I 

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. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

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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. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

4 ‘‘passenger motor vehicle’’ means a motor vehicle (as 

5 defined in section 30102(a)(6) of title 49, United 

6 States Code) that is rated at less than 10,000 

7 pounds gross vehicular weight. Such term does not 

8 include— 

9 (A) a motorcycle; 

10 (B) a trailer; or 

11 (C) a low speed vehicle (as defined in sec12 tion 571.3 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula13 tions). 

14 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Transportation, acting through the 

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1 Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safe2 ty Administration. 

3 TITLE I—TRANSPARENCY AND 

4 ACCOUNTABILITY 

5 SEC. 101. ADDITIONAL EARLY WARNING REPORTING RE6 QUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) DATA ON FATALITIES.—Paragraph (3)(C) of sec8 tion 30166(m) of title 49, United States Code is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘The manufacturer’’ and insert11 ing the following: ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The manufac12 turer’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(ii) FATAL INCIDENTS.—If an inci15 dent described in clause (i) involves fatali16 ties, the Secretary shall require the manu17 facturer to report— 

18 ‘‘(I) all initial claims or notice 

19 documents that notified the manufac20 turer of the incident; 

21 ‘‘(II) any police reports or other 

22 documents describing or recon23 structing the incident; and 

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1 ‘‘(III) any amendments or sup2 plements to the documents described 

3 in subclause (I), except for— 

4 ‘‘(aa) medical documents 

5 and bills; 

6 ‘‘(bb) property damage in7 voices or estimates; and 

8 ‘‘(cc) documents related to 

9 damages.’’. 

10 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Paragraph (4) of section 

11 30166(m) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

12 striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(C) DISCLOSURE.—The information pro14 vided to the Secretary pursuant to this sub15 section shall be disclosed publicly unless exempt 

16 from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 

17 5.’’. 

18 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 2 years after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

20 regulations regarding public access to information sub21 mitted pursuant to section 30166(m) of title 49, United 

22 States Code. The Secretary may establish categories of in23 formation provided pursuant to such section that must be 

24 made available to the public and categories that are exmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 empt from public disclosure under section 552(b) of title 

2 5, United States Code. 

3 (d) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the rulemaking 

4 required under subsection (c), the Secretary shall consult 

5 with the Director of the Office of Government Information 

6 Services within the National Archives and the Director of 

7 the Office of Information Policy of the Department of Jus8 tice. 

9 (e) PRESUMPTION AND LIMITATION.—The Secretary 

10 shall issue the regulations with a presumption in favor of 

11 maximum public availability of information. The following 

12 types of information shall not be eligible for protection 

13 under section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code, and 

14 shall not be withheld from public disclosure: 

15 (1) Production information regarding passenger 

16 motor vehicles, information on incidents involving 

17 death or injury, and numbers of property damage 

18 claims. 

19 (2) Aggregated numbers of consumer com20 plaints. 

21 (f) NULLIFICATION OF PRIOR REGULATIONS.—Be22 ginning 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

23 the regulations establishing early warning reporting class 

24 determinations in Appendix C of section 512 of title 49, 

25 Code of Federal Regulations, shall have no force or effect. 

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1 SEC. 102. PUBLIC NOTICE OF INSPECTION AND INVESTIGA2 TION ACTIVITIES. 

3 The Secretary shall provide public notice of all in4 spection and investigation activities conducted by the Sec5 retary under section 30166 of title 49, United States 

6 Code, and make any such notice, and notice of any en7 forcement or other action taken as a result of an inspec8 tion or investigation available on the website of the Na9 tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration immediately 

10 after such notice is issued. 

11 SEC. 103. IMPROVED ACCESS TO NHTSA VEHICLE SAFETY 

12 INFORMATION. 

13 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act, the Secretary shall improve public accessibility 

15 to information on the website of the National Highway 

16 Traffic Safety Administration regarding vehicle safety, in17 cluding Early Warning data, studies, investigations, in18 spections, incident reports, and other materials, by— 

19 (1) improving organization and functionality 

20 and allowing for data to be searched, aggregated, 

21 and downloaded; 

22 (2) providing greater consistency in presen23 tation of vehicle safety issues; and 

24 (3) improving searchability about specific vehi25 cles and issues through standardization of commonly 

26 used search terms and the integration of databases 

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1 to enable all to be simultaneously searched using the 

2 same keyword search function. 

