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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4364 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4364

 To provide greater transparency, accountability, and safety authority 
 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 1, 2014

   Mr. Waxman (for himself, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Rush, Ms. DeGette, Ms. 
 Schakowsky, Ms. Matsui, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Braley of Iowa, and Mr. 
    Tonko) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To provide greater transparency, accountability, and safety authority 
 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Motor Vehicle 
Safety Act of 2014''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
                TITLE I--TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Sec. 101. Additional early warning reporting requirements.
Sec. 102. Public notice of inspection and investigation activities.
Sec. 103. Improved access to NHTSA vehicle safety information.
Sec. 104. Corporate responsibility for NHTSA reports.
Sec. 105. Appeal of defect petition rejection.
Sec. 106. Deadlines for rulemaking.
Sec. 107. Reports to Congress.
Sec. 108. Restriction on Covered Vehicle Safety Officials.
                           TITLE II--FUNDING

Sec. 201. Vehicle safety user fee.
Sec. 202. Authorization of appropriations.
                 TITLE III--ENHANCED SAFETY AUTHORITIES

Sec. 301. Civil penalties.
Sec. 302. Imminent hazard authority.
                    TITLE IV--ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 401. Preemption of State law.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Passenger motor vehicle.--The term ``passenger motor 
        vehicle'' means a motor vehicle (as defined in section 
        30102(a)(6) of title 49, United States Code) that is rated at 
        less than 10,000 pounds gross vehicular weight. Such term does 
        not include--
                    (A) a motorcycle;
                    (B) a trailer; or
                    (C) a low speed vehicle (as defined in section 
                571.3 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Transportation, acting through the Administrator of the 
        National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

                TITLE I--TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

SEC. 101. ADDITIONAL EARLY WARNING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Data on Fatalities.--Paragraph (3)(C) of section 30166(m) of 
title 49, United States Code is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The manufacturer'' and inserting the 
        following: ``(i) In general.--The manufacturer''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) Fatal incidents.--If an incident 
                        described in clause (i) involves fatalities, 
                        the Secretary shall require the manufacturer to 
                        report--
                                    ``(I) all initial claims or notice 
                                documents that notified the 
                                manufacturer of the incident;
                                    ``(II) any police reports or other 
                                documents describing or reconstructing 
                                the incident; and
                                    ``(III) any amendments or 
                                supplements to the documents described 
                                in subclause (I), except for--
                                            ``(aa) medical documents 
                                        and bills;
                                            ``(bb) property damage 
                                        invoices or estimates; and
                                            ``(cc) documents related to 
                                        damages.''.
    (b) Public Availability.--Paragraph (4) of section 30166(m) of 
title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph (C) 
and inserting the following:
                    ``(C) Disclosure.--The information provided to the 
                Secretary pursuant to this subsection shall be 
                disclosed publicly unless exempt from disclosure under 
                section 552(b) of title 5.''.
    (c) Regulations.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations regarding 
public access to information submitted pursuant to section 30166(m) of 
title 49, United States Code. The Secretary may establish categories of 
information provided pursuant to such section that must be made 
available to the public and categories that are exempt from public 
disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.
    (d) Consultation.--In conducting the rulemaking required under 
subsection (c), the Secretary shall consult with the Director of the 
Office of Government Information Services within the National Archives 
and the Director of the Office of Information Policy of the Department 
of Justice.
    (e) Presumption and Limitation.--The Secretary shall issue the 
regulations with a presumption in favor of maximum public availability 
of information. The following types of information shall not be 
eligible for protection under section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United 
States Code, and shall not be withheld from public disclosure:
            (1) Production information regarding passenger motor 
        vehicles, information on incidents involving death or injury, 
        and numbers of property damage claims.
            (2) Aggregated numbers of consumer complaints.
    (f) Nullification of Prior Regulations.--Beginning 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the regulations establishing early 
warning reporting class determinations in Appendix C of section 512 of 
title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall have no force or effect.

SEC. 102. PUBLIC NOTICE OF INSPECTION AND INVESTIGATION ACTIVITIES.

