In the Senate of the United States,
September 18, 1996.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 3159) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend title 49, United
States Code, to authorize appropriations for fiscal years
1997, 1998, and 1999 for the National Transportation Safe-
ty Board, and for other purposes’’, do pass with the following
AMENDMENT:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
TITLE I—NTSB AMENDMENTS
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Transpor-
tation Safety Board Amendments of 1996’’.
SEC. 102. FOREIGN INVESTIGATIONS.
Section 1114 of title 49, United States Code, is amend-
ed—
(1) by striking ‘‘(b) and (c)’’ in subsection (a)
and inserting ‘‘(b), (c), and (e)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘(e) FOREIGN INVESTIGATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency
receiving information from the Board, shall disclose
records or information relating to its participation in
foreign aircraft accident investigations; except that—
‘‘(A) the Board shall release records per-
taining to such an investigation when the coun-
try conducting the investigation issues its final
report or 2 years following the date of the acci-
dent, whichever occurs first; and
‘‘(B) the Board may disclose records and
information when authorized to do so by the
country conducting the investigation.
‘‘(2) SAFETY
RECOMMENDATIONS.—Nothing in
this subsection shall restrict the Board at any time
from referring to foreign accident investigation infor-
mation in making safety recommendations.’’.
SEC. 103. PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION OF IN-
FORMATION.
Section 1114(b) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION
OF INFORMATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, neither the Board, nor any agency receiv-
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ing information from the Board, shall disclose volun-
tarily provided safety-related information if that in-
formation is not related to the exercise of the Board’s
accident or incident investigation authority under
this chapter and if the Board finds that the disclosure
of the information would inhibit the voluntary provi-
sion of that type of information.’’.
SEC. 104. TRAINING.
Section 1115 of title 49, United States Code, is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(d) TRAINING
OF
BOARD
EMPLOYEES
AND
OTHERS.—The Board may conduct training of its
employees in those subjects necessary for the proper
performance of accident investigation. The Board
may also authorize attendance at courses given under
this subsection by other government personnel, person-
nel of foreign governments, and personnel from indus-
try or otherwise who have a requirement for accident
investigation training. The Board may require non-
Board personnel to reimburse some or all of the train-
ing costs, and amounts so reimbursed shall be credited
to the appropriation of the ‘National Transportation
Safety Board, Salaries and Expenses’ as offsetting
collections.’’.
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SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 1118(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’; and
(2) by inserting before the period at the end of
the first sentence the following: ‘‘, $42,400,00 for fiscal
year 1997, $44,400,000 for fiscal year 1998, and
$46,600,000 for fiscal year 1999.’’.
TITLE II—INTERMODAL
TRANSPORTATION
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Intermodal Safe Con-
tainer Transportation Amendments Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 202. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in
this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of
an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision,
the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or
other provision of title 49 of the United States Code.
SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS.
Section 5901 (relating to definitions) is amended—
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this chapter,
the definitions in sections 10102 and 13102 of this
title apply.’’;
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(2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as
paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the follow-
ing:
‘‘(6) ‘gross cargo weight’ means the weight of the
cargo, packaging materials (including ice), pallets,
and dunnage.’’.
SEC. 204. NOTIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION.
(a) PRIOR NOTIFICATION.—Subsection (a) of section
5902 (relating to prior notification) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘Before a person tenders to a
first carrier for intermodal transportation a’’ and in-
serting ‘‘If the first carrier to which any’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘10,000 pounds (including pack-
ing material and pallets), the person shall give the
carrier a written’’ and inserting ‘‘29,000 pounds is
tendered for intermodal transportation is a motor
carrier, the person tendering the container or trailer
shall give the motor carrier a’’;
(3) by striking ‘‘trailer.’’ and inserting ‘‘trailer
before the tendering of the container or trailer.’’;
(4) by striking ‘‘electronically.’’ and inserting
‘‘electronically or by telephone.’’; and
(5) by adding at the end thereof the following:
‘‘This subsection applies to any person within the
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transfer of the information, or the failure to forward
the certification, shall have a lien against the contents
of the container or trailer under section 5905 in the
amount of the bond, fine, penalty, or cost (including
storage), or interest and all court costs and legal fees
incurred by the carrier as a result of such inaccurate
transfer or failure.’’.
(d) LIABILITY.—Section 5902 is amended by redesig-
nating subsection (d) as subsection (e), and by inserting
after subsection (c) the following:
‘‘(d) LIABILITY TO OWNER OR BENEFICIAL OWNER.—
If—
‘‘(1) a person inaccurately transfers information
on a certification required by subsection (b)(1), or
fails to forward a certification to the subsequent car-
rier;
‘‘(2) as a result of the inaccurate transfer of such
information or a failure to forward a certification,
the subsequent carrier incurs a bond, fine, penalty, or
cost (including storage), or interest; and
‘‘(3) that subsequent carrier exercises its rights to
a lien under section 5905,
then that person is liable to the owner or beneficial owner,
or to any other person paying the amount of the lien to
the subsequent carrier, for the amount of the lien and all
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costs related to the imposition of the lien, including court
costs and legal fees incurred in connection with it.’’.
