I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5654 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for increased and improved 

public access to motor vehicle safety information, enhanced tools and 

accountability for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 

and protection of motor vehicle consumers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. RUSH, and Mr. TONKO) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for increased and improved public access to motor vehicle safety information, enhanced tools and accountability for the 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and 

protection of motor vehicle consumers, 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 ‘‘Vehicle Safety Improvement Act of 2014’’. 


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

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definition of Secretary. 

TITLE I—INCREASED AND IMPROVED PUBLIC ACCESS TO 

INFORMATION 

Sec. 101. Increased public availability of vehicle safety information. 

Sec. 102. Improved vehicle safety databases. 

TITLE II—ENHANCED AGENCY TOOLS AND ACCOUNTABILITY 

Sec. 201. Civil penalties. 

Sec. 202. Early warning reporting requirements. 

Sec. 203. Administrative accountability. 

Sec. 204. Imminent hazard authority. 

Sec. 205. Cooperation with foreign governments. 

Sec. 206. Pedestrian safety improvement. 

Sec. 207. Regional recalls limitation. 

TITLE III—CONSUMER PROTECTION 

Sec. 301. Limitation on sale or lease of used motor vehicles. 

Sec. 302. Retention of safety records by manufacturers. 

Sec. 303. Recall obligations under bankruptcy. 

TITLE IV—ADDITIONAL PROVISION 

Sec. 401. Deadlines. 

3 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

4 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec5 retary of Transportation, acting through the Adminis6 trator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra7 tion. 

8 TITLE I—INCREASED AND IM9 PROVED PUBLIC ACCESS TO 

10 INFORMATION 

11 SEC. 101. INCREASED PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF VEHICLE 

12 SAFETY INFORMATION. 

13 (a) MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 30166(f) of title 49, 

2 United States Code, is amended— 

3 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

4 paragraph (3); 

5 (B) by striking paragraph (1) and insert6 ing the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (4) 

8 and notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 

9 manufacturer shall give the Secretary of Transpor10 tation, and the Secretary shall make available on a 

11 publicly accessible Internet website, a true or rep12 resentative copy of each communication to the man13 ufacturer’s dealers or to owners or purchasers of a 

14 motor vehicle or replacement equipment produced by 

15 the manufacturer regarding— 

16 ‘‘(A) any defect in its vehicles or equip17 ment (including any failure or malfunction be18 yond normal deterioration in use, or any failure 

19 of performance, or any flaw or unintended devi20 ation from design specifications), whether or 

21 not such defect is safety-related; or 

22 ‘‘(B) any noncompliance with a motor vehi23 cle safety standard prescribed under this chap24 ter in a vehicle or equipment that is sold or 

25 serviced. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TYPES OF COMMUNICATIONS.—The com2 munications described in paragraph (1) shall in3 clude— 

4 ‘‘(A) all notices, bulletins, and other com5 munications, other than those required to be 

6 submitted pursuant to paragraph (c)(10) of sec7 tion 573.6 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula8 tions, sent to more than one manufacturer, dis9 tributor, dealer, lessor, lessee, owner, or pur10 chaser, in the United States; and 

11 ‘‘(B) those communications relating to a 

12 customer satisfaction campaign, consumer advi13 sory, recall, or other safety activity involving 

14 the repair or replacement of motor vehicles or 

15 equipment, that the manufacturer issued to, or 

16 made available to, more than one dealer, dis17 tributor, lessor, lessee, other manufacturer, 

18 owner, or purchaser, in the United States.’’; 

19 and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

22 (1), the Secretary shall not be required to make cop23 ies of communications available that are manifestly 

24 not related to motor vehicle safety.’’. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

2 by paragraph (1) shall apply to communications 

3 given to the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1) of 

4 section 30166(f) of title 49, United States Code, as 

5 amended by such paragraph, starting 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 (b) EARLY WARNING DATA.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 30166(m)(4) of title 

9 49, United States Code, is amended by striking sub10 paragraph (C) and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(C) DISCLOSURE.—The information pro12 vided to the Secretary pursuant to this sub13 section shall be disclosed publicly unless exempt 

14 from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 

15 5.’’. 

16 (2) RULE.—Not later than 2 years after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

18 issue a final rule establishing categories of informa19 tion provided to the Secretary pursuant to section 

20 30166(m) of title 49, United States Code, that must 

21 be made available to the public. The Secretary may 

22 establish categories of information that the Sec23 retary determines are exempt from public disclosure 

24 under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. 


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1 (3) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the rule2 making required under paragraph (2), the Secretary 

3 shall consult with the Director of the Office of Gov4 ernment Information Services within the National 

5 Archives and the Director of the Office of Informa6 tion Policy of the Department of Justice. 

7 (4) PRESUMPTION AND LIMITATION.—The Sec8 retary shall issue the regulations with a presumption 

9 in favor of maximum public availability of informa10 tion, including information contained in field reports 

11 submitted to the Secretary. In issuing regulations 

12 under paragraph (2), the following types of informa13 tion shall presumptively not be eligible for protection 

14 under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code: 

15 (A) Vehicle safety defect or noncompliance 

16 information related to an incident or incidents 

17 involving death or injury. 

18 (B) Aggregated numbers of property dam19 age claims. 

20 (C) Aggregated numbers of consumer com21 plaints related to potential vehicle defects. 

22 (5) NULLIFICATION OF PRIOR REGULATIONS.— 

23 Upon the effective date of a final rule issued under 

24 paragraph (2), the regulations establishing early 

25 warning reporting class determinations in Appendix 


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1 C of part 512 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula2 tions, shall have no force or effect. 

3 (c) DEATH INQUIRIES.—Not later than 1 year after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 6 months 

5 thereafter, the Secretary shall compile, and make available 

6 on a publicly accessible Internet website for a period of 

7 not less than 10 years, summaries of written communica8 tions sent by the Secretary to a manufacturer during the 

9 preceding 6-month period requesting additional informa10 tion about fatal incidents reported under section 

11 30166(m) of such title. Each such summary shall include, 

12 at a minimum, the following: 

13 (1) The manufacturer. 

14 (2) Any vehicle or equipment make, model 

15 name, and model year about which the Secretary has 

16 inquired. 

17 (3) Any vehicle system or component about 

18 which the Secretary has inquired. 

19 (4) The date of the written communication and 

20 the date by which a response must be submitted by 

21 the manufacturer. 

22 (5) The number of incidents about which the 

23 Secretary has inquired, and the earliest and latest 

24 quarters during which such incidents were reported 

25 to the Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 102. IMPROVED VEHICLE SAFETY DATABASES. 

2 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Secretary shall increase public accessibility 

4 to information on the National Highway Traffic Safety 

5 Administration’s vehicle safety databases by— 

6 (1) improving organization and functionality, 

7 including modern web design features, and allowing 

8 for data to be searched, aggregated, and download9 ed; 

10 (2) providing greater consistency in presen11 tation of vehicle safety issues; 

12 (3) improving searchability about specific vehi13 cles and issues through standardization of commonly 

14 used search terms and the integration of databases 

15 to enable all to be simultaneously searched using the 

16 same keyword search function; and 

17 (4) improving the publicly accessible early 

18 warning database, by— 

19 (A) enabling users to search for incidents 

20 across multiple reporting periods for a given 

21 make and model name, model year, or type of 

22 potential defect; 

23 (B) ensuring that search results, in addi24 tion to being downloadable, are sortable within 

25 an Internet browser by make, model name, 

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1 dent, number of deaths, number of injuries, 

2 date of the incident, and type of potential de3 fect; and 

4 (C) developing a clear, organized, and 

5 searchable method by which the public can ac6 cess information made available by the Sec7 retary that is reported under clause (ii) of sec8 tion 30166(m)(3)(C) of title 49, United States 

9 Code, as amended by this Act. 

10 TITLE II—ENHANCED AGENCY 

11 TOOLS AND ACCOUNTABILITY 

12 SEC. 201. CIVIL PENALTIES. 

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

14 States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

16 (A) in the first sentence by striking 

17 ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

18 (B) by striking the third sentence; and 

19 (2) in subsection (a)(3)— 

20 (A) in the second sentence by striking 

21 ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

22 (B) by striking the third sentence. 