3 SEC. 104. CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR NHTSA RE4 PORTS. 

5 Paragraph (1) of section 30166(o) of title 49, United 

6 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘shall’’. 

8 SEC. 105. APPEAL OF DEFECT PETITION REJECTION. 

9 Section 30162 of title 49, United States Code, is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A decision of the Secretary 

12 to deny a petition filed under subsection (a)(2) of this sec13 tion is agency action subject to judicial review under chap14 ter 7 of title 5, and such action shall not be considered 

15 committed to agency discretion within the meaning of sec16 tion 701(a)(2) of such title. A person aggrieved by the 

17 denial of a petition may obtain judicial review by filing 

18 an action in the court of appeals of the United States for 

19 the circuit in which the person resides or has its principal 

20 place of business or the United States Court of Appeals 

21 for the District of Columbia Circuit not more than 180 

22 days after notice of the denial of the petition is published 

23 in the Federal Register.’’. 

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1 SEC. 106. DEADLINES FOR RULEMAKING. 

2 If the Secretary determines that a deadline for a final 

3 rule under this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, 

4 cannot be met, the Secretary shall— 

5 (1) notify the Committee on Energy and Com6 merce of the House of Representatives and the Sen7 ate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans8 portation and explain why that deadline cannot be 

9 met; and 

10 (2) establish a new deadline for that rule. 

11 SEC. 107. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

12 (a) STUDY ON EARLY WARNING DATA.—Not later 

13 than 3, 5, 7, and 9 years after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act, the Office of the Inspector General of the Depart15 ment of Transportation shall complete a study of the utili16 zation of Early Warning data by the National Highway 

17 Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Each study shall 

18 evaluate the following: 

19 (1) The number and type of requests for infor20 mation made by NHTSA based on data received in 

21 the Early Warning Reporting system. 

22 (2) The number of safety defect investigations 

23 opened by NHTSA using any information reported 

24 to the agency through the Early Warning Reporting 

25 system. 

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1 (3) The nature and vehicle defect category of 

2 all such safety defect investigations. 

3 (4) The number of investigations described in 

4 paragraph (2) that are subsequently closed without 

5 further action. 

6 (5) The duration of each investigation described 

7 in paragraph (2). 

8 (6) The percentage of each investigation that 

9 result in a finding of a safety defect or recall by the 

10 agency. 

11 (7) Other information the Office of the Inspec12 tor General determines to be appropriate. 

13 (b) REPORT ON OPERATIONS OF THE COUNCIL FOR

14 VEHICLE ELECTRONICS, VEHICLE SOFTWARE, AND

15 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.—Not later than 6 months 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

17 report to Congress regarding the operations of the Council 

18 for Vehicle Electronics, Vehicle Software, and Emerging 

19 Technologies. Such report shall include information about 

20 the accomplishments of the Council, the role the Council 

21 plays in integrating and aggregating expertise across 

22 NHTSA, and priorities of the Council over the next 5 

23 years. 

24 (c) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—Each study described 

25 in subsection (a) and the report described in subsection 

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1 (b) shall be submitted to the Committee on Energy and 

2 Commerce of the House of Representatives and to the 

3 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

4 the Senate upon completion. 

5 SEC. 108. RESTRICTION ON COVERED VEHICLE SAFETY OF6 FICIALS. 

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 301 of 

8 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 30107. Restriction on covered vehicle safety offi11 cials 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For a period of 1 year after the 

13 termination of his or her service or employment, a covered 

14 vehicle safety official shall not knowingly make, with the 

15 intent to influence, any communication to or appearance 

16 before any officer or employee of the National Highway 

17 Transportation Safety Administration on behalf of any 

18 manufacturer subject to regulation under this chapter in 

19 connection with any matter involving vehicle safety on 

20 which such person seeks official action by any officer or 

21 employee of the National Highway Transportation Safety 

22 Administration. 

23 ‘‘(b) NO EFFECT ON SECTION 207.—This section 

24 does not expand, contract, or otherwise affect the applicamstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tion of any waiver or criminal penalties under section 207 

2 of title 18. 

3 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply to 

4 covered vehicle safety officials who terminate service or 

5 employment with the National Highway Transportation 

6 Safety Administration after the date of enactment of the 

7 Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014. 

