I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4167 

To authorize appropriations for the motor vehicle safety and information 

and cost savings programs of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for fiscal years 2005 through 2007, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2004 

Mr. STEARNS (by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize appropriations for the motor vehicle safety and 

information and cost savings programs of the National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration for fiscal years 

2005 through 2007, 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 TITLE I—MOTOR VEHICLE 

4 SAFETY 

5 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

7 amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘§ 30104. Authorization of Appropriations 

2 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec3 retary of Transportation $125,221,000 for the National 

4 Highway Traffic Safety Administration to carry out this 

5 part for fiscal year 2005, and such sums as may be nec6 essary for fiscal years 2006 and 2007.’’. 

7 SEC. 102. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 301 of 

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

10 end the following: 

11 ‘‘§ 30106. International Cooperation 

12 ‘‘The Secretary of Transportation may participate 

13 and cooperate in international activities to enhance motor 

14 vehicle and traffic safety through such means as exchang15 ing information, conducting safety research, examining 

16 safety needs, best practices, new technology, and improve17 ments in motor vehicle safety standards, and participating 

18 in the implementation of existing international agreements 

19 concerning motor vehicle safety to which the United States 

20 is a contracting partner.’’. 

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

22 for subchapter I of chapter 301 of title 49, United States 

23 Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 item: 

‘‘30106. International cooperation.’’. 
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1 SEC. 103. CERTIFICATION LABELS. 

2 Section 30115(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

3 amended by inserting at the end the following: ‘‘A person 

4 shall not affix a certification label to a motor vehicle or 

5 item of motor vehicle equipment unless the person has ei6 ther performed tests or otherwise documented the basis 

7 for certifying compliance with all applicable safety stand8 ards prescribed under this chapter, except that, in affixing 

9 the certification label or tag, a manufacturer that com10 pletes a vehicle after receiving compliance documentation 

11 from the manufacturer of the earlier stage of the vehicle 

12 may rely on such documentation in accordance with the 

13 regulations issued by the Secretary.’’. 

14 SEC. 104. NOTIFICATION OF NONCOMPLIANCE. 

15 Section 30118 of title 49, United States Code is 

16 amended in subsections (a), (b), and (c) by striking 

17 ‘‘motor vehicle or replacement equipment’’ each place it 

18 appears and inserting ‘‘motor vehicle, original equipment, 

19 or replacement equipment’’. 

20 SEC. 105. NOTIFICATION OF AND REMEDIES FOR NON21 COMPLIANCE. 

22 Section 30120 of title 49, United States Code, is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

25 MOTOR VEHICLES.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) A dealer may not sell a used motor vehicle 

2 for purposes other than resale or lease a used motor 

3 vehicle until the dealer informs the purchaser or les4 see of any notification of a defect or noncompliance 

5 pursuant to section 30118(b) or (c) of this title with 

6 respect to a vehicle that has not been remedied, and 

7 either— 

8 ‘‘(A) offers to have the defects or non9 compliances remedied; or 

10 ‘‘(B) gives the purchaser or lessee a writ11 ten description of the defects or noncompli12 ances, including all relevant information from 

13 any notification pursuant to section 30118(b) 

14 or (c) of this title, and 

15 reviews a written acknowledgment of the offer or de16 scription from the purchaser or lessee. 

17 ‘‘(2) The requirements of paragraph (1) of this 

18 subsection shall apply after a period of time fol19 lowing issuance of notifications that the Secretary 

20 shall specify. The Secretary may extend this period 

21 with respect to particular notifications. 

22 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, notwithstanding section 

23 30102(a)(1) of this title— 

24 ‘‘(A) ‘dealer’ means a person who sold at 

25 least 10 motor vehicles during the prior 12 
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1 months to purchasers that in good faith pur2 chased the vehicles other than for resale; and 

3 ‘‘(B) ‘used motor vehicle’ means a motor 

4 vehicle that has previously been purchased 

5 other than for resale. 

6 ‘‘(4) Subject to regulations issued by the Sec7 retary, a manufacturer of a motor vehicle shall es8 tablish and maintain an Internet-accessible record 

9 system that dealers of used motor vehicles and mem10 bers of the public may access, without charge, to de11 termine whether a particular vehicle manufactured 

12 by the manufacturer has been subject to any notifi13 cation of a defect or noncompliance pursuant to sec14 tion 30118(b) or (c) of this title that has not been 

15 remedied. If the Secretary determines that estab16 lishing and maintaining such an Internet-accessible 

17 record system is not practicable for certain classes 

18 of manufacturers, the Secretary may exempt such 

19 manufacturers from the requirements of this para20 graph. 

