II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1633

To provide for school bus safety, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 21, 1996

Mr. LAUTENBERG introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To provide for school bus 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Omnibus School Transportation Safety Act of 1996’’.

6 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

7 (1) In the United States, school buses travel

8 more than 4,000,000,000 miles each year to trans9 port approximately 25,000,000 children to and from

10 school and various school-related activities.

11 (2) School buses are specifically designed to

12 carry children safely to and from school, and gen-
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1 erally are operated by educational agencies that re2 ceive Federal assistance for educational activities.

3 (3) On the average, each year in the United

4 States—

5 (A) 17 occupants are killed while riding

6 school buses, of which—

7 (i) 10 pupils are killed while riding

8 type I school buses with a gross weight

9 rating of greater than 10,000 pounds, and

10 those school buses are predominantly used

11 in the United States;

12 (ii) 2 pupils are killed while riding

13 other vehicles used as school buses; and

14 (iii) 5 drivers are killed while driving

15 school buses;

16 (B) 38 children are killed in loading zones

17 surrounding school buses;

18 (C) 480 children are seriously injured

19 while riding school buses; and

20 (D) 160 children are seriously injured

21 while boarding or leaving school buses.

22 (4) Although most crashes involving school

23 buses are minor, some examples of serious crashes

24 that have had tragic consequences, include—
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1 (A) the school bus crash that occurred in

2 Alton, Texas;

3 (B) the school bus crash that occurred in

4 October of 1995, in Fox River Grove, Illinois;

5 and

6 (C) the recent school bus crash outside of

7 Green Bay, Wisconsin, that killed the driver.

8 (5) Each year approximately 35,000 school

9 buses are manufactured in the United States. The

10 components for those buses are produced in various

11 locations throughout the United States. The few

12 companies that manufacture those buses ship the

13 buses throughout the United States and to foreign

14 countries.

15 (6) Numerous Federal laws, including subtitle

16 VI of title 49, United States Code, regulate school

17 buses as commercial motor vehicles. Subtitle VI of

18 title 49, United States Code, provides for—

19 (A) motor vehicle safety standards under

20 chapter 311 of that subtitle; and

21 (B) the regulation of commercial motor ve22 hicle operators under chapter 313 of that sub23 title.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

3 shall apply:

4 (1) BUS.—The term ‘‘bus’’ means a motor vehi5 cle with motive power, except a trailer, designed for

6 carrying more than 10 persons.

7 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

8 ‘‘local educational agency’’ means a local educational

9 agency (as that term is defined in section 14101 of

10 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801)) that receives Federal funds.

12 (3) NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACK13 GROUND CHECK SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘national

14 criminal history background check system’’ has the

15 meaning given that term in section 5(6) of the Na16 tional Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C.

17 5119c(6)).

18 (4) NEWLY EMPLOYED.—With respect to the

19 employment of a school bus driver by an employer,

20 the term ‘‘newly employed’’ applies to the initial em21 ployment of an individual who has not been similarly

22 employed by that employer.

23 (5) POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTION.—The term

24 ‘‘postsecondary institution’’ means an institution of

25 higher education, as that term is defined in section
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1 481(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20

2 U.S.C. 1088(a)(1)).

3 (6) PRIVATE SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘private

4 school’’ includes any private postsecondary institu5 tion.

6 (7) SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘school bus’’—

7 (A) means a bus that is used for purposes

8 that include carrying pupils to and from a pub9 lic or private school or school-related events on

10 a regular basis; and

11 (B) does not include a transit bus or a

12 school-chartered bus.

13 (8) SCHOOL-CHARTERED BUS.—The term

14 ‘‘school-chartered bus’’ means a bus that is operated

15 under a short-term contract with State, local, or pri16 vate school authorities, which have acquired exclu17 sive use of the bus at a fixed charge in order to pro18 vide transportation for a group of pupils to a special

19 school-related event.

20 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

21 the Secretary of Transportation.

22 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

23 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the

24 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
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1 SEC. 3. PROFICIENCY STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL BUS

2 DRIVERS.

3 (a) PROFICIENCY STANDARDS.—Not later than 1

4 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

5 shall issue regulations establishing proficiency standards

6 for school bus drivers (including drivers of school-char7 tered buses) who are required under applicable State law

8 to possess a commercial driver’s license to operate a school

9 bus.

