I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2675 

To direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to establish 

a program allowing low volume motor vehicle manufacturers to produce 

a limited number of vehicles annually within a regulatory system that 

addresses the unique safety and financial issues associated with limited 

production, and to direct the Environmental Protection Agency to allow 

low volume motor vehicle manufacturers to install engines from vehicles 

that have been issued certificates of conformity. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2015 

Mr. MULLIN (for himself and Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to establish a program allowing low volume motor 

vehicle manufacturers to produce a limited number of 

vehicles annually within a regulatory system that addresses the unique safety and financial issues associated 

with limited production, and to direct the Environmental 

Protection Agency to allow low volume motor vehicle 

manufacturers to install engines from vehicles that have 

been issued certificates of conformity. 

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 ‘‘Low Volume Motor 

3 Vehicle Manufacturers Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FROM VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS 

5 FOR LOW VOLUME MANUFACTURERS. 

6 Section 30114 of title 49, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) VEHI9 CLES USED FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSES.—The’’; 

10 and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub12 section: 

13 ‘‘(b) EXEMPTION FOR LOW VOLUME MANUFACTUR14 ERS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) exempt from section 30112(a) of this 

17 title not more than 500 replica motor vehicles 

18 per year that are manufactured or imported by 

19 a low volume manufacturer; and 

20 ‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph (5) 

21 of this subsection, limit any such exemption to 

22 the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards ap23 plicable to motor vehicles and not motor vehicle 

24 equipment. 

25 ‘‘(2) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.—To qual26 ify for an exemption under paragraph (1), a low volVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2675.IH H2675

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1 ume manufacturer shall register with the Secretary 

2 at such time, in such manner, and under such terms 

3 that the Secretary determines appropriate. The Sec4 retary shall establish terms that ensure that no per5 son may register as a low volume manufacturer if 

6 the person is registered as an importer under section 

7 30141 of this title. 

8 ‘‘(3) PERMANENT LABEL REQUIREMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

10 require a low volume manufacturer to affix a 

11 permanent label to a motor vehicle exempted 

12 under paragraph (1) that identifies the speci13 fied standards and regulations for which such 

14 vehicle is exempt from section 30112(a) and 

15 designates the model year such vehicle rep16 licates. 

17 ‘‘(B) WRITTEN NOTICE.—The Secretary 

18 may require a low volume manufacturer of a 

19 motor vehicle exempted under paragraph (1) to 

20 deliver written notice of the exemption to— 

21 ‘‘(i) the dealer; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the first purchaser of the motor 

23 vehicle, if the first purchaser is not an in24 dividual that purchases the motor vehicle 

25 for resale. 


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1 ‘‘(C) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—A low 

2 volume manufacturer shall annually submit a 

3 report to the Secretary including the number 

4 and description of the motor vehicles exempted 

5 under paragraph (1) and a list of the exemp6 tions described on the label affixed under sub7 paragraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

9 ‘‘(A) LOW VOLUME MANUFACTURER.—The 

10 term ‘low volume manufacturer’ means a motor 

11 vehicle manufacturer, other than a person who 

12 is registered as an importer under section 

13 30141 of this title, whose annual worldwide 

14 production is not more than 5,000 motor vehi15 cles. 

16 ‘‘(B) REPLICA MOTOR VEHICLE.—The 

17 term ‘replica motor vehicle’ means a motor ve18 hicle produced by a low volume manufacturer 

19 and that— 

20 ‘‘(i) is intended to resemble the body 

21 of another motor vehicle that was manu22 factured not less than 25 years before the 

23 manufacture of the replica motor vehicle; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is manufactured under a license 

2 for the product configuration, trade dress, 

3 trademark or patent for the motor vehicle 

4 that is intended to be replicated from the 

5 original manufacturer, its successors or as6 signees, or current owner of such rights, 

7 unless there is a preponderance of evidence 

8 that such rights have been abandoned for 

9 at least three years. 

10 ‘‘(5) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Any motor 

11 vehicle exempted under this subsection shall also be 

12 exempted from sections 32304, 32502, and 32902 of 

13 this title, and from section 1232 of title 15 of the 

14 United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(6) LIMITATION AND PUBLIC NOTICE.—The 

16 Secretary shall have 60 days to review and approve 

17 a registration submitted under paragraph (2). Any 

18 registration not approved or denied within 60 days 

19 shall be deemed approved. The Secretary shall have 

20 the authority to revoke an existing registration 

21 based on a failure to comply with requirements set 

22 forth in this subsection. The registrant shall be pro23 vided a reasonable opportunity to correct all defi24 ciencies, if such are correctable based on the sole 

25 discretion of the Secretary. An exemption granted by 


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1 the Secretary to a low volume manufacturer under 

2 this subsection may not be transferred to any other 

3 person, and any unused allotment of vehicles author4 ized to be manufactured or imported on an annual 