21 ‘‘(l) LIMITATION ON OPERATION BY OWNERS AND

22 LESSORS OF SCHOOL BUSES AND VEHICLES USED TO

23 TRANSPORT PASSENGERS FOR COMPENSATION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a per25 son who owns or leases a school bus or a motor vehi-
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1 cle used to transport passengers for compensation 

2 and who receives a notice of a defect or noncompli3 ance pursuant to section 30118(b) or (c) of this title 

4 may not operate the vehicle to which the notice ap5 plies as a school bus or for compensation until the 

6 defect or noncompliance is remedied as required by 

7 this section. 

8 ‘‘(2) The requirements of paragraph (1) shall 

9 apply after a period of time following issuance of 

10 such notifications that the Secretary shall specify. 

11 The Secretary may extend this period with respect 

12 to particular notifications. 

13 ‘‘(3) This subsection shall not apply to taxicabs, 

14 or to motor vehicles owned or operated by State or 

15 local governments.’’. 

16 SEC. 106. NONUSE OF SAFETY BELT INTERLOCKS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30124 of title 49 United 

18 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘§ 30124. Nonuse of safety belt interlocks 

20 ‘‘A motor vehicle safety standard prescribed under 

21 this chapter may not require or allow a manufacturer to 

22 comply with the standard by using a safety belt interlock 

23 designed to prevent starting or operating a motor vehicle 

24 if an occupant is not using a safety belt.’’. 
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, United States 

3 Code is amended by amending the item related to section 

4 30124 to read as follows: 

‘‘30124. Nonuse of safety belt interlocks.’’. 

5 SEC. 107. RESEARCH, TESTING, DEVELOPMENT, AND TRAIN6 ING. 

7 Section 30168 of title 49, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(f) SAFETY INITIATIVE FOR ALTERNATE FUEL VE10 HICLES.—In addition to the authority provided under this 

11 section, the Secretary is authorized to expend $5,000,000 

12 per year to conduct a safety research initiative for alter13 nate fuel vehicles that includes risk assessment studies of 

14 hydrogen-fueled and other alternative-fuel vehicles, the de15 velopment of test and evaluation procedures and perform16 ance criteria to assess the likelihood of potential failures 

17 that could indicate unsafe conditions, and the development 

18 of suitable countermeasures. In particular, such research 

19 initiative shall investigate the safety of the power train, 

20 the vehicle fuel container and delivery system, the onboard 

21 refueling system, and the full vehicle system performance 

22 of alternate fuel vehicles. 

23 ‘‘(g) SAFETY INITIATIVE FOR DRIVER ASSISTANCE

24 TECHNOLOGIES.—In addition to the authority provided 

25 under this section, the Secretary is authorized to expend 
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1 $10,000,000 per year to conduct research into vehicle2 based driver assistance technologies, and to develop appro3 priate performance standards and consumer education 

4 programs, to ensure that appropriate safety benefits are 

5 derived from these technologies. Such research shall in6 clude evaluations of crash avoidance technologies, such as 

7 electronic stability control, telematics, radar braking and 

8 other similar vehicle advances.’’. 

9 TITLE II—MOTOR VEHICLE IN10 FORMATION AND COST SAV11 INGS 

12 SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 Section 32102 of title 49, United States Code, is 

14 amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘§ 32102. Authorization of appropriations 

16 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec17 retary of Transportation $14,080,000 for the National 

18 Highway Traffic Safety Administration to carry out this 

19 part in fiscal year 2005, and such sums as may be nec20 essary in fiscal years 2006 and 2007.’’. 

21 SEC. 202. PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT. 

22 Section 32709(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code, 

23 is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘$2,000’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘$5,000’’; and 
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘$1,000,000’’. 

3 SEC. 203. CIVIL ACTIONS BY PRIVATE PERSON. 

4 Section 32710(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘$1,500’’ and inserting ‘‘$10,000’’. 

6 SEC. 204. DEFINITIONS. 

7 (a) CRASH AVOIDANCE.—Section 32301 of title 49, 

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

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(3) ‘crash avoidance’ means preventing a 

11 motor vehicle accident.’’. 

12 (b) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE INFORMATION.— 

13 Section 32302 of title 49, United States Code, is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

17 crash avoidance’’ after ‘‘crashworthiness’’; and 

18 (B) by striking paragraph (4); and 

19 (2) by striking subsection (c). 

20 SEC. 205. REPEALS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Sections 32303 and 33112 of title 

22 49, United States Code, are repealed. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 
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1 (1) The table of sections for chapter 323 of title 

2 49, United States Code is amended by striking the 

3 item related to section 32303. 

4 (2) The table of sections for chapter 331 of title 

5 49, United States Code is amended by striking the 

6 item related to section 33112. 

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