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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1848 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1848

 To provide for disclosure of the bumper impact capability of certain 
   passenger motor vehicles and to require a 5-mile-per-hour bumper 
                      standard for such vehicles.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            February 10 (legislative day, January 25), 1994

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To provide for disclosure of the bumper impact capability of certain 
   passenger motor vehicles and to require a 5-mile-per-hour bumper 
                      standard for such vehicles.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Automobile and Minivan Bumper 
Improvement Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF BUMPER IMPACT CAPABILITY.

    The Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act (15 U.S.C. 1901 
et seq.) is amended by inserting immediately after section 102 the 
following new subsection:

                ``disclosure of bumper impact capability

    ``Sec. 102A. (a) The Secretary shall promulgate, in accordance with 
the provisions of this section, a regulation establishing bumper system 
labeling requirements for passenger motor vehicles--
            ``(1) manufactured for model years beginning more than 180 
        days after the date such regulation is promulgated, as provided 
        in subsection (c)(2); and
            ``(2) constructed without special features for occasional 
        off-road operation.
    ``(b)(1) The regulation promulgated under this section shall 
provide that, before any such passenger motor vehicle is offered for 
sale, the manufacturer shall affix a label to such vehicle, in a format 
prescribed in such regulation, disclosing an impact speed at which the 
manufacturer represents that the vehicle meets the applicable damage 
criteria.
    ``(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term `applicable damage 
criteria' means the damage criteria applicable under the bumper 
standard set forth in part 581 of title 49, Code of Federal 
Regulations, or under a successor bumper standard.
    ``(c)(1) Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this 
section, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a proposed 
initial regulation under this section.
    ``(2) Not later than 180 days after such date of enactment, the 
Secretary shall promulgate a final initial regulation under this 
section.
    ``(d) The Secretary may allow a manufacturer to comply with the 
labeling requirements described in subsection (b) by permitting such 
manufacturer to make the required bumper system impact speed disclosure 
on the label required by section 506 of this Act or on the label 
required by section 3 of the Automobile Information Disclosure Act (15 
U.S.C. 1232).
    ``(e) The regulation promulgated under this section shall provide 
that the information disclosed under this section be provided to the 
Secretary at the beginning of the model year for the model involved. As 
soon as practicable after receiving such information, the Secretary 
shall furnish and distribute to the public such information in a simple 
and readily understandable form in order to facilitate comparison among 
the various types of passenger motor vehicles. The Secretary may by 
rule require automobile dealers to distribute to prospective purchasers 
any information compiled pursuant to this Secretary.''.

SEC. 3. BUMPER STANDARD FOR CERTAIN PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLES.

    (a) Amendment of Bumper Standard.--Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 
amend the bumper standard published as part 581 of title 49, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to ensure that such standard is identical to the 
bumper standard under such part 581 that was in effect on January 1, 
1982. The amendment standard shall apply to all passenger motor 
vehicles--
            (1) manufactured after September 1, 1994; and
            (2) constructed without special features for occasional 
        off-road operation.
    (b) More Stringent Bumper Standards Not Affected.--Nothing in this 
section shall be construed to prohibit the Secretary of Transportation 
from requiring under such part 581 that passenger motor vehicle bumpers 
be capable of resisting impact speeds higher than those specified in 
the bumper standard in effect under such part 581 on January 1, 1982.
    (c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``passenger 
motor vehicle'' has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the 
Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act (15 U.S.C. 1901).

                                 <all>
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