II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 617 

To ensure that owners of all motor vehicles in use on United States roadways 

are made aware of, and obtain repairs for, manufacturer-issued safety 

recalls in a timely manner. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2015 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following 

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

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To ensure that owners of all motor vehicles in use on United 

States roadways are made aware of, and obtain repairs 

for, manufacturer-issued safety recalls in a timely manner. 

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 ‘‘Repairing Every Car 

5 to Avoid Lost Lives Act’’ or the ‘‘RECALL Act’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 617 IS

1 SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE WITH SAFETY RECALLS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 301 of 

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

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 30129. Compliance with safety recalls 

6 ‘‘(a) PROMPT NOTIFICATION OF AUTOMOBILE SAFE7 TY RECALLS.—A State is in compliance with this sub8 section if the agency responsible for motor vehicle registra9 tion in such State ensures, by searching the recall data10 base maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety 

11 Administration, using the motor vehicle identification 

12 number, that each registered owner of a motor vehicle reg13 istered in such State is notified of all safety recalls issued 

14 by the manufacturer of the vehicle— 

15 ‘‘(1) in any case other than a case described in 

16 paragraph (2), not later than the date on which the 

17 agency responsible for motor vehicle registration in 

18 such State notifies such registered owner of the need 

19 to renew the registered owner’s motor vehicle reg20 istration; or 

21 ‘‘(2) in a case in which the motor vehicle owner 

22 is applying, for the first time, to register a vehicle 

23 in the State or in a case in which a safety recall oc24 curs after the date on which the registration renewal 

25 notice is sent to the owner and before the State 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 617 IS

1 grants the renewal, not later than the date on which 

2 the motor vehicle registration is completed. 

3 ‘‘(b) SAFETY RECALL REMEDIES TO BE COMPLETED

4 BEFORE MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION RENEWALS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), a State is in compliance with this sub7 section if the State requires, as a prerequisite for 

8 motor vehicle registration renewal, that all motor ve9 hicle owners complete all applicable safety recalls. 

10 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—A State shall be in compli11 ance with this subsection if the State exempts a 

12 motor vehicle owner from the requirement described 

13 in paragraph (1) in the following cases: 

14 ‘‘(A) The motor vehicle owner had not 

15 been notified of the safety recall on or before 

16 the date on which the owner was notified of the 

17 need to renew the motor vehicle registration. 

18 ‘‘(B) The manufacturer, through a local 

19 dealership, has not provided the motor vehicle 

20 owner with a reasonable opportunity to com21 plete any applicable safety recall remedy due to 

22 a shortage of a necessary part or qualified 

23 labor. 

24 ‘‘(C) The motor vehicle owner dem25 onstrates to the State that the owner has had 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 617 IS

1 no reasonable opportunity to complete all appli2 cable safety recall remedies, in which case the 

3 State may grant a temporary registration, of up 

4 to 60 days, during which time the motor vehicle 

5 owner shall complete all applicable safety recall 

6 remedies. 

7 ‘‘(c) WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS FOR NONCOMPLI8 ANCE.—On the first day of each fiscal year beginning at 

9 least 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, 

10 the Secretary of Transportation shall withhold, from each 

11 State that is not in compliance with subsections (a) and 

12 (b), 5 percent of the amount otherwise required to be ap13 portioned to such State under paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

14 section 104(b) of title 23 for the purposes specified in such 

15 paragraphs.’’. 

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

17 for chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, is amend18 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 30128 

19 the following: 

‘‘30129. Compliance with safety recalls.’’. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS