I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3959 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee 

on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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

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

3 2 seat belt assembly’’ in section 571.209 of title 49, 

4 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

5 date of enactment of this Act). 

6 (2) AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYS7 TEM.—The term ‘‘automatic emergency braking sys8 tem’’ means a crash avoidance system installed and 

9 operational in a vehicle that consists of— 

10 (A) a forward collision warning function— 

11 (i) to detect vehicles and objects 

12 ahead of the vehicle; and 

13 (ii) to alert the operator of the vehicle 

14 of an impending collision; and 

15 (B) a crash-imminent braking function to 

16 provide automatic braking when forward-look17 ing sensors of the vehicle indicate that— 

18 (i) a crash is imminent; and 

19 (ii) the operator of the vehicle is not 

20 reacting in a timely or appropriate man21 ner. 

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

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

24 section 563.5(b) of title 49, Code of Federal RegulaVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959

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1 tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

2 Act). 

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

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

5 30125(a) of title 49, United States Code. 

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

7 the Secretary of Transportation. 

8 SEC. 3. SCHOOL BUS SAFETY. 

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

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

11 shall issue final rules prescribing or amending motor vehi12 cle safety standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United 

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

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

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

16 seating position. 

17 (b) FIRE PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 (1) FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS.— 

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

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary shall issue rules prescribing or amending 

22 motor vehicle safety standards under chapter 

23 301 of title 49, United States Code, to require 

24 school buses to be equipped with fire suppresVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959

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1 sion systems that, at a minimum, address en2 gine fires. 

3 (B) APPLICATION.—The standards pre4 scribed or amendments made under subpara5 graph (A) shall apply to school buses manufac6 tured in, or imported into, the United States on 

7 or after the effective date of the standards or 

8 amendments. 

9 (2) FIREWALLS.— 

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

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary shall issue rules prescribing or amending 

13 motor vehicle safety standards under chapter 

14 301 of title 49, United States Code, for school 

15 buses, especially school buses with engines that 

16 extend beyond the firewall, to ensure that no 

17 hazardous quantity of gas or flame can pass 

18 through the firewall from the engine compart19 ment to the passenger compartment. 

20 (B) APPLICATION.—The standards pre21 scribed or amendments made under subpara22 graph (A) shall apply to school buses manufac23 tured in, or imported into, the United States on 

24 or after the effective date of the standards or 

25 amendments. 


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1 (3) INTERIOR FLAMMABILITY AND SMOKE EMIS2 SIONS CHARACTERISTICS.—Not later than 1 year 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec4 retary shall amend section 571.302 of title 49, Code 

5 of Federal Regulations (relating to Federal Motor 

6 Vehicle Safety Standard Number 302), to adopt, 

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

8 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code), perform9 ance standards for interior flammability and smoke 

10 emissions characteristics that are not less rigorous 

11 than the performance standards for interior flamma12 bility and smoke emissions characteristics applicable 

13 to— 

14 (A) a compartment occupied by the crew 

15 or passengers of a transport category airplane 

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

17 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 

18 of enactment of this Act)) under section 25.853 

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

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

21 and 

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

23 those terms are defined in section 238.5 of title 

24 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

25 the date of enactment of this Act)) under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959

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1 tion 238.103 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu2 lations (as in effect on the date of enactment of 

3 this Act). 

4 (c) OTHER SAFETY EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

6 Act, the Secretary shall issue final rules— 

7 (1) prescribing or amending motor vehicle safe8 ty standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United 

9 States Code, to require school buses to be equipped 

10 with— 

11 (A) an automatic emergency braking sys12 tem; 

13 (B) an event data recorder; and 

14 (C) an electronic stability control system 

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

16 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 

17 of enactment of this Act)); and 

18 (2) amending part 383 of title 49, Code of Fed19 eral Regulations, to require not less than 30 hours 

20 of behind-the-wheel instruction for operators of 

21 school buses, which shall be accrued— 

22 (A) on public roads; and 

23 (B) with a trained instructor who pos24 sesses a valid commercial driver’s license with a 

25 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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