II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2539 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue rules requiring the inclusion 

of new safety equipment in school buses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2021 

Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue rules 

requiring the inclusion of new safety equipment in school 

buses, 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 ‘‘School Bus Safety Act 

5 of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) 3-POINT SAFETY BELT.—The term ‘‘3-point 

9 safety belt’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Type 

10 2 seat belt assembly’’ in section 571.209 of title 49, 


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1 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

2 date of enactment of this Act). 

3 (2) AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYS4 TEM.—The term ‘‘automatic emergency braking sys5 tem’’ means a crash avoidance system installed and 

6 operational in a vehicle that consists of— 

7 (A) a forward collision warning function— 

8 (i) to detect vehicles and objects 

9 ahead of the vehicle; and 

10 (ii) to alert the operator of the vehicle 

11 of an impending collision; and 

12 (B) a crash-imminent braking function to 

13 provide automatic braking when forward-look14 ing sensors of the vehicle indicate that— 

15 (i) a crash is imminent; and 

16 (ii) the operator of the vehicle is not 

17 reacting in a timely or appropriate man18 ner. 

19 (3) EVENT DATA RECORDER.—The term ‘‘event 

20 data recorder’’ has the meaning given the term in 

21 section 563.5(b) of title 49, Code of Federal Regula22 tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

23 Act). 


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1 (4) SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘school bus’’ has 

2 the meaning given the term ‘‘schoolbus’’ in section 

3 30125(a) of title 49, United States Code. 

4 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Transportation. 

6 SEC. 3. SCHOOL BUS SAFETY. 

7 (a) SEAT BELT REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 

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

9 shall issue final rules prescribing or amending motor vehi10 cle safety standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United 

11 States Code, to require school buses with a gross vehicle 

12 weight rating of greater than 10,000 pounds to be 

13 equipped with a 3-point safety belt at each designated 

14 seating position. 

15 (b) FIRE PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (1) FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec19 retary shall issue rules prescribing or amending 

20 motor vehicle safety standards under chapter 

21 301 of title 49, United States Code, to require 

22 school buses to be equipped with fire suppres23 sion systems that, at a minimum, address en24 gine fires. 


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1 (B) APPLICATION.—The standards pre2 scribed or amendments made under subpara3 graph (A) shall apply to school buses manufac4 tured in, or imported into, the United States on 

5 or after the effective date of the standards or 

6 amendments. 

7 (2) FIREWALLS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall issue rules prescribing or amending 

11 motor vehicle safety standards under chapter 

12 301 of title 49, United States Code, for school 

13 buses, especially school buses with engines that 

14 extend beyond the firewall, to ensure that no 

15 hazardous quantity of gas or flame can pass 

16 through the firewall from the engine compart17 ment to the passenger compartment. 

18 (B) APPLICATION.—The standards pre19 scribed or amendments made under subpara20 graph (A) shall apply to school buses manufac21 tured in, or imported into, the United States on 

22 or after the effective date of the standards or 

23 amendments. 

24 (3) INTERIOR FLAMMABILITY AND SMOKE EMIS25 SIONS CHARACTERISTICS.—Not later than 1 year 


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1 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec2 retary shall amend section 571.302 of title 49, Code 

3 of Federal Regulations (relating to Federal Motor 

4 Vehicle Safety Standard Number 302), to adopt, 

5 with respect to a motor vehicle (as defined in section 

6 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code), perform7 ance standards for interior flammability and smoke 

8 emissions characteristics that are not less rigorous 

9 than the performance standards for interior flamma10 bility and smoke emissions characteristics applicable 

11 to— 

12 (A) a compartment occupied by the crew 

13 or passengers of a transport category airplane 

14 (within the meaning of part 25 of title 14, Code 

15 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 

16 of enactment of this Act)) under section 25.853 

17 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 

18 effect on the date of enactment of this Act); 

19 and 

20 (B) a passenger car or locomotive cab (as 

21 those terms are defined in section 238.5 of title 

22 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

23 the date of enactment of this Act)) under sec24 tion 238.103 of title 49, Code of Federal ReguVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:42 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2539.IS S2539

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1 lations (as in effect on the date of enactment of 

2 this Act). 

3 (c) OTHER SAFETY EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

5 Act, the Secretary shall issue final rules— 

6 (1) prescribing or amending motor vehicle safe7 ty standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United 

8 States Code, to require school buses to be equipped 

9 with— 

10 (A) an automatic emergency braking sys11 tem; 

12 (B) an event data recorder; and 

13 (C) an electronic stability control system 

14 (as defined in section 571.136 of title 49, Code 

15 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 

16 of enactment of this Act)); and 

17 (2) amending part 383 of title 49, Code of Fed18 eral Regulations, to require not less than 30 hours 

19 of behind-the-wheel instruction for operators of 

20 school buses, which shall be accrued— 

21 (A) on public roads; and 

22 (B) with a trained instructor who pos23 sesses a valid commercial driver’s license with a 

24 school bus endorsement. 


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1 (d) OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA.—Not later than 1 

2 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis3 trator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 

4 and the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Adminis5 tration shall complete the rulemaking process and publish 

6 a final rule with respect to the advance notice of proposed 

7 rulemaking entitled ‘‘Evaluation of Safety Sensitive Per8 sonnel for Moderate-to-Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea’’ 

9 (81 Fed. Reg. 12642 (March 10, 2016)). 

10 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The standards prescribed or 

11 amendments made under subsections (a) and (c) shall 

12 apply with respect to school buses manufactured in, or im13 ported into, the United States on or after the date that 

14 is 1 year after the date on which the Secretary issues the 

15 rules required under the applicable subsection. 

16 SEC. 4. STUDIES. 

17 (a) MOTION-ACTIVATED DETECTION SYSTEMS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

20 of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra21 tion (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Adminis22 trator’’) shall complete a study with respect to the 

23 benefits of requiring school buses manufactured in, 

24 or imported into, the United States to be equipped 


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1 with a motion-activated detection system that is ca2 pable of— 

3 (A) detecting pedestrians, bicyclists, and 

4 other road users located near the exterior of the 

5 school bus; and 

6 (B) alerting the operator of the school bus 

7 of the road users described in subparagraph 

8 (A). 

9 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 

10 the date on which the Administrator completes the 

11 study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 

12 issue rules requiring school buses manufactured in, 

13 or imported into, the United States to effectuate 

14 that requirement. 

15 (b) SAFETY BELT ALERT.—Not later than 2 years 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

17 shall complete a study on the benefits of requiring school 

18 buses manufactured in, or imported into, the United 

19 States to be equipped with a system to alert the operator 

20 of the school bus if a passenger in the school bus is not 

21 wearing a 3-point safety belt equipped on the school bus. 

22 SEC. 5. SAFETY GRANT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor25 tation shall establish a grant program to provide grants 


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1 to States to make subgrants to local educational agen2 cies— 

3 (1) to assist the local educational agencies in 

4 purchasing school buses equipped with— 

5 (A) 3-point safety belts at each designated 

6 seating position; or 

7 (B) any other school bus safety feature de8 scribed in section 3 or 4; and 

9 (2) to assist the local educational agencies in 

10 modifying school buses already owned by the local 

11 educational agency to be equipped with— 

12 (A) 3-point safety belts at each designated 

13 seating position; or 

14 (B) any other school bus safety feature de15 scribed in section 3 or 4. 

16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec18 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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