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‘‘(B) a suspension or revocation of registra-
tion under section 13902, 13905, or 31144(g); 
‘‘(C) issuance of an imminent hazard out of 
service order under section 521(b)(5) or section 
5121(d); or 
‘‘(D) notice of failure to pay a civil penalty 
or abide by a penalty payment plan; and 
‘‘(2) one or more of the carriers is the ‘successor,’ 
as that term is defined in section 31153, to the car-
rier that is the subject of the action in paragraph 
(1).’’. 
SEC. 32113. FEDERAL SUCCESSOR STANDARD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 311 is amended by adding 
after section 31152, as added by section 32508 of this Act, 
the following: 
‘‘§ 31153. Federal successor standard 
‘‘(a) FEDERAL
SUCCESSOR
STANDARD.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of Federal or State law, the 
Secretary may take an action authorized under chapters 
5, 51, 131 through 149, subchapter III of chapter 311 (ex-
cept sections 31138 and 31139), or sections 31302, 31303, 
31304, 31305(b), 31310(g)(1)(A), or 31502 of this title, or 
a regulation issued under any of those provisions, against 
a successor of a motor carrier (as defined in section 13102), 
a successor of an employer (as defined in section 31132),
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or a successor of an owner or operator (as that term is used 
in subchapter III of chapter 311), to the same extent and 
on the same basis as the Secretary may take the action 
against the motor carrier, employer, or owner or operator. 
‘‘(b) SUCCESSOR DEFINED.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘successor’ means a motor carrier, employer, 
or owner or operator that the Secretary determines, after 
notice and an opportunity for a proceeding, has 1 or more 
features that correspond closely with the features of another 
existing or former motor carrier, employer, or owner or op-
erator, such as— 
‘‘(1) consideration paid for assets purchased or 
transferred; 
‘‘(2) dates of corporate creation and dissolution 
or termination of operations; 
‘‘(3) commonality of ownership; 
‘‘(4) commonality of officers and management 
personnel and their functions; 
‘‘(5) commonality of drivers and other employ-
ees; 
‘‘(6) identity of physical or mailing addresses, 
telephone, fax numbers, or e-mail addresses; 
‘‘(7) identity of motor vehicle equipment; 
‘‘(8) continuity of liability insurance policies;
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‘‘(9) commonality of coverage under liability in-
surance policies; 
‘‘(10) continuation of carrier facilities and other 
physical assets; 
‘‘(11) continuity of the nature and scope of oper-
ations, including customers; 
‘‘(12) commonality of the nature and scope of 
operations, including customers; 
‘‘(13) advertising, corporate name, or other acts 
through which the motor carrier, employer, or owner 
or operator holds itself out to the public; 
‘‘(14) history of safety violations and pending 
orders or enforcement actions of the Secretary; and 
‘‘(15) additional factors that the Secretary con-
siders appropriate. 
‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, this section shall apply to any action com-
menced on or after the date of enactment of the Commercial 
Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act of 2012 without re-
gard to whether the violation that is the subject of the ac-
tion, or the conduct that caused the violation, occurred be-
fore the date of enactment. 
‘‘(d) RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in this section 
shall affect the rights, functions, or responsibilities under 
law of any other Department, Agency, or instrumentality
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of the United States, the laws of any State, or any rights 
between a private party and a motor carrier, employer, or 
owner or operator.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis of chap-
ter 311 is amended by inserting after the item related to 
section 31152, as added by section 32508 of this Act, the 
following: 
‘‘31153. Federal successor standard.’’. 
Subtitle B—Commercial Motor 
Vehicle Safety 
SEC. 32201. REPEAL OF COMMERCIAL JURISDICTION EX-
CEPTION FOR BROKERS OF MOTOR CARRIERS 
OF PASSENGERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 13506(a) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 
(13); 
(2) by striking paragraph (14); and 
(3) by redesignating paragraph (15) as para-
graph (14). 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 13904(a) is 
amended by striking ‘‘of property’’ in the first sentence. 
SEC. 32202. BUS RENTALS AND DEFINITION OF EMPLOYER. 
Paragraph (3) of section 31132 is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(3) ‘employer’—
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‘‘(A) means a person engaged in a business 
affecting interstate commerce that— 
‘‘(i) owns or leases a commercial motor 
vehicle in connection with that business, or 
assigns an employee to operate the commer-
cial motor vehicle; or 
‘‘(ii) offers for rent or lease a motor ve-
hicle designed or used to transport more 
than 8 passengers, including the driver, and 
from the same location or as part of the 
same business provides names or contact in-
formation of drivers, or holds itself out to 
the public as a charter bus company; but 
‘‘(B) does not include the Government, a 
State, or a political subdivision of a State.’’. 
SEC. 32203. CRASHWORTHINESS STANDARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall conduct 
a comprehensive analysis on the need for crashworthiness 
standards on property-carrying commercial motor vehicles 
with a gross vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle weight 
of at least 26,001 pounds involved in interstate commerce, 
including an evaluation of the need for roof strength, pillar 
strength, air bags, and frontal and back wall standards.
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(b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after completing 
the comprehensive analysis under subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall report the results of the analysis and any rec-
ommendations to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa-
tives. 
SEC. 32204. CANADIAN SAFETY RATING RECIPROCITY. 
Section 31144 is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(h) RECOGNITION
OF CANADIAN MOTOR CARRIER 
SAFETY FITNESS DETERMINATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) If an authorized agency of the Canadian 
federal government or a Canadian Territorial or Pro-
vincial government determines, by applying the pro-
cedure and standards prescribed by the Secretary 
under subsection (b) or pursuant to an agreement 
under paragraph (2), that a Canadian employer is 
unfit and prohibits the employer from operating a 
commercial motor vehicle in Canada or any Cana-
dian Province, the Secretary may prohibit the em-
ployer from operating such vehicle in interstate and 
foreign commerce until the authorized Canadian 
agency determines that the employer is fit.
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‘‘(5) DETERMINATION.—If the Secretary deter-
mines that a State or local government is unable to 
conduct a new entrant motor carrier audit, the Sec-
retary may use the funds to conduct the audit. 
‘‘(f) BORDER ENFORCEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) PROGRAM GOAL.—The Secretary of Trans-
portation may make a grant for carrying out border 
commercial motor vehicle safety programs and related 
enforcement activities and projects. 
‘‘(2) RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation may make a grant to an entity, State, or other 
person for carrying out border commercial motor ve-
hicle safety programs and related enforcement activi-
ties and projects. 
‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Secretary shall re-
imburse a grantee at least 100 percent of the costs in-
curred in a fiscal year for carrying out border com-
mercial motor vehicle safety programs and related en-
forcement activities and projects. 
‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible activity 
will be in accordance with criteria developed by the 
Secretary and posted in the Federal Register in ad-
vance of the grant application period. 
‘‘(g) HIGH PRIORITY INITIATIVES.—