II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1787 

To require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to implement 

a national employer notification service. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2019 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 

to implement a national employer notification service. 

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 ‘‘Miranda Vargas School 

5 Bus Driver Red Flag Act’’ or ‘‘Miranda’s Law’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL EMPLOYER NOTIFICATION SERVICE. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) EMPLOYER NOTIFICATION SERVICE.—The 

9 term ‘‘employer notification service’’ means a service 

10 that automatically provides to an employer a report 


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1 on the change in the status of the driving record or 

2 driver’s license of an employee who has a commercial 

3 driver’s license due to a conviction for a moving vio4 lation, a failure to appear, driver’s license suspen5 sion, driver’s license revocation, or any other action 

6 taken against the driving privilege. 

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

8 the Secretary of Transportation. 

9 (b) NATIONAL EMPLOYER NOTIFICATION SERV10 ICE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, act13 ing through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Ad14 ministration, shall issue a final rule requiring the 

15 implementation of a national employer notification 

16 service that States may access. 

17 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—Before issuing a final 

18 rule under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con19 sider— 

20 (A) the recommendations made by the 

21 American Association of Motor Vehicle Admin22 istrators (AAMVA), including recommendations 

23 on annual per driver fees for participating em24 ployers, in the report of the AAMVA entitled 

25 ‘‘Employer Notification System Design & Best 


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1 Practices Recommendations’’, produced for the 

2 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 

3 under grant/cooperative agreement number 

4 FMCDL–0143–13–01–03; and 

5 (B) the results of the pilot program under 

6 section 4022 of the Transportation Equity Act 

7 for the 21st Century (49 U.S.C. 31309 note; 

8 Public Law 105–178)— 

9 (i) to assess the feasibility, costs, safe10 ty impacts, and benefits of a system simi11 lar to the pilot program; and 

12 (ii) to assess methods for efficient ex13 change of driver safety data from existing 

14 State systems. 

15 (3) REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (A) EMPLOYER COMPLIANCE.—As part of 

17 the final rule under paragraph (1), the Sec18 retary shall require any employer who has 1 or 

19 more employees who holds a commercial driv20 er’s license with a school bus endorsement, pur21 suant to section 383.123 of title 49, Code of 

22 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), 

23 to participate in the national employer notifica24 tion service. 

25 (B) DRIVER NOTIFICATION.— 


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1 (i) SIMULTANEOUS DRIVER NOTIFICA2 TION.—As part of the final rule under 

3 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure 

4 that whenever the national employer notifi5 cation service provides to an employer a re6 port on an employee, that employee shall 

7 receive simultaneous notification and a 

8 complete copy of the report. 

9 (ii) FORM.—An employee described in 

10 clause (i) shall be notified under that 

11 clause— 

12 (I) by mail sent to the address on 

13 record for the employee with the driv14 er licensing agency in the State that 

15 issued the commercial driver’s license 

16 to the employee; or 

17 (II) on request of the employee, 

18 by mail sent to an alternative address 

19 or by alternative means, including 

20 electronic mail. 

21 (iii) DRIVER ACCESS TO INFORMA22 TION.—Except as otherwise prohibited by 

23 law, an employee shall be permitted to re24 view information retained or disseminated 

25 by the national employer notification servVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1787.IS S1787

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1 ice about that employee at no cost to the 

2 employee. 

3 (C) PROCEDURES FOR CORRECTING INFOR4 MATION.—As part of the final rule under para5 graph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that an 

6 employee may, at no cost to the employee— 

7 (i) challenge inaccurate information 

8 retained or disseminated by the national 

9 employer notification service; 

10 (ii) request expedited treatment to 

11 correct inaccurate information retained or 

12 disseminated by the national employer no13 tification service, if that inaccurate infor14 mation is preventing the employee from 

15 performing safety-sensitive functions; and 

16 (iii) request that the Secretary— 

17 (I) remove information retained 

18 by the national employer notification 

19 service relating to a traffic citation or 

20 arrest if the traffic citation or arrest 

21 did not result in a conviction; and 

22 (II) notify the employer of the 

23 employee of the removal of that infor24 mation. 


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1 (D) TREATMENT.—The implementation of 

2 the national employer notification service in a 

3 State shall be considered to be an eligible activ4 ity for a State commercial driver’s license pro5 gram implementation grant award under sec6 tion 31313(a)(2) of title 49, United States 

7 Code. 

8 (c) STATE IMPLEMENTATION.— 

9 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—Each State and em10 ployer described in subsection (b)(3)(A) shall begin 

11 use of the national employer notification service by 

12 not later than 2 years after the date on which the 

13 Secretary establishes the national employer notifica14 tion service pursuant to the final rule under sub15 section (b)(1). 

16 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—Beginning not later than 

17 2 years after the date on which the Secretary estab18 lishes the national employment notification service 

19 pursuant to the final rule under subsection (b)(1), 

20 the Secretary shall ensure that the national em21 ployer notification service is included as part of the 

22 requirements and standards of the commercial driver 

23 license program, including the consequences of State 

24 noncompliance, under part 384 of title 49, Code of 

25 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations). 


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1 (3) ANNUAL INQUIRY EXEMPTION.—In accord2 ance with the regulatory guidance issued by the Fed3 eral Motor Carrier Safety Administration entitled 

4 ‘‘Driver Qualifications; Regulatory Guidance Con5 cerning the Use of Computerized Employer Notifica6 tion Systems for the Annual Inquiry and Review of 

7 Driving Records’’ (80 Fed. Reg. 13069 (March 12, 

8 2015)), the Secretary shall ensure that an employer 

9 participating in the national employer notification 

10 service is exempt from the requirements for annual 

11 inquiry and review of driving record pursuant to sec12 tion 391.25 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations 

13 (or successor regulations). 

14 (d) APPLICABILITY TO SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DIS15 TRICTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section, 

17 a school district, local educational agency, or school 

18 shall be considered to be an ‘‘employer’’ for purposes 

19 of the national employer notification service if the 

20 school district, local educational agency, or school 

21 organizes, sponsors, or pays for the transportation 

22 of preprimary, primary, or secondary students to or 

23 from school or on extracurricular trips. 

24 (2) TREATMENT OF PRIVATE ENTITY.—For 

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1 trict, local educational agency, or school that con2 tracts with a private entity to provide transportation 

3 services for students traveling to or from school or 

4 on an extracurricular trip, the private entity and the 

5 school district, local educational agency, or school 

6 shall be considered to be an ‘‘employer’’. 

Æ 


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