I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7496 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to improve responses to emergencies, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 29, 2024 
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota (for himself and Mr. COSTA) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to improve responses 
to emergencies, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing Oper-
ations for Vehicles in Emergencies Act’’ or the ‘‘MOVE 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. MODERNIZING AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN VEHICLE 
PERMITS DURING EMERGENCIES AND CER-
TAIN OTHER CONDITIONS. 
Section 127(i) of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) SPECIAL PERMITS DURING EMERGENCIES AND 
CERTAIN OTHER CONDITIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this section, a State may issue special 
permits to overweight vehicles and loads that can 
easily be dismantled or divided if the conditions of 
either paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) are met. 
‘‘(2) PRESIDENTIAL DECLARATION.—The con-
ditions of this paragraph are— 
‘‘(A) the President has declared an emer-
gency or a major disaster pursuant to section 
401 or 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5170; 5191); 
‘‘(B) the permits described in paragraph 
(1) are issued in accordance with State law; 
‘‘(C) the permits are issued exclusively to 
vehicles and loads that are delivering relief sup-
plies or supplies that facilitate recovery or re-
turn to normalcy; and 
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‘‘(D) a permit shall expire not later than 
120 days after the date of the declaration de-
scribed in subparagraph (A), unless the permit 
expiration date is extended by the Governor of 
the State issuing such permit. 
‘‘(3) GOVERNOR
DECLARATION.—The condi-
tions of this paragraph are the following: 
‘‘(A) A Governor of a State has declared 
that— 
‘‘(i) emergency or other unusual con-
ditions, including weather, fire, earth-
quake, disease, or natural emergencies and 
including financial or other non-natural 
emergencies, are having a negative impact 
on commerce in the State; or 
‘‘(ii) supply chain function is substan-
tially impaired in the State, either in terms 
of slow overall movement, freight traffic 
congestion, or otherwise. 
‘‘(B) The permits described in paragraph 
(1) are issued in accordance with State law. 
‘‘(C) The authority to issue a permit de-
scribed in paragraph (1) shall expire 270 days 
after a Governor makes a declaration pursuant 
to subparagraph (A), unless the expiration date 
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is extended by the Governor, which may be for 
a period of not more than 90 days. 
‘‘(D) A permit issued pursuant to this 
paragraph shall expire on the date on which the 
period of authority to issue a permit under sub-
paragraph (C) ends, including any extension of 
such period of authority.’’. 
Æ 
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