    The Secretary shall provide public notice of all inspection and 
investigation activities conducted by the Secretary under section 30166 
of title 49, United States Code, and make any such notice, and notice 
of any enforcement or other action taken as a result of an inspection 
or investigation available on the website of the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration immediately after such notice is issued.

SEC. 103. IMPROVED ACCESS TO NHTSA VEHICLE SAFETY INFORMATION.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall improve public accessibility to information on the 
website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding 
vehicle safety, including Early Warning data, studies, investigations, 
inspections, incident reports, and other materials, by--
            (1) improving organization and functionality and allowing 
        for data to be searched, aggregated, and downloaded;
            (2) providing greater consistency in presentation of 
        vehicle safety issues; and
            (3) improving searchability about specific vehicles and 
        issues through standardization of commonly used search terms 
        and the integration of databases to enable all to be 
        simultaneously searched using the same keyword search function.

SEC. 104. CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR NHTSA REPORTS.

    Paragraph (1) of section 30166(o) of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended by striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall''.

SEC. 105. APPEAL OF DEFECT PETITION REJECTION.

    Section 30162 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(e) Judicial Review.--A decision of the Secretary to deny a 
petition filed under subsection (a)(2) of this section is agency action 
subject to judicial review under chapter 7 of title 5, and such action 
shall not be considered committed to agency discretion within the 
meaning of section 701(a)(2) of such title. A person aggrieved by the 
denial of a petition may obtain judicial review by filing an action in 
the court of appeals of the United States for the circuit in which the 
person resides or has its principal place of business or the United 
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit not more 
than 180 days after notice of the denial of the petition is published 
in the Federal Register.''.

SEC. 106. DEADLINES FOR RULEMAKING.

    If the Secretary determines that a deadline for a final rule under 
this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, cannot be met, the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) notify the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
        House of Representatives and the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
        Science, and Transportation and explain why that deadline 
        cannot be met; and
            (2) establish a new deadline for that rule.

SEC. 107. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Study on Early Warning Data.--Not later than 3, 5, 7, and 9 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Office of the 
Inspector General of the Department of Transportation shall complete a 
study of the utilization of Early Warning data by the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Each study shall evaluate the 
following:
            (1) The number and type of requests for information made by 
        NHTSA based on data received in the Early Warning Reporting 
        system.
            (2) The number of safety defect investigations opened by 
        NHTSA using any information reported to the agency through the 
        Early Warning Reporting system.
            (3) The nature and vehicle defect category of all such 
        safety defect investigations.
            (4) The number of investigations described in paragraph (2) 
        that are subsequently closed without further action.
            (5) The duration of each investigation described in 
        paragraph (2).
            (6) The percentage of each investigation that result in a 
        finding of a safety defect or recall by the agency.
            (7) Other information the Office of the Inspector General 
        determines to be appropriate.
    (b) Report on Operations of the Council for Vehicle Electronics, 
Vehicle Software, and Emerging Technologies.--Not later than 6 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall report to 
Congress regarding the operations of the Council for Vehicle 
Electronics, Vehicle Software, and Emerging Technologies. Such report 
shall include information about the accomplishments of the Council, the 
role the Council plays in integrating and aggregating expertise across 
NHTSA, and priorities of the Council over the next 5 years.
    (c) Submission of Reports.--Each study described in subsection (a) 
and the report described in subsection (b) shall be submitted to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and to 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
upon completion.

SEC. 108. RESTRICTION ON COVERED VEHICLE SAFETY OFFICIALS.

