II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1741 

To establish tire fuel efficiency minimum performance standards, improve 

tire registration, help consumers identify recalled tires, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2015 

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish tire fuel efficiency minimum performance standards, improve tire registration, help consumers identify 

recalled tires, 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 ‘‘Tire Efficiency, Safety, 

5 and Registration Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘TESR Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TIRE FUEL EFFICIENCY MINIMUM PERFORMANCE 

7 STANDARDS. 

8 Section 32304A of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

2 STANDARDS’’ after ‘‘CONSUMER TIRE INFORMA3 TION’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘RULE6 MAKING’’ and inserting ‘‘CONSUMER TIRE IN7 FORMATION’’; and 

8 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(re9 ferred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’)’’ 

10 after ‘‘Secretary of Transportation’’; 

11 (3) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) 

12 as subsections (e) though (h), respectively; and 

13 (4) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(b) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS FOR TIRE

16 FUEL EFFICIENCY MINIMUM PERFORMANCE STAND17 ARDS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, after con19 sultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Ad20 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

21 shall promulgate regulations for tire fuel efficiency 

22 minimum performance standards for— 

23 ‘‘(A) passenger car tires with a maximum 

24 speed capability equal to or less than 149 miles 

25 per hour or 240 kilometers per hour; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) passenger car tires with a maximum 

2 speed capability greater than 149 miles per 

3 hour or 240 kilometers per hour. 

4 ‘‘(2) TIRE FUEL EFFICIENCY MINIMUM PER5 FORMANCE STANDARDS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) STANDARD BASIS AND TEST PROCE7 DURES.—The minimum performance standards 

8 promulgated under paragraph (1) shall be ex9 pressed in terms of the rolling resistance coeffi10 cient measured using the test procedure speci11 fied in section 575.106 of title 49, Code of Fed12 eral Regulations (as in effect on the date of en13 actment of this Act). 

14 ‘‘(B) NO DISPARATE EFFECT ON HIGH

15 PERFORMANCE TIRES.—The Secretary shall en16 sure that the minimum performance standards 

17 promulgated under paragraph (1) will not have 

18 a disproportionate effect on passenger car high 

19 performance tires with a maximum speed capa20 bility greater than 149 miles per hour or 240 

21 kilometers per hour. 

22 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—This subsection 

24 applies to new pneumatic tires for use on 

25 passenger cars. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection 

2 does not apply to light truck tires, deep 

3 tread tires, winter-type snow tires, space4 saver or temporary use spare tires, or tires 

5 with nominal rim diameters of 12 inches or 

6 less. 

7 ‘‘(c) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS FOR TIRE

8 WET TRACTION MINIMUM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pro10 mulgate regulations for tire wet traction minimum 

11 performance standards to ensure that passenger tire 

12 wet traction capability is not reduced to achieve im13 proved tire fuel efficiency. 

14 ‘‘(2) TIRE WET TRACTION MINIMUM PERFORM15 ANCE STANDARDS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) BASIS OF STANDARD.—The minimum 

17 performance standards promulgated under 

18 paragraph (1) shall be expressed in terms of 

19 peak coefficient of friction. 

20 ‘‘(B) TEST PROCEDURES.—Any test proce21 dure promulgated under this subsection shall be 

22 consistent with any test procedure promulgated 

23 under subsection (a). 

24 ‘‘(C) BENCHMARKING.—The Secretary 

25 shall conduct testing to benchmark the wet 


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1 traction performance of tire models available 

2 for sale in the United States as of the date of 

3 enactment of this Act to ensure that the min4 imum performance standards promulgated 

5 under paragraph (1) are tailored to— 

6 ‘‘(i) tires sold in the United States; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the needs of consumers in the 

9 United States. 

10 ‘‘(D) APPLICABILITY.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—This subsection 

12 applies to new pneumatic tires for use on 

13 passenger cars. 

14 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection 

15 does not apply to light truck tires, deep 

16 tread tires, winter-type snow tires, space17 saver or temporary use spare tires, or tires 

18 with nominal rim diameters of 12 inches or 

19 less. 

20 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION AMONG REGULATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) COMPATIBILITY.—The Secretary shall en22 sure that the test procedures and requirements pro23 mulgated under subsections (a), (b), and (c) are 

24 compatible and consistent. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COMBINED EFFECT OF RULES.—The Sec2 retary shall evaluate the regulations promulgated 

3 under subsections (b) and (c) to ensure that compli4 ance with the minimum performance standards pro5 mulgated under subsection (b) will not diminish wet 

6 traction performance of affected tires. 

7 ‘‘(3) RULEMAKING DEADLINES.—The Secretary 

8 shall promulgate — 

9 ‘‘(A) the regulations under subsections (b) 

10 and (c) not later than 24 months after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the regulations under subsection (c) 

13 not later than the date of promulgation of the 

14 regulations under subsection (b).’’. 

15 SEC. 3. TIRE REGISTRATION BY INDEPENDENT SELLERS. 

16 Section 30117(b) of title 49, United States Code, is 

17 amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(3) RULEMAKING.— 

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

21 initiate a rulemaking to require a distributor or 

22 dealer of tires that is not owned or controlled 

23 by a manufacturer of tires to maintain records 

24 of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the name and address of tire pur2 chasers and lessors and information identi3 fying the tire that was purchased or leased; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) any additional records the Sec6 retary considers appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(B) ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION.—The 

8 rulemaking carried out under subparagraph (A) 

9 shall require a distributor or dealer of tires that 

10 is not owned or controlled by a manufacturer of 

11 tires to electronically transmit the records de12 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph 

13 (A) to the manufacturer of the tires or the des14 ignee of the manufacturer by secure means at 

15 no cost to tire purchasers or lessors. 

16 ‘‘(C) SATISFACTION OF REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 A regulation promulgated under subparagraph 

18 (A) may be considered to satisfy the require19 ments of paragraph (2)(B).’’. 

20 SEC. 4. TIRE RECALL DATABASE. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

22 shall establish a publicly available and searchable elec23 tronic database of tire recall information that is reported 

24 to the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic 

25 Safety Administration. 


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1 (b) TIRE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER.—The database 

2 established under subsection (a) shall be searchable by 

3 Tire Identification Number (TIN) and any other criteria 

4 that assists consumers in determining whether a tire is 

5 subject to a recall. 

Æ 


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