23 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the amendments 

24 made by this section shall be construed as preventing the 

25 imposition of penalties under section 30165 of title 49, 


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1 United States Code, prior to the issuance of a final rule 

2 under section 31203(b) of the Moving Ahead for Progress 

3 in the 21st Century Act (49 U.S.C. 30165 note). 

4 SEC. 202. EARLY WARNING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30166(m) of title 49, 

6 United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking clause (ii) 

8 and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(ii) customer satisfaction campaigns, 

10 customer advisories, recalls, consumer 

11 complaints, warranty claims, field reports, 

12 or other activity involving the repair or re13 placement of motor vehicles or motor vehi14 cle equipment.’’; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking subparagraph 

16 (B) and redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) 

17 as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively. 

18 (b) INFORMATION ON FATAL INCIDENTS.—Section 

19 30166(m)(3)(C) of title 49, United States Code, is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘The manufacturer’’ and insert22 ing the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The manufac24 turer’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(ii) FATAL INCIDENTS.—If an inci2 dent described in clause (i) involves one or 

3 more deaths, the manufacturer shall report 

4 to the Secretary, in such manner as the 

5 Secretary establishes by regulation— 

6 ‘‘(I) all initial claims or notice 

7 documents that notified the manufac8 turer of the incident; 

9 ‘‘(II) all investigative documents 

10 prepared by any local, State, or Fed11 eral government agency or personnel 

12 related to the incident, including pho13 tographs, police reports, cause and or14 igin reports, or other documents de15 scribing or reconstructing the inci16 dent; 

17 ‘‘(III) any amendments or sup18 plements to the documents described 

19 in subclause (I), except for— 

20 ‘‘(aa) medical documents 

21 and bills; 

22 ‘‘(bb) property damage in23 voices or estimates; and 

24 ‘‘(cc) documents related to 

25 quantification of damages; and 


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1 ‘‘(IV) the manufacturer’s assess2 ment of the circumstances that led to 

3 the incident, including the manufac4 turer’s analysis of the claims or no5 tices regarding allegations of a defect. 

6 ‘‘(iii) LIMITATION.—The regulations 

7 promulgated by the Secretary under clause 

8 (ii) may not require a manufacturer to 

9 submit records respecting information de10 scribed in subclause (II) of such clause 

11 that is not in the possession of the manu12 facturer.’’. 

13 (c) COMPONENT CATEGORIES.— 

14 (1) COMMENCEMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec16 retary shall commence a rulemaking proceeding to 

17 amend the system and component categories re18 quired to be used in early warning reports on light 

19 vehicles submitted pursuant to section 579.21 of 

20 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. In issuing 

21 rules under this subsection, the Secretary shall, to 

22 the extent each may assist in the identification of 

23 defects related to motor vehicle safety, maximize— 

24 (A) interoperability between the early 

25 warning reporting database and the publicly 


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1 available consumer complaint database, by en2 suring that the amended set of categories estab3 lished by rule are the same as those available 

4 to vehicle owners or lessees reporting safety 

5 issues to the publicly available consumer com6 plaint database; 

7 (B) precision, including by dividing cat8 egories that are imprecise and adding new cat9 egories that identify specific vehicle equipment 

10 not previously represented; and 

11 (C) organization and ease of use, including 

12 by housing categories pertaining to specific 

13 items of equipment within more general vehicle 

14 safety categories and operating systems. 

15 (2) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 3 years after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

17 shall issue a final rule pursuant to paragraph (1). 