10 (b) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN STATES.—The regula11 tions issued under subsection (a) shall provide that a State

12 may use State proficiency standards, in lieu of the stand13 ards established by such regulations, if—

14 (1) the State proficiency standards are estab15 lished before the date on which the proficiency

16 standards under such regulations are established;

17 and

18 (2) the Secretary determines that such State

19 proficiency standards are as rigorous as the pro20 ficiency standards under such regulations.

21 (c) DEMONSTRATION OF PROFICIENCY.—Upon the

22 establishment of the proficiency standards under sub23 section (a), each school bus driver referred to in such sub24 section shall demonstrate (at such intervals as the Sec25 retary shall prescribe) to the employer of the driver, the

26 local educational agency, the State licensing agency, or
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1 other person or agency responsible for regulating school

2 bus drivers, the proficiency of that driver in operating a

3 school bus in accordance, as the case may be, with the

4 proficiency standards—

5 (1) established by the regulations issued under

6 subsection (a); or

7 (2) established by the State concerned and de8 termined by the Secretary to be as rigorous as the

9 proficiency standards established by the regulations

10 issued under subsection (a).

11 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS OF SCHOOL BUS

12 DRIVERS.

13 (a) PROHIBITION ON EMPLOYMENT PENDING

14 CHECK.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no

15 local educational agency, private school, or contractor pro16 viding school transportation services to a local educational

17 agency or private school, may newly employ an individual

18 as a driver of a school bus of, or on behalf of, the agency

19 or private school before the completion of a background

20 check of that individual through the national criminal his21 tory background check system to determine whether the

22 individual has been convicted of a crime which would war23 rant barring the person from duties as a driver of a school

24 bus.

25 (b) BACKGROUND CHECK PROCEDURES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish

2 procedures for conducting a background check under

3 this section.

4 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR PROCEDURES.—The

5 procedures established under this subsection shall

6 include the designation of an agency of the State

7 to—

8 (A) carry out the background checks; and

9 (B) meet the guidelines set forth in section

10 3(b) of the National Child Protection Act of

11 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119a(b)).

12 (c) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—A local educational

13 agency, private school, or a contractor providing school

14 transportation services to a local educational agency or

15 private school shall not be liable in an action for damages

16 on the basis of a criminal conviction of a person employed

17 by that agency or contractor as a school bus driver if—

18 (1) a background check of the person was con19 ducted under this section; and

20 (2) the conviction was not disclosed to the local

21 agency, private school, or contractor providing such

22 transportation services pursuant to the background

23 check.

24 (d) FEES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Federal

2 Bureau of Investigation may impose and collect a

3 fee for providing assistance in the conduct of a back4 ground check under this section. The amount of

5 such fee may not exceed the actual cost to the Fed6 eral Bureau of Investigation for providing such as7 sistance.

8 (2) MONITORING.—The Attorney General of the

9 United States shall monitor the collection of fees

10 under this subsection for purposes of ensuring

11 that—

12 (A) the fees are collected on a uniform

13 basis; and

14 (B) the amounts collected reflect only the

15 actual cost to the Federal Bureau of Investiga16 tion of providing assistance in the conduct of

17 background checks under this section.

18 (e) APPLICABILITY.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), this section shall apply to an individual

21 newly employed by a local educational agency, pri22 vate school, or contractor providing school transpor23 tation services to a local educational agency or pri24 vate school beginning on the later of—
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1 (A) the date that is 60 days after the date

2 of enactment of this Act; or

3 (B) the date on which the State agency in

4 which the local educational agency, private

5 school, or contractor providing such transpor6 tation services is located establishes the proce7 dures required under subsection (c).

8 (2) BACKGROUND CHECKS CONDUCTED BY THE

9 FBI.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex11 tent practicable, during the period specified in

12 subparagraph (B), a local educational agency,

13 private school, or contractor providing school

14 transportation services shall request that the

15 Federal Bureau of Investigation conduct a

16 background check with fingerprints of each in17 dividual newly employed by the local edu18 cational agency, private school, or contractor as

19 a school bus driver of the local educational

20 agency, private school, or contractor.