8 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘covered 

9 vehicle safety official’ means any officer or employee of 

10 the National Highway Transportation Safety Administra11 tion who, within the final 12 months of his or her service 

12 or employment with the agency, serves or served in a tech13 nical or legal capacity, and whose job responsibilities in14 clude or included vehicle safety defect investigation, vehi15 cle safety compliance, vehicle safety rulemaking, or vehicle 

16 safety research, and any officer or employee of the Na17 tional Highway Transportation Safety Administration 

18 serving in a supervisory or management capacity over such 

19 officers or employees. 

20 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULE FOR DETAILEES.—For purposes 

21 of this section, a person who is detailed from one depart22 ment, agency, or other entity to another department, 

23 agency, or other entity shall, during the period such per24 son is detailed, be deemed to be an officer or employee 

25 of both departments, agencies, or such entities. 

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1 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTION FOR TESTIMONY.—Nothing in this 

2 section shall prevent an individual from giving testimony 

3 under oath, or from making statements required to be 

4 made under penalty of perjury.’’. 

5 (b) CIVIL PENALTY.—Section 30165(a) of title 49, 

6 United States Code, is further amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘(5) SECTION 30107.—A person who violates 

9 section 30107 shall be subject to a civil penalty of 

10 not more than $55,000.’’. 

11 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec12 tions for chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, is 

13 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

14 30106 the following: 

‘‘30107. Restriction on covered vehicle safety officials.’’. 

15 TITLE II—FUNDING 

16 SEC. 201. VEHICLE SAFETY USER FEE. 

17 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 301 of 

18 title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 

19 108(a), is further amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘§ 30108. Vehicle safety user fee 

22 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab23 lished in the Treasury of the United States a separate ac24 count for the deposit of fees under this section to be 

25 known as the Vehicle Safety Fund. 

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1 ‘‘(b) ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF VEHICLE

2 SAFETY FEES.—Beginning 1 year after the date of enact3 ment of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014, the Sec4 retary shall assess and collect, in accordance with this sec5 tion, a vehicle safety user fee from the manufacturer for 

6 each motor vehicle that is certified as compliant with ap7 plicable motor vehicle safety standards pursuant to section 

8 30115. 

9 ‘‘(c) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall deposit any fees 

10 collected pursuant to subsection (b) into the Vehicle Safe11 ty Fund established by subsection (a). 

12 ‘‘(d) USE.—Amounts in the Vehicle Safety Fund 

13 shall be available to the Secretary, as provided in sub14 section (i), for making expenditures to meet the obliga15 tions of the United States to carry out vehicle safety pro16 grams of the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis17 tration. 

18 ‘‘(e) VEHICLE SAFETY USER FEE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD YEAR FEES.— 

20 The fee assessed under this section for the first 

21 three years shall be as follows: 

22 ‘‘(A) $3 for each vehicle certified during 

23 the first year in which such fees are assessed. 

24 ‘‘(B) $6 for each vehicle certified during 

25 the second year in which such fees are assessed. 

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1 ‘‘(C) $9 for each vehicle certified during 

2 the third year in which such fees are assessed. 

3 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—The fee assessed 

4 under this section for each vehicle certified after the 

5 third year in which such fees are assessed shall be 

6 adjusted by the Secretary by notice published in the 

7 Federal Register to reflect the total percentage 

8 change that occurred in the Consumer Price Index 

9 for all Urban Consumers for the 12-month period 

10 ending June 30 preceding the fiscal year for which 

11 fees are being established. 

12 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT.—The Secretary shall require 

13 payment of fees under this section on a quarterly 

14 basis and not later than one quarter after the date 

15 on which the fee was assessed. 

16 ‘‘(f) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 9 months after 

17 the date of enactment of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 

18 2014, the Secretary shall promulgate rules governing the 

19 collection and payment of fees pursuant to this section. 

20 ‘‘(g) LIMITATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Fees under this section 

22 shall not be collected for a fiscal year unless appro23 priations for vehicle safety programs of the National 

24 Highway Traffic Safety Administration for such fis25 cal year (excluding the amount of fees appropriated 

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1 for such fiscal year) are equal to or greater than the 

2 amount of appropriations for vehicle safety pro3 grams of the National Highway Traffic Safety Ad4 ministration for fiscal year 2014. 

5 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—If the Secretary does not 

6 assess fees under this section during any portion of 

7 a fiscal year because of paragraph (1), the Secretary 

8 may assess and collect such fees, without any modi9 fication in the rate, at a later date in such fiscal 

10 year notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 

11 (e)(3) relating to the date fees are to be paid. 