18 (d) STANDARDIZATION OF MANUFACTURER REPORT19 ING PRACTICES.— 

20 (1) REVIEW.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary shall complete a comprehensive review of 

24 individual light vehicle manufacturers’ practices 

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1 ing death or injury pursuant to section 579.21 

2 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. 

3 (B) COMPONENTS.—The review conducted 

4 under subparagraph (A) shall— 

5 (i) identify the major differences 

6 among such manufacturers’ reporting 

7 practices; 

8 (ii) identify the extent to which such 

9 manufacturers report precisely the infor10 mation required under subsection (b) of 

11 section 579.21 of title 49, Code of Federal 

12 Regulations, or, alternatively, report addi13 tional information under such subsection; 

14 (iii) identify the types and sources of 

15 additional information, as described in 

16 clause (ii), that manufacturers report to 

17 the Secretary; 

18 (iv) assess and explain the extent to 

19 which differing reporting practices hinder 

20 the ability of the National Highway Traffic 

21 Safety Administration to compare a manu22 facturer’s data for vehicles or equipment to 

23 the data of another manufacturer’s vehi24 cles or equipment, all peer vehicles or 

25 equipment, or the entire United States 


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1 population of vehicles or equipment, or to 

2 data on vehicles or equipment submitted to 

3 the Secretary by a vehicle owner or lessee; 

4 and 

5 (v) determine, based on findings 

6 under clause (iv), whether differences 

7 among individual light vehicle manufactur8 ers’ practices for reporting to the Sec9 retary incidents involving death or injury 

10 pursuant to section 579.21 of title 49, 

11 Code of Federal Regulations, are detri12 mental to the identification of defects re13 lated to motor vehicle safety in motor vehi14 cles and motor vehicle equipment in the 

15 United States. 

16 (2) GUIDELINES.—If the Secretary makes an 

17 affirmative determination under clause (v) of para18 graph (1)(B), the Secretary may issue guidelines for 

19 the standardization of reporting practices described 

20 in such clause. 

21 (e) REPORT ON MANUFACTURER COMPLIANCE WITH

22 EARLY WARNING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not 

23 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

24 the Inspector General of the Department of Transpor25 tation shall— 


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1 (1) review the National Highway Traffic Safety 

2 Administration’s policies, procedures, and practices 

3 intended to ensure that manufacturers subject to the 

4 early warning reporting requirements of section 

5 30166(m) of title 49, United States Code, and sub6 part C of part 579 of title 49, Code of Federal Reg7 ulations, submit all required information in full and 

8 without delay; 

9 (2) assess the extent to which key agency and 

10 manufacturer employees are aware of and under11 stand such policies, procedures, and practices; 

12 (3) assess the extent to which manufacturers 

13 submit all required information in full and without 

14 delay; and 

15 (4) submit a report to the Committee on En16 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

17 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

18 Transportation of the Senate that contains the In19 spector General’s findings, conclusions, and rec20 ommendations for formalizing or strengthening 

21 agency policies, procedures, and practices in order to 

22 ensure timely and complete reporting of early warn23 ing data. 


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1 SEC. 203. ADMINISTRATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY. 

2 (a) PETITIONS FOR STANDARDS AND ENFORCE3 MENT.— 

4 (1) MISSED DEADLINES.—Section 30162(d) of 

5 title 49, United States Code, is amended by insert6 ing at the end the following: ‘‘If the Secretary fails 

7 to grant or deny a petition within the 120-day pe8 riod, the Secretary shall promptly publish in the 

9 Federal Register an explanation for missing the 

10 deadline and a projected date by which the Secretary 

11 will decide whether to grant the petition. On Feb12 ruary 1 and August 1 of each year, the Secretary 

13 shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Com14 merce of the House of Representatives and the Com15 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

16 the Senate a letter listing each deadline the Sec17 retary missed under this subsection during the 6- 

18 month period ending on such date, explaining why 

19 the Secretary missed the deadline, and describing 

20 any investigations, proceedings, or actions related to 

21 the relevant petition that the Secretary has con22 ducted or taken since the petition was filed.’’. 