    (a) Amendment.--Subchapter I of chapter 301 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 30107. Restriction on covered vehicle safety officials
    ``(a) In General.--For a period of 1 year after the termination of 
his or her service or employment, a covered vehicle safety official 
shall not knowingly make, with the intent to influence, any 
communication to or appearance before any officer or employee of the 
National Highway Transportation Safety Administration on behalf of any 
manufacturer subject to regulation under this chapter in connection 
with any matter involving vehicle safety on which such person seeks 
official action by any officer or employee of the National Highway 
Transportation Safety Administration.
    ``(b) No Effect on Section 207.--This section does not expand, 
contract, or otherwise affect the application of any waiver or criminal 
penalties under section 207 of title 18.
    ``(c) Effective Date.--This section shall apply to covered vehicle 
safety officials who terminate service or employment with the National 
Highway Transportation Safety Administration after the date of 
enactment of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014.
    ``(d) Definition.--In this section, the term `covered vehicle 
safety official' means any officer or employee of the National Highway 
Transportation Safety Administration who, within the final 12 months of 
his or her service or employment with the agency, serves or served in a 
technical or legal capacity, and whose job responsibilities include or 
included vehicle safety defect investigation, vehicle safety 
compliance, vehicle safety rulemaking, or vehicle safety research, and 
any officer or employee of the National Highway Transportation Safety 
Administration serving in a supervisory or management capacity over 
such officers or employees.
    ``(e) Special Rule for Detailees.--For purposes of this section, a 
person who is detailed from one department, agency, or other entity to 
another department, agency, or other entity shall, during the period 
such person is detailed, be deemed to be an officer or employee of both 
departments, agencies, or such entities.
    ``(f) Exception for Testimony.--Nothing in this section shall 
prevent an individual from giving testimony under oath, or from making 
statements required to be made under penalty of perjury.''.
    (b) Civil Penalty.--Section 30165(a) of title 49, United States 
Code, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Section 30107.--A person who violates section 30107 
        shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than 
        $55,000.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 301 of 
title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 30106 the following:

``30107. Restriction on covered vehicle safety officials.''.

                           TITLE II--FUNDING

SEC. 201. VEHICLE SAFETY USER FEE.

    (a) Amendment.--Subchapter I of chapter 301 of title 49, United 
States Code, as amended by section 108(a), is further amended by adding 
at the end the following:
``Sec. 30108. Vehicle safety user fee
    ``(a) Establishment of Fund.--There is established in the Treasury 
of the United States a separate account for the deposit of fees under 
this section to be known as the Vehicle Safety Fund.
    ``(b) Assessment and Collection of Vehicle Safety Fees.--Beginning 
1 year after the date of enactment of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 
2014, the Secretary shall assess and collect, in accordance with this 
section, a vehicle safety user fee from the manufacturer for each motor 
vehicle that is certified as compliant with applicable motor vehicle 
safety standards pursuant to section 30115.
    ``(c) Deposit.--The Secretary shall deposit any fees collected 
pursuant to subsection (b) into the Vehicle Safety Fund established by 
subsection (a).
    ``(d) Use.--Amounts in the Vehicle Safety Fund shall be available 
to the Secretary, as provided in subsection (i), for making 
expenditures to meet the obligations of the United States to carry out 
vehicle safety programs of the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration.
    ``(e) Vehicle Safety User Fee.--
            ``(1) First, second, and third year fees.--The fee assessed 
        under this section for the first three years shall be as 
        follows:
                    ``(A) $3 for each vehicle certified during the 
                first year in which such fees are assessed.
                    ``(B) $6 for each vehicle certified during the 
                second year in which such fees are assessed.
                    ``(C) $9 for each vehicle certified during the 
                third year in which such fees are assessed.
            ``(2) Subsequent years.--The fee assessed under this 
        section for each vehicle certified after the third year in 
        which such fees are assessed shall be adjusted by the Secretary 
        by notice published in the Federal Register to reflect the 
        total percentage change that occurred in the Consumer Price 
        Index for all Urban Consumers for the 12-month period ending 
        June 30 preceding the fiscal year for which fees are being 
        established.
            ``(3) Payment.--The Secretary shall require payment of fees 
        under this section on a quarterly basis and not later than one 
        quarter after the date on which the fee was assessed.
    ``(f) Rulemaking.--Not later than 9 months after the date of 
enactment of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014, the Secretary shall 
promulgate rules governing the collection and payment of fees pursuant 
to this section.
    ``(g) Limitations.--
            ``(1) In general.--Fees under this section shall not be 
        collected for a fiscal year unless appropriations for vehicle 
        safety programs of the National Highway Traffic Safety 
        Administration for such fiscal year (excluding the amount of 
        fees appropriated for such fiscal year) are equal to or greater 
        than the amount of appropriations for vehicle safety programs 
        of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 
        fiscal year 2014.
            ``(2) Authority.--If the Secretary does not assess fees 
        under this section during any portion of a fiscal year because 
        of paragraph (1), the Secretary may assess and collect such 
        fees, without any modification in the rate, at a later date in 
        such fiscal year notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 
        (e)(3) relating to the date fees are to be paid.
    ``(h) Collection of Unpaid Fees.--In any case where the Secretary 
does not receive payment of a fee assessed under this section within 30 
days after it is due, such fee shall be treated as a claim of the 
United States Government subject to subchapter II of chapter 37 of 
title 31.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to funds 
authorized to be appropriated under section 30104, there is authorized 
to be appropriated from the Vehicle Safety Fund to the Secretary for 
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for each fiscal year 
in which fees are collected under subsection (b) an amount equal to the 
total amount collected during the previous fiscal year from fees 
assessed pursuant to this section. Such amounts are authorized to 
remain available until expended.
    ``(j) Crediting and Availability of Fees.--Fees authorized under 
subsection (b) shall be collected and available for obligation only to 
the extent and in the amount provided in advance in appropriations 
Acts.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 301 of 
title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 108(d), is further 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 30107 the 
following:

``30108. Vehicle safety user fee.''.

SEC. 202. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 30104 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``$98,313,500''; and
            (2) by striking ``in each fiscal year beginning in fiscal 
        year 1999 and ending in fiscal year 2011.'' and inserting the 
        following: ``and to carry out the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 
        2014--
            ``(1) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2015;
            ``(2) $240,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; and
            ``(3) $280,000,000 for fiscal year 2017.''.

                 TITLE III--ENHANCED SAFETY AUTHORITIES

SEC. 301. CIVIL PENALTIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 30165 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)--
                    (A) in the first sentence by striking ``$5,000'' 
                and inserting ``$25,000''; and
                    (B) in the third sentence, by striking 
                ``$35,000,000'' and inserting ``$200,000,000''; and
            (2) in subsection (a)(3)--
                    (A) in the second sentence by striking ``$5,000'' 
                and inserting ``$25,000''; and
                    (B) in the third sentence, by striking 
                ``$35,000,000'' and inserting ``$200,000,000''.
    (b) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be construed as 
preventing the imposition of penalties under section 30165 of title 49, 
United States Code, prior to the issuance of a final rule pursuant to 
section 31203(b) of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century 
Act (49 U.S.C. 30165 note).

SEC. 302. IMMINENT HAZARD AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--Section 30118(b) of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Imminent hazard orders.--If the Secretary of 
        Transportation in making a decision under subsection (a) also 
        initially decides that such defect or noncompliance presents a 
        substantial likelihood of death or serious injury to the 
        public, the Secretary shall notify such manufacturer. The 
        opportunity for the manufacturer to present information, views, 
        and arguments in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be 
        provided as soon as practicable but not later than 10 calendar 
        days after the initial decision. The Secretary shall expedite 
        proceedings for a decision and order under paragraph (1) and 
        shall, as appropriate, issue an imminent hazard order.''.
    (b) Procedures.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall issue procedures for the issuance and 
enforcement of imminent hazard orders under section 30118(b)(3) of 
title 49, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), consistent 
with the provisions of chapter 301 of such title and chapter 5 of title 
5, United States Code (commonly known as the Administrative Procedure 
Act).

                    TITLE IV--ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 401. PREEMPTION OF STATE LAW.

    (a) Congressional Authorization Required.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the Secretary shall not publish a rule pursuant 
to section 30111 of title 49, United States Code, that addresses the 
issue of preemption of State law seeking damages for personal injury, 
death, or property damage unless Congress expressly authorizes the 
Secretary to address such preemption.
    (b) Preemption Language.--Any language addressing the issue of 
preemption contained within regulations issued by the Secretary 
pursuant to section 30111 of title 49, United States Code, during the 
years 2005 through 2008 shall not be considered in determining whether 
any such rule preempts any action under State law seeking damages for 
personal injury, death, or property damage unless Congress expressly 
authorizes the Secretary to address such preemption.
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