12 ‘‘(h) COLLECTION OF UNPAID FEES.—In any case 

13 where the Secretary does not receive payment of a fee as14 sessed under this section within 30 days after it is due, 

15 such fee shall be treated as a claim of the United States 

16 Government subject to subchapter II of chapter 37 of title 

17 31. 

18 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi19 tion to funds authorized to be appropriated under section 

20 30104, there is authorized to be appropriated from the 

21 Vehicle Safety Fund to the Secretary for the National 

22 Highway Traffic Safety Administration for each fiscal 

23 year in which fees are collected under subsection (b) an 

24 amount equal to the total amount collected during the pre25 vious fiscal year from fees assessed pursuant to this secmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tion. Such amounts are authorized to remain available 

2 until expended. 

3 ‘‘(j) CREDITING AND AVAILABILITY OF FEES.—Fees 

4 authorized under subsection (b) shall be collected and 

5 available for obligation only to the extent and in the 

6 amount provided in advance in appropriations Acts.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

8 for chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, as amend9 ed by section 108(d), is further amended by inserting after 

10 the item relating to section 30107 the following: 

‘‘30108. Vehicle safety user fee.’’. 

11 SEC. 202. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 Section 30104 of title 49, United States Code, is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘$98,313,500’’; and 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘in each fiscal year beginning in 

16 fiscal year 1999 and ending in fiscal year 2011.’’ 

17 and inserting the following: ‘‘and to carry out the 

18 Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014— 

19 ‘‘(1) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; 

20 ‘‘(2) $240,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; and 

21 ‘‘(3) $280,000,000 for fiscal year 2017.’’. 

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1 TITLE III—ENHANCED SAFETY 

2 AUTHORITIES 

3 SEC. 301. CIVIL PENALTIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30165 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

7 (A) in the first sentence by striking 

8 ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

9 (B) in the third sentence, by striking 

10 ‘‘$35,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$200,000,000’’; 

11 and 

12 (2) in subsection (a)(3)— 

13 (A) in the second sentence by striking 

14 ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

15 (B) in the third sentence, by striking 

16 ‘‘$35,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$200,000,000’’. 

17 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be 

18 construed as preventing the imposition of penalties under 

19 section 30165 of title 49, United States Code, prior to 

20 the issuance of a final rule pursuant to section 31203(b) 

21 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act 

22 (49 U.S.C. 30165 note). 

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1 SEC. 302. IMMINENT HAZARD AUTHORITY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30118(b) of title 49, 

3 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(3) IMMINENT HAZARD ORDERS.—If the Sec6 retary of Transportation in making a decision under 

7 subsection (a) also initially decides that such defect 

8 or noncompliance presents a substantial likelihood of 

9 death or serious injury to the public, the Secretary 

10 shall notify such manufacturer. The opportunity for 

11 the manufacturer to present information, views, and 

12 arguments in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be 

13 provided as soon as practicable but not later than 10 

14 calendar days after the initial decision. The Sec15 retary shall expedite proceedings for a decision and 

16 order under paragraph (1) and shall, as appropriate, 

17 issue an imminent hazard order.’’. 

18 (b) PROCEDURES.—Not later than 2 years after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

20 procedures for the issuance and enforcement of imminent 

21 hazard orders under section 30118(b)(3) of title 49, 

22 United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), con23 sistent with the provisions of chapter 301 of such title and 

24 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known 

25 as the Administrative Procedure Act). 

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1 TITLE IV—ADDITIONAL 

2 PROVISIONS 

3 SEC. 401. PREEMPTION OF STATE LAW. 

4 (a) CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.— 

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary 

6 shall not publish a rule pursuant to section 30111 of title 

7 49, United States Code, that addresses the issue of pre8 emption of State law seeking damages for personal injury, 

9 death, or property damage unless Congress expressly au10 thorizes the Secretary to address such preemption. 

11 (b) PREEMPTION LANGUAGE.—Any language ad12 dressing the issue of preemption contained within regula13 tions issued by the Secretary pursuant to section 30111 

14 of title 49, United States Code, during the years 2005 

15 through 2008 shall not be considered in determining 

16 whether any such rule preempts any action under State 

17 law seeking damages for personal injury, death, or prop18 erty damage unless Congress expressly authorizes the Sec19 retary to address such preemption. 

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