23 (2) APPEAL OF DEFECT PETITION REJEC24 TION.—Section 30162 of title 49, United States 

25 Code, is further amended by adding at the end the 

26 following: 


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

2 to deny a petition filed under subsection (a)(2) is agency 

3 action subject to judicial review under chapter 7 of title 

4 5, and such action shall not be considered committed to 

5 agency discretion within the meaning of section 701(a)(2) 

6 of such title. A person aggrieved by the denial of a petition 

7 may obtain judicial review by filing an action in the court 

8 of appeals of the United States for the circuit in which 

9 the person resides or has its principal place of business 

10 or the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 

11 Columbia Circuit not more than 180 days after notice of 

12 the denial of the petition is published in the Federal Reg13 ister.’’. 

14 (b) INFORMATION PROVIDED BY WHISTLE15 BLOWERS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 

17 301 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

18 adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘§ 30172. Review of information provided by employ20 ees 

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF COVERED PERSON.—In this 

22 section, the term ‘covered person’ means an employee of 

23 a manufacturer, distributor, part supplier, or dealer (or 

24 any person acting pursuant to a request of the employee 

25 or to the extent such person is engaged in collecting and 


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1 analyzing information provided by one or more such em2 ployees) who, in good faith, provides information to the 

3 Secretary indicating— 

4 ‘‘(1) the existence of a possible safety-related 

5 defect or noncompliance with a motor vehicle safety 

6 standard; or 

7 ‘‘(2) a violation of this chapter or a regulation 

8 prescribed or order issued under this chapter. 

9 ‘‘(b) REVIEW AND EVALUATION.—Upon receipt of 

10 motor vehicle safety information from a covered person, 

11 the Secretary shall review and evaluate the information 

12 promptly to determine whether a safety-related defect or 

13 noncompliance, or a violation of this chapter or a regula14 tion prescribed or order issued under this chapter, exists. 

15 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary shall not trans16 mit or otherwise disclose any information received from 

17 a covered person to a manufacturer, distributor, part sup18 plier, or dealer, except pursuant to a written request by, 

19 or with the prior written consent of, the covered person.’’. 

20 (2) REPORT.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

22 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

23 and biennially thereafter for 6 years, the Sec24 retary shall complete a report on the activities 

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1 istration under section 30172 of title 49, 

2 United States Code, as added by paragraph (1), 

3 and, upon completion, shall— 

4 (i) submit the report to the Com5 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the 

6 House of Representatives and the Com7 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Trans8 portation of the Senate; and 

9 (ii) publish the report in an easily ac10 cessible and downloadable electronic for11 mat. 

12 (B) CONTENTS.—Such report shall in13 clude— 

14 (i) a summary of submissions by cov15 ered persons (as defined in such section) to 

16 the Secretary in the 24 months preceding 

17 the submission of the report, consisting 

18 of— 

19 (I) the total number of such sub20 missions and the number within this 

21 total which were submitted directly by 

22 an employee described in subsection 

23 (a) of such section; and 

24 (II) the number of submissions 

25 pertaining to a possible safety-related 


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1 defect or noncompliance and the num2 ber of submissions pertaining to a vio3 lation of chapter 301 of title 49, 

4 United States Code, or a regulation 

5 prescribed or order issued under such 

6 chapter; and 

7 (ii) a summary of actions taken and 

8 proceedings, investigations, or research 

9 conducted by the Secretary in the 24 

10 months preceding the submission of the re11 port resulting from submissions by covered 

12 persons (as defined in such section). 

13 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

14 sections for chapter 301 of title 49, United States 

15 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating 

16 to section 30171 the following: 

‘‘30172. Review of information provided by employees.’’. 