(e) NONAPPLICATION.—Subsection (e) of section 5902,
as redesignated, is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and
(2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redesig-
nated, the following:
‘‘(1) The notification and certification require-
ments of subsections (a) and (b) of this section do not
apply to any intermodal container or trailer contain-
ing consolidated shipments loaded by a motor carrier
if that motor carrier—
‘‘(A) performs the highway portion of the
intermodal movement; or
‘‘(B) assumes the responsibility for any
weight-related fine or penalty incurred by any
other motor carrier that performs a part of the
highway transportation.’’.
SEC. 205. PROHIBITIONS.
Section 5903 (relating to prohibitions) is amended—
(1) by inserting after ‘‘person’’ a comma and the
following: ‘‘To whom section 5902(b) applies,’’;
(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the
following:
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‘‘(b) TRANSPORTING PRIOR TO RECEIVING CERTIFI-
CATION.—
‘‘(1) PRESUMPTION.—If no certification is re-
ceived by a motor carrier before or when a loaded
intermodal container or trailer is tendered to it, the
motor carrier may presume that the gross cargo
weight of the container or trailer is less than 29,001
pounds.
‘‘(2) COPY OF CERTIFICATION NOT REQUIRED TO
ACCOMPANY CONTAINER OR TRAILER.—Notwithstand-
ing any other provision of this chapter to the con-
trary, a copy of the certification required by section
5902(b) is not required to accompany the intermodal
container or trailer.’’;
(3) by striking ‘‘10,000 pounds (including pack-
ing materials and pallets)’’ in subsection (c)(1) and
inserting ‘‘29,000 pounds’’; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(d) NOTICE TO LEASED OPERATORS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—If a motor carrier knows
that the gross cargo weight of an intermodal con-
tainer or trailer subject to the certification require-
ments of section 5902(b) would result in a violation
of applicable State gross vehicle weight laws, then—
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‘‘(A) the motor carrier shall give notice to
the operator of a vehicle which is leased by the
vehicle operator to a motor carrier that trans-
ports an intermodal container or trailer of the
gross cargo weight of the container or trailer as
certified to the motor carrier under section
5902(b);
‘‘(B) the notice shall be provided to the op-
erator prior to the operator being tendered the
container or trailer;
‘‘(C) the notice required by this subsection
shall be in writing, but may be transmitted elec-
tronically; and
‘‘(D) the motor carrier shall bear the burden
of proof to establish that it tendered the required
notice to the operator.
‘‘(2) REIMBURSEMENT.—If the operator of a
leased vehicle transporting a container or trailer sub-
ject to this chapter is fined because of a violation of
a State’s gross vehicle weight laws or regulations and
the lessee motor carrier cannot establish that it ten-
dered to the operator the notice required by para-
graph (1) of this subsection, then the operator shall be
entitled to reimbursement from the motor carrier in
the amount of any fine and court costs resulting from
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the failure of the motor carrier to tender the notice to
the operator.’’.
SEC. 206. LIENS.
Section 5905 (relating to liens) is amended—
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(a) GENERAL.—If a person involved in the inter-
modal transportation of a loaded container or trailer for
which a certification is required by section 5902(b) of this
title is required, because of a violation of a State’s gross
vehicle weight laws or regulations, to post a bond or pay
a fine, penalty, cost (including storage), or interest result-
ing from—
‘‘(1) erroneous information provided by the cer-
tifying party in the certification to the first carrier
in violation of section 5903(a) of this title;
‘‘(2) the failure of the party required to provide
the certification to the first carrier to provide it;
‘‘(3) the failure of a person required under sec-
tion 5902(c) to forward the certification to forward it;
or
‘‘(4) an error occurring in the transfer of infor-
mation on the certification to another document
under section 5902(b)(3) or (c), then the person post-
ing the bond, or paying the fine, penalty, costs (in-
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cluding storage), or interest has a lien against the
contents equal to the amount of the bond, fine, pen-
alty, cost (including storage), or interest incurred,
until the person receives a payment of that amount
from the owner or beneficial owner of the contents, or
from the person responsible for making or forwarding
the certification, or transferring the information from
the certification to another document.’’;
(2) by inserting a comma and ‘‘or the owner or
beneficial owner of the contents,’’ after ‘‘first carrier’’
in subsection 9(b)(1); and
(3) by striking ‘‘cost, or interest.’’ in subsection
(b)(1) and inserting ‘‘cost (including storage), or in-
terest. The lien shall remain in effect until the lien
holder has received payment for all costs and expenses
described in subsection (a) of this section.’’.
SEC. 207. PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.
Section 5906 (relating to perishable agricultural com-
modities) is amended by striking ‘‘Sections 5904(a)(2) an
5905 of this title do’’ and inserting ‘‘Section 5905 of this
title does’’.
SEC. 208. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5907 (relating to regula-
tions and effective date) is amended to read as follows: