7 ‘‘(ii) is retitled as a junk automobile 

8 pursuant to applicable State law; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) is reported to the National 

10 Motor Vehicle Information System, if re11 quired under section 204 of such Act (49 

12 U.S.C. 30504).’’. 

13 SEC. 4. MAKING SAFETY DEVICES AND ELEMENTS INOPER14 ATIVE. 

15 Section 30122(b) of title 49, United States Code, is 

16 amended by inserting ‘‘rental company,’’ after ‘‘dealer,’’ 

17 each place such term appears. 

18 SEC. 5. INSPECTIONS, INVESTIGATIONS, AND RECORDS. 

19 Section 30166 of title 49, United States Code, is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘or dealer’’ 

22 each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘dealer, 

23 or rental company’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘or dealer’’ 

2 each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘dealer, 

3 or rental company’’; and 

4 (3) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘or to owners’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘, rental companies, or other owners’’. 

6 SEC. 6. RESEARCH AUTHORITY. 

7 The Secretary of Transportation may conduct a 

8 study of— 

9 (1) the effectiveness of the amendments made 

10 by this Act; and 

11 (2) other activities of rental companies (as de12 fined in section 30102(a)(11) of title 49, United 

13 States Code) related to their use and disposition of 

14 motor vehicles that are the subject of a notification 

15 required under section 30118 of title 49, United 

16 States Code. 

17 SEC. 7. STUDY. 

18 (a) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Subsection (b)(2) 

19 of section 32206 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 

20 21st Century Act (Public Law 112–141; 126 Stat. 785) 

21 is amended— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

23 the end; 

24 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub25 paragraph (G); and 


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1 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(F) evaluate the completion of safety re4 call remedies on rental trucks; and’’. 

5 (b) REPORT.—Subsection (c) of such section is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

8 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indent9 ing such subparagraphs, as so redesignated, an addi10 tional two ems from the left margin; 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘REPORT.—Not later’’ and in12 serting the following: 

13 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later’’; 

15 (3) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subsection 

16 (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) through (E) 

17 and (G) of subsection (b)(2)’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘(2) SAFETY RECALL REMEDY REPORT.—Not 

20 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

21 the ‘Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car 

22 Act of 2013’, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

23 the congressional committees set forth in paragraph 

24 (1) that contains— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the findings of the study conducted 

2 pursuant to subsection (b)(2)(F); and 

3 ‘‘(B) any recommendations for legislation 

4 that the Secretary determines to be appro5 priate.’’. 

6 SEC. 8. PUBLIC COMMENTS. 

7 The Secretary of Transportation shall solicit com8 ments regarding the implementation of this Act from 

9 members of the public, including rental companies, con10 sumer organizations, automobile manufacturers, and auto11 mobile dealers. 

12 SEC. 9. RULEMAKING. 

13 The Secretary of Transportation may promulgate 

14 rules, as appropriate, to implement this Act and the 

15 amendments made by this Act. 

16 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

18 on the date that is 180 days after the date of the enact19 ment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 561 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 921 

[Report No. 113–253] 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 301 of title 49, United States 

safety, and for other purposes. that contain a defect related to motor vehicle Code, to prohibit the rental of motor vehicles 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014 

Reported without amendment 


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