I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5736 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to revise regulations relating to 
child restraint systems, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 26, 2021 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself and Ms. PORTER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to revise regula-
tions relating to child restraint systems, 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 ‘‘Booster Seat Safety 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS. 
(a) CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM LABELING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.— 
(A) REVISIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 
90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
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Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall re-
vise section 571.213 of title 49, Code of Federal 
Regulations— 
(i) in S5.5.2(f), by striking ‘‘13.6 kg’’ 
and inserting ‘‘18.2 kg’’; and 
(ii) by adding at the end of S5.5.2 the 
following: 
‘‘(o) The packaging for each booster seat shall be per-
manently labeled with the information specified in 
S5.5.2(g). 
‘‘(p) On each booster seat, and on the packaging of 
such booster seat, there shall be placed— 
‘‘(1) a permanent label stating: ‘For use by 
children [l] years old or older and who are over 
[l] pounds.’, with respect to which— 
‘‘(A) the first bracket is replaced with the 
minimum age recommended for a user, which 
may not be an age younger than 4 years old; 
and 
‘‘(B) the second bracket is replaced with 
the minimum weight recommended for a user, 
which may not be under 40 pounds; and 
‘‘(2) a permanent label stating: ‘Strongly rec-
ommended children use this seat only when they 
reach either the height or weight limit for a child re-
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straint system with internal harness as indicated by 
the manufacturer.’. 
‘‘(q) On each child restraint system with internal har-
ness, and on the packaging of such child restraint system 
with internal harness, there shall be placed a permanent 
label stating: ‘To prevent possible injury or death, it is 
important to delay the transition from a child restraint 
system with internal harness to a booster seat as long as 
possible, until the child reaches the weight or height limit 
of the child restraint system with internal harness as indi-
cated by the manufacturer.’. 
‘‘(r) On each combination car seat, there shall be 
placed a permanent label stating: ‘Please use this seat 
with the internal harness as long as possible, until your 
child outgrows the maximum weight of [l] or reaches the 
maximum height of [l]. Once they have exceeded such 
weight or height, this seat can be used as a belt posi-
tioning booster seat with the vehicle seat belt.’, with re-
spect to which— 
‘‘(1) the first bracket is replaced with the max-
imum weight recommended for an internal harness 
user, which may not be under 40 pounds; and 
‘‘(2) the second bracket is replaced with the 
maximum height recommended for an internal har-
ness user.’’. 
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(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The revisions to 
section 571.213 of title 49, Code of Federal 
Regulations, under subparagraph (A) shall take 
effect not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(2) MINIMUM HEIGHT LABELING REQUIREMENT 
FOR BOOSTER SEATS.— 
(A) REVISIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 
1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall re-
vise section 571.213 of title 49, Code of Federal 
Regulations, so as to— 
(i) require the permanent label re-
quired by S5.5.2(p)(1) for a booster seat 
and the packaging of such booster seat to 
state the minimum height recommended 
for a user of such booster seat; and 
(ii) specify— 
(I) the minimum height required 
to be stated on such label; or 
(II) a method by which a manu-
facturer of a booster seat shall deter-
mine the minimum height required to 
be stated on such label for such boost-
er seat. 
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(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The revisions to 
section 571.213 of title 49, Code of Federal 
Regulations, under subparagraph (A) shall take 
effect on the date that is 1 year after the Sec-
retary of Transportation completes such revi-
sions. 
(b) SIDE-IMPACT CRASH TESTING.— 
(1) GENERAL STANDARDS.—Not later than 1 
year after the date of the enactment of this section, 
the Administrator shall issue regulations to establish 
standards with respect to side-impact crash testing 
for child restraint systems, which— 
(A) shall include standards for booster 
seats; and 
(B) may include the use of the most appro-
priate test dummy available at the time of such 
side-impact crash testing. 
(2) NEAR-SIDE
AND
FAR-SIDE
IMPACT
TEST-
ING.—In issuing regulations under paragraph (1), 
the Administrator shall include procedures for test-
ing— 
(A) near-side impacts, in which the child 
restraint system being tested is positioned on 
the side of the point of impact; and 
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(B) far-side impacts, in which the child re-
straint system being tested is positioned on the 
opposite side of the point of impact. 
(3) BOOSTER SEAT TEST DEVICES.— 
(A) DESIGN.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of this section, 
the Administrator shall issue regulations that 
provide guidelines for a test dummy that ap-
proximates a 6-year-old child for the purposes 
of side-impact crash testing. 
(B) USE.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date on which the Administrator issues reg-
ulations under subparagraph (A), the Adminis-
trator shall require that side-impact crash test-
ing for booster seats (for both near-side and 
far-side impacts) includes the use of a test 
dummy that meets the guidelines provided 
under subparagraph (A). 
(c) TETHER SYSTEMS STUDY.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the Admin-
istrator shall provide to Congress a study of the 
functionality of tether systems and the variability that ex-
ists in tether use recommendations by car seat and vehicle 
manufacturers, with recommendations on how such tether 
systems may be used or modified to increase the usage 
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of child restraint systems with internal harness to maxi-
mize child safety. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 
(2) BOOSTER SEAT.—The term ‘‘booster seat’’ 
has the meaning given such term in section 571.213 
of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect 
on the date of the enactment of this section). 
(3) CHILD
RESTRAINT
SYSTEM.—The term 
‘‘child restraint system’’ has the meaning given such 
term in section 571.213 of title 49, Code of Federal 
Regulations (as in effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this section). 
(4) CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM WITH INTERNAL 
HARNESS.—The term ‘‘child restraint system with 
internal harness’’ means a child restraint system de-
signed to be used rear-facing or forward-facing em-
ploying a 5-point harness to position the child in the 
seat. 
(5) COMBINATION CAR SEAT.—The term ‘‘com-
bination car seat’’— 
(A) means any child restraint system de-
signed to be used in a forward-facing position 
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with a 5-point internal harness, where the har-
ness may be removed and the seat utilized as 
a belt-positioning booster seat; and 
(B) includes a child restraint system that 
may be— 
(i) converted between rear-facing with 
an internal harness and forward-facing 
with an internal harness; and 
(ii) commonly referred to as ‘‘3-in-1’’ 
or ‘‘all-in-1’’ seats. 
(6) TEST
DUMMY.—The term ‘‘test dummy’’ 
means an anthropomorphic test dummy as such 
term is used in section 571.213 of title 49, Code of 
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of the 
enactment of this section). 
(7) TETHER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘tether sys-
tem’’ means a system utilizing a tether anchorage, 
tether strap, and tether hook (as such terms are de-
fined in section 571.225 of tile 49, Code of Federal 
Regulations). 
Æ 
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