17 SEC. 204. IMMINENT HAZARD AUTHORITY. 

18 Section 30118 of title 49, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1) The 

22 Secretary may’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) IN GEN23 ERAL.—Except as provided under paragraph 

24 (3), the Secretary may’’. 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘OR2 DERS.—’’ before ‘‘If the Secretary’’; and 

3 (C) by adding after paragraph (2) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(3) IMMINENT HAZARDS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) DECISIONS AND ORDERS.—If the 

7 Secretary decides that a defect or noncompli8 ance, or combination of both, under subsection 

9 (a) presents an imminent hazard, the Sec10 retary— 

11 ‘‘(i) shall notify the manufacturer of 

12 the motor vehicle or replacement equip13 ment immediately under subsection (a); 

14 ‘‘(ii) shall order the manufacturer of 

15 the motor vehicle or replacement equip16 ment to immediately— 

17 ‘‘(I) give notification under sec18 tion 30119 of this title to the owners, 

19 purchasers, and dealers of the vehicle 

20 or equipment of the imminent hazard; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(II) remedy the defect or non23 compliance under section 30120 of 

24 this title; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) notwithstanding section 30119 

2 or 30120, may order the time for notifica3 tion, means of providing notification, ear4 liest remedy date, and time the owner or 

5 purchaser has to present the motor vehicle 

6 or equipment, including a tire, for remedy; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(iv) may include in an order under 

9 this subparagraph any other terms or con10 ditions that the Secretary determines nec11 essary to abate the imminent hazard. 

12 ‘‘(B) OPPORTUNITY FOR ADMINISTRATIVE

13 REVIEW.—Subsequent to the issuance of an 

14 order under subparagraph (A), opportunity for 

15 administrative review shall be provided in ac16 cordance with section 554 of title 5, except that 

17 such review shall occur not later than 10 days 

18 after issuance of such order. 

19 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION OF IMMINENT HAZ20 ARD.—In this paragraph, the term ‘imminent 

21 hazard’ means any condition which substan22 tially increases the likelihood of serious injury 

23 or death if not remedied immediately.’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or electronic 

25 mail’’ after ‘‘certified mail’’. 


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1 SEC. 205. COOPERATION WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. 

2 Section 30182(b) of title 49, United States Code, is 

3 amended by inserting after paragraph (5) the following: 

4 ‘‘(6) enter into cooperative agreements (in co5 ordination with the Department of State) and col6 laborative research and development agreements 

7 with foreign governments.’’. 

8 SEC. 206. PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IMPROVEMENT. 

9 (a) RULE.—Not later than 2 years after the date of 

10 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a final 

11 rule that— 

12 (1) establishes standards for passenger motor 

13 vehicles in order to reduce the number of injuries 

14 and fatalities suffered by pedestrians and other non15 occupants who are struck by such vehicles; and 

16 (2) considers means for protecting especially 

17 vulnerable pedestrian and non-occupant populations, 

18 including children, older adults, and individuals with 

19 disabilities. 

20 (b) DEFINITION OF PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.— 

21 In this section, the term ‘‘passenger motor vehicle’’ means 

22 a motor vehicle (as defined in section 30102(a)(6) of title 

23 49, United States Code) that is rated at less than 10,000 

24 pounds gross vehicular weight. Such term does not in25 clude— 

26 (1) a motorcycle; 


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1 (2) a trailer; or 

2 (3) a low-speed vehicle (as defined in section 

3 571.3 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations). 

4 SEC. 207. REGIONAL RECALLS LIMITATION. 

5 Section 30118 of title 49, United States Code, is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new sub7 sections: 

8 ‘‘(f) LONG-TERM EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL

9 CONDITIONS.—If a manufacturer of a motor vehicle or re10 placement equipment learns the vehicle or equipment con11 tains a safety problem caused by long-term exposure to 

12 environmental conditions, the manufacturer shall give no13 tice under subsection (c) as if the manufacturer learned 

14 the vehicle or equipment contains a defect and decides in 

15 good faith that the defect is related to motor vehicle safe16 ty. 