21 (B) PERIOD OF APPLICABILITY.—Subpara22 graph (A) shall apply to a local educational

23 agency, private school, or contractor providing

24 school transportation services during the period

25 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act
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1 and ending on the date of applicability of this

2 section, as determined under paragraph (1).

3 (f) FUNDING.—

4 (1) VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAMS.—Sec5 tion 4116(b)(5) of the Elementary and Secondary

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7116(b)(5)) is

7 amended by striking ‘‘and neighborhood patrols’’

8 and inserting ‘‘neighborhood patrols, and criminal

9 background checks of potential drivers of school

10 buses under section 4 of the Omnibus School Trans11 portation Safety Act of 1996’’.

12 (2) INNOVATIVE EDUCATION ASSISTANCE.—

13 Section 6301(b) of the Elementary and Secondary

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7351(b)) is

15 amended—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para17 graph (7);

18 (B) by striking the period at the end of

19 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

20 (C) by adding at the end the following new

21 paragraph:

22 ‘‘(9) the carrying out of criminal background

23 checks of potential drivers of school buses under sec24 tion 4 of the Omnibus School Transportation Safety

25 Act of 1996.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENT VEHICLE-HIGH2 WAY SYSTEMS FOR SCHOOL BUS SAFETY.

3 Section 6055(d) of the Intelligent Vehicle-Highway

4 Systems Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 307 note) is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

6 (2);

7 (2) by striking the period at the end of para8 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new

10 paragraph:

11 ‘‘(4) ensure that 1 or more operational tests ad12 vance the use and reduce the cost of intelligent vehi13 cle-highway system technologies (including hazard

14 warning systems or sensors) that alert school bus

15 drivers of pedestrians or vehicles in, or approaching,

16 the path of the school bus.’’.

17 SEC. 6. STUDY OF OCCUPANT RESTRAINTS IN SCHOOL

18 BUSES.

19 (a) STUDY.—The National Transportation Safety

20 Board organized under chapter 11 of title 49, United

21 States Code, shall conduct a study on the safety con22 sequences of the requirement of the State of New Jersey

23 for lap belts in school buses.

24 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date

25 of enactment of this Act, the Chairman of the National

26 Transportation Safety Board shall submit to the Congress
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1 a report containing the findings of the study conducted

2 under this section.

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Trans5 portation Safety Board to carry out this section $100,000,

6 which shall remain available until expended.

7 SEC. 7. TRAFFIC ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE

8 SCHOOL BUS SAFETY.

9 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec10 retary shall ensure that each State receiving aid to con11 duct highway safety programs under section 402(c) of title

12 23, United States Code, may utilize a portion of such aid

13 for the purpose of conducting traffic engineering activities

14 in order to improve the safe operation of school buses.

15 SEC. 8. DETERMINATION OF PRACTICABILITY AND FEA16 SIBILITY OF CERTAIN SAFETY AND ACCESS

17 REQUIREMENTS FOR SCHOOL BUSES.

18 (a) COMMENCEMENT OF RULEMAKING PROCESS.—

19 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment

20 of this Act, the Secretary shall commence or continue to

21 carry out a rulemaking process to determine the feasibility

22 and practicability of—

23 (1) a requirement for a decrease in the flam24 mability of the materials used in the construction of

25 the interiors of school buses;
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1 (2) a requirement that individuals, local edu2 cational agencies, or companies that sell in the sec3 ondary market school buses that may be used in

4 interstate commerce inform purchasers of those

5 buses that those buses may not meet applicable Na6 tional Highway Transportation Safety Administra7 tion standards or Federal Highway Administration

8 standards; and

9 (3) the establishment of construction and de10 sign standards for wheelchairs used in the transpor11 tation of pupils in school buses.

12 (b) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 30 months after

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue

14 a final regulation providing for any requirement or stand15 ard referred to in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection

16 (a) that the Secretary determines to be feasible and prac17 ticable.

18 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—If the Secretary makes

19 a determination that a requirement or standard referred

20 to in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) is not feasible or prac21 ticable, not later than the date specified in subsection (b),

22 the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Congress

23 a report that provides the reasons for that determination.
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1 SEC. 9. GUIDELINES FOR SAFE TRANSPORTATION OF CHIL2 DREN BY SCHOOL BUS.

3 The Administrator of the National Highway Traffic

4 Safety Administration shall develop and disseminate

5 guidelines for ensuring the safe transportation in school

6 buses of children under the age of 5. Those guidelines

7 shall include recommendations for the evacuation of such

8 children from such buses in the event of an emergency.

9 SEC. 10. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON SCHOOL

10 BUS SAFETY.

11 (a) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—In carrying

12 out research on highway safety under section 403 of title

13 23, United States Code, in consultation with the appro14 priate officials or representatives of the American Auto15 mobile Association, State educational agencies, and high16 way safety organizations, the Secretary shall provide for

17 the improvement of—

18 (1) training materials on school bus safety; and

19 (2) the distribution and availability of such ma20 terials to public and private schools for use by the

21 student safety patrols of those schools and to appro22 priate law enforcement agencies.

23 (b) FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other provision

24 of law, of the funds made available to the Secretary for

25 research on highway safety and traffic conditions under

26 section 403 of title 23, United States Code, for each of
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1 fiscal years 1996 through 2001, $100,000 shall be avail2 able for each of those fiscal years for the purposes of car3 rying out this section.

4 SEC. 11. STUDY AND REPORT ON SCHOOL BUS SAFETY.

5 (a) STUDY.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry

7 out a study to determine—

8 (A) the extent to which public transit vehi9 cles (as defined by the Secretary) are engaged

10 in school bus operations;

11 (B) the point at which a public transit ve12 hicle is sufficiently engaged in such operations

13 as to be considered a school bus for purposes of

14 regulation under Federal law; and

15 (C) the differences between school bus op16 erations carried out directly by schools or local

17 educational agencies and school bus operations

18 carried out by schools or local educational agen19 cies by contract or tripper service (as defined by

20 the Secretary).

21 (2) AREAS.—The study conducted under this

22 subsection shall address the differences between the

23 services and operations referred to in paragraph

24 (1)(C) in terms of—

25 (A) crash injury data;
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1 (B) driver and carrier requirements;

2 (C) passenger transportation requirements;

3 (D) routes and operational requirements

4 that affect safety;

5 (E) vehicle attributes that affect safety;

6 (F) bus construction and design standards;

7 (G) Federal and State operating assistance

8 (per passenger, per mile, per hour);

9 (H) total operating costs;

10 (I) Federal and State capital assistance

11 (per passenger, per mile, per hour);

12 (J) total capital costs; and

13 (K) any other factor that the Secretary

14 considers appropriate.

15 (b) REPORT.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

18 shall submit to the committees described in para19 graph (2) a report on the results of the study car20 ried out under subsection (a).

21 (2) COMMITTEES.—The committees referred to

22 in paragraph (1) are—

23 (A) the Committee on Environment and

24 Public Works of the Senate;
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1 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science,

2 and Transportation of the Senate;

3 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of

4 the Senate;

5 (D) the Committee on Transportation and

6 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives;

7 (E) the Committee on Commerce of the

8 House of Representatives; and

9 (F) the Committee on Appropriations of

10 the House of Representatives.

11 SEC. 12. IMPROVED INTERSTATE SCHOOL BUS SAFETY.

12 (a) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER

13 SAFETY REGULATIONS TO INTERSTATE SCHOOL BUS OP14 ERATIONS.—Section 31136 of title 49, United States

15 Code, is amended—

16 (1) by striking the second sentence of sub17 section (e); and

18 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub19 section:

20 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY TO SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION

21 OPERATIONS OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—Not

22 later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this

23 subsection, the Secretary shall issue regulations making

24 the relevant commercial motor carrier safety regulations

25 issued under subsection (a) applicable to all interstate
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1 school transportation operations by local educational agen2 cies (as defined in section 14101 of the Elementary and

3 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801)).’’.

4 (b) EDUCATION PROGRAM.—Not later than 180 days

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall

6 develop and implement an education program informing

7 all local educational agencies that those agencies are re8 quired to comply with the Federal commercial motor vehi9 cle safety regulations issued under section 31136 of title

10 49, United States Code, when providing interstate trans11 portation on a school bus vehicle to and from school-sanc12 tioned and school-related activities.

13 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

14 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

15 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

Æ