Title: To amend chapter 301 of subtitle VI of title 49, United States Code, to update or provide new motor vehicle safety standards for highly automated vehicles, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to issue a final rule requiring the submission of safety assessment certifications for highly automated vehicles or automated driving systems.
DOT shall make available to the public and submit to Congress a rulemaking and safety priority plan to accommodate the development and deployment of highly automated vehicles and to ensure their safety and security.
DOT shall: (1) initiate the first rulemaking proceeding for the rulemaking and safety priority plan within 18 months of this bill's enactment, and (2) complete research into the development of updated safety standards or performance requirements for motor vehicle headlamps within two years.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3401 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3401

To amend chapter 301 of subtitle VI of title 49, United States Code, to 
    update or provide new motor vehicle safety standards for highly 
              automated vehicles, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2017

 Ms. Schakowsky (for herself and Mr. Pallone) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend chapter 301 of subtitle VI of title 49, United States Code, to 
    update or provide new motor vehicle safety standards for highly 
              automated vehicles, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. UPDATED OR NEW MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS FOR HIGHLY 
              AUTOMATED VEHICLES.

    (a) Amendment.--Chapter 301 of subtitle VI of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 30128 the following 
new section:
``Sec. 30129. Updated or new motor vehicle safety standards for highly 
              automated vehicles
    ``(a) Safety Assessment Certification.--
            ``(1) Final rule.--Not later than 24 months after the date 
        of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of 
        Transportation shall issue a final rule requiring the 
        submission of safety assessment certifications regarding how 
        safety is being addressed by each entity developing a highly 
        automated vehicle or an automated driving system. Such rule 
        shall include--
                    ``(A) a specification of which entities are 
                required to submit such certifications;
                    ``(B) a clear description of the relevant test 
                results, data, and other contents required to be 
                submitted by such entity, in order to demonstrate that 
                such entity's vehicles are likely to maintain safety, 
                and function as intended and contain fail safe 
                features, to be included in such certifications; and
                    ``(C) a specification of the circumstances under 
                which such certifications are required to be updated or 
                resubmitted.
            ``(2) Interim requirement.--Until the final rule issued 
        under paragraph (1) takes effect, safety assessment letters 
        shall be submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety 
        Administration as contemplated by the Federal Automated 
        Vehicles Policy issued in September 2016, or any successor 
        guidance issued on highly automated vehicles requiring a safety 
        assessment letter.
            ``(3) Periodic review and updating.--Not later than 5 years 
        after the date on which the final rule is issued under 
        paragraph (1), and not less frequently than every 5 years 
        thereafter, the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) review such rule; and
                    ``(B) update such rule if the Secretary considers 
                it necessary.
            ``(4) Rules of construction.--
                    ``(A) No conditions on deployment.--Nothing in this 
                subsection may be construed to limit or affect the 
                Secretary's authority under any other provision of law. 
                The Secretary may not condition deployment or testing 
                of highly automated vehicles on review of safety 
                assessment certifications.
                    ``(B) No new authorities.--No new authorities are 
                granted to the Secretary under this section other than 
                the promulgation of the rule pursuant to paragraph (1).
    ``(b) Review and Research.--To accommodate the development and 
deployment of highly automated vehicles and to ensure the safety and 
security of highly automated vehicles and motor vehicles and others 
that will share the roads with highly automated vehicles, not later 
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Secretary shall--
            ``(1) initiate or continue a review of the Federal motor 
        vehicle safety standards in effect on such date of enactment; 
        and
            ``(2) initiate or continue research regarding new Federal 
        motor vehicle safety standards.
    ``(c) Rulemaking and Safety Priority Plan.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this section, the Secretary shall make available 
        to the public and submit to the Committee on Energy and 
        Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a 
        rulemaking and safety priority plan, as necessary to 
        accommodate the development and deployment of highly automated 
        vehicles and to ensure the safety and security of highly 
        automated vehicles and motor vehicles and others that will 
        share the roads with highly automated vehicles, to--
                    ``(A) update the motor vehicle safety standards in 
                effect on such date of enactment;
                    ``(B) issue new motor vehicle safety standards; and
                    ``(C) consider how objective ranges in performance 
                standards could be used to test motor vehicle safety 
                standards, which safety standards would be appropriate 
                for such testing, and whether additional authority 
                would facilitate such testing.
            ``(2) Inclusion of priorities.--
                    ``(A) Priorities.--The plan required by paragraph 
                (1) shall detail the overall priorities of the National 
                Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the 5 years 
                following the issuance of the plan, including both 
                priorities with respect to highly automated vehicles 
                and priorities with respect to other safety initiatives 
                of the Administration, in order to meet the Nation's 
                motor vehicle safety challenges.
                    ``(B) Identification of elements that may require 
                standards.--For highly automated vehicles, the National 
                Highway Traffic Safety Administration should identify 
                elements that may require performance standards 
                including human machine interface and sensors and 
                actuators, and consider process and procedure standards 
                for software and cybersecurity as necessary.
            ``(3) Periodic updating.--The plan required by paragraph 
        (1) shall be updated every 2 years, or more frequently if the 
        Secretary considers it necessary.
    ``(d) Rulemaking Proceedings on Updated or New Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standards.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date 
        of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall initiate the 
        first rulemaking proceeding in accordance with the rulemaking 
        and safety priority plan required by subsection (c).
            ``(2) Prioritization of subsequent proceedings.--The 
        Secretary shall continue initiating rulemaking proceedings in 
        accordance with such plan. The Secretary may change at any time 
        those priorities to address matters the Secretary considers of 
        greater priority. If the Secretary makes such a change, the 
        Secretary shall complete an interim update of the priority 
        plan, make such update available to the public, and submit such 
        update to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation of the Senate.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 301 of subtitle 
VI of title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 30128 the following new item:

        ``30129. Updated or new motor vehicle safety standards for 
                            highly automated vehicles.''.
    (c) Definitions.--Section 30102 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (13) as 
                paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), (8), (9), (10), (11), 
                (12), (13), (15), (16), and (17), respectively;
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so 
                redesignated) the following:
            ``(1) `automated driving system' means the hardware and 
        software that are collectively capable of performing the entire 
        dynamic driving task on a sustained basis, regardless of 
        whether such system is limited to a specific operational design 
        domain.'';
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so 
                redesignated) the following:
            ``(6) `dynamic driving task' means all of the real time 
        operational and tactical functions required to operate a 
        vehicle in on-road traffic, excluding the strategic functions 
        