17 ‘‘(g) NATIONAL ORDERS AND NOTIFICATIONS.—All 

18 orders under subsection (b)(2) and notifications under 

19 subsection (c) shall be carried out on a national basis and 

20 shall not be limited to vehicles or equipment in certain 

21 States or territories or other geographic regions of the 

22 United States.’’. 


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1 TITLE III—CONSUMER 

2 PROTECTION 

3 SEC. 301. LIMITATION ON SALE OR LEASE OF USED MOTOR 

4 VEHICLES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30120 of title 49, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(k) LIMITATION ON SALE OR LEASE OF USED

9 MOTOR VEHICLES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) A dealer may not sell or lease a used 

11 motor vehicle until— 

12 ‘‘(A) the dealer clearly and conspicuously 

13 notifies the purchaser or lessee, in writing, of 

14 any notifications of a defect or noncompliance 

15 under section 30118(b) or section 30118(c) of 

16 this title with respect to the used motor vehicle 

17 that have not been remedied; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the purchaser or lessee acknowledges, 

19 in writing, receipt of the notification from the 

20 dealer under subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply if— 

22 ‘‘(A) the defect or noncompliance is rem23 edied under section 30120 of this title before 

24 delivery under the sale or lease; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) notification of the defect or non2 compliance is required under section 30118(b), 

3 but enforcement of the order is set aside in a 

4 civil action to which 30121(d) applies. 

5 ‘‘(3) This subsection shall not apply to a dealer 

6 if the recall information regarding a used motor ve7 hicle was not accessible at the time of sale or lease 

8 using the means established by the Secretary under 

9 section 31301 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in 

10 the 21st Century Act (49 U.S.C. 30166 note), and 

11 was not otherwise known to and accessible to the 

12 dealer at such time. 

13 ‘‘(4) In this subsection, notwithstanding section 

14 30102(a)(1) of this title— 

15 ‘‘(A) the term ‘dealer’ means a person that 

16 has sold at least 10 motor vehicles to 1 or more 

17 consumers during the prior 12 months; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the term ‘used motor vehicle’ means 

19 a motor vehicle that has previously been pur20 chased other than for resale. 

21 ‘‘(5) By rule, the Secretary may exempt the 

22 auctioning of a used passenger motor vehicle to a 

23 dealer from the requirements of this section to the 

24 extent that the exemption does not harm public safe25 ty.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

2 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 302. RETENTION OF SAFETY RECORDS BY MANUFAC4 TURERS. 

5 (a) RULE.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a final 

7 rule pursuant to section 30117 of title 49, United States 

8 Code, requiring each manufacturer of motor vehicles or 

9 motor vehicle equipment to retain all motor vehicle safety 

10 records, including documents, reports, correspondence, or 

11 other materials that contain information concerning mal12 functions that may be related to motor vehicle safety (in13 cluding any failure or malfunction beyond normal deterio14 ration in use, or any failure of performance, or any flaw 

15 or unintended deviation from design specifications, that 

16 could in any reasonably foreseeable manner be a causative 

17 factor in, or aggravate, an accident or an injury to a per18 son), for a period of not less than 20 calendar years from 

19 the date on which they were generated or acquired by the 

20 manufacturer. Such requirement shall also apply to all un21 derlying records on which information reported to the Sec22 retary under part 579 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula23 tions, is based. 

24 (b) APPLICATION.—The rule required by subsection 

25 (a) shall apply with respect to any record described in such 


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1 subsection that is in the possession of a manufacturer on 

2 the effective date of such rule. 

3 SEC. 303. RECALL OBLIGATIONS UNDER BANKRUPTCY. 

4 Section 30120A of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘chapter 11 of title 11,’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘chapter 7 or chapter 11 of title 11’’. 

7 TITLE IV—ADDITIONAL 

8 PROVISION 

9 SEC. 401. DEADLINES. 

10 If the Secretary determines that a deadline under this 

11 Act, or an amendment made by this Act, cannot be met, 

12 the Secretary shall— 

13 (1) notify the Committee on Energy and Com14 merce of the House of Representatives and the Com15 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

16 the Senate and explain why that deadline cannot be 

17 met; and 

18 (2) establish a new deadline. 

Æ 


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