5 basis by a low volume manufacturer shall not carry 

6 forward to another calendar year. The Secretary 

7 shall maintain and update the list of current reg8 istrants on an annual basis and publish such list in 

9 the Federal Register or on a Web page operated by 

10 the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(7) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR ORIGINAL

12 MANUFACTURERS, LICENSORS, OR OWNERS OF

13 PRODUCT CONFIGURATION, TRADE DRESS OR DE14 SIGN PATENTS.—The original manufacturer, its suc15 cessor or assignee, or current owner who grants a li16 cense or otherwise transfers rights to a low volume 

17 manufacturer as defined in this section shall incur 

18 no liability to any person or entity under Federal or 

19 State statute, regulation, local ordinance, or under 

20 any Federal or State common law for such license 

21 or assignment to a low volume manufacturer.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. VEHICLE EMISSION COMPLIANCE STANDARDS FOR 

2 LOW VOLUME MOTOR VEHICLE MANUFAC3 TURERS. 

4 Part A of title II of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 7521 et seq.) is amended— 

6 (1) in section 206(a) by adding at the end the 

7 following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(5)(A) A motor vehicle engine (including all 

9 engine emission controls) from a motor vehicle that 

10 has been granted a certificate of conformity by the 

11 Administrator for the model year in which the motor 

12 vehicle is assembled, or an engine that has been 

13 granted an Executive order for the model year in 

14 which the motor vehicle is assembled subject to reg15 ulations promulgated by the California Air Re16 sources Board, may be installed in an exempted spe17 cially produced motor vehicle, if— 

18 ‘‘(i) the manufacturer of the engine sup19 plies written instructions explaining how to in20 stall the engine and maintain functionality of 

21 the engine’s emission control system and the 

22 on-board diagnostic system (commonly known 

23 as ‘OBD II’), except with respect to evaporative 

24 emissions diagnostics; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the producer of the exempted specially 

2 produced motor vehicle installs the engine in ac3 cordance with such instructions; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) the installation instructions include 

5 emission control warranty information from the 

6 engine manufacturer in compliance with section 

7 207, including where warranty repairs can be 

8 made, emission control labels to be affixed to 

9 the vehicle, and the certificate of conformity 

10 number for the applicable vehicle in which the 

11 engine was originally intended or the applicable 

12 Executive order number for the engine. 

13 ‘‘(B) A motor vehicle containing an engine com14 pliant with the requirements of subparagraph (A) 

15 shall be treated as meeting the requirements of sec16 tion 202 applicable to new vehicles manufactured or 

17 imported in the model year in which the exempted 

18 specially produced motor vehicle is assembled. 

19 ‘‘(C) Engine installations that are not per20 formed in accordance with installation instructions 

21 provided by the manufacturer and alterations to the 

22 engine not in accordance with the installation in23 structions shall be treated as prohibited acts by the 

24 installer under section 203 and subject to penalties 

25 under section 205. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The producer of an exempted specially 

2 produced motor vehicle that has an engine compliant 

3 with the requirements of subparagraph (A) shall 

4 provide to the purchaser of such vehicle all informa5 tion received by the producer from the engine manu6 facturer, including information regarding emissions 

7 warranties from the engine manufacturer and all 

8 emissions-related recalls by the engine manufacturer. 

9 ‘‘(E) To qualify to install an engine under this 

10 paragraph, a producer of exempted specially pro11 duced motor vehicles shall register with the Adminis12 trator at such time and in such manner as the Ad13 ministrator determines appropriate. The producer 

14 shall submit an annual report to the Administrator 

15 that includes— 

16 ‘‘(i) a description of the exempted specially 

17 produced motor vehicles produced and engines 

18 installed in such vehicles; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the certificate of conformity number 

20 issued to the motor vehicle in which the engine 

21 was originally intended or the applicable Execu22 tive order number for the engine. 

23 ‘‘(F) Exempted specially produced motor vehi24 cles compliant with this paragraph shall be exempted 

25 from— 


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1 ‘‘(i) motor vehicle certification testing that 

2 might otherwise be required under section 206; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) vehicle emission control inspection 

5 and maintenance programs required under sec6 tion 110. 

7 ‘‘(G) A producer of exempted specially produced 

8 motor vehicles that is compliant with subparagraphs 

9 (A) through (E) of this paragraph is not considered 

10 a manufacturer for the purposes of this Act.’’; and 

11 (2) in section 216 by adding at the end the fol12 lowing new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(12) EXEMPTED SPECIALLY PRODUCED

14 MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term ‘exempted specially 

15 produced motor vehicle’ means a replica motor vehi16 cle that is exempt from specified standards as de17 fined in section 30114(b) of title 49, United States 

18 Code.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION. 

20 Not later than 12 months after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation and the 

22 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

23 shall issue such regulations as may be necessary to imple24 ment sections 2 and 3 of this Act, respectively. 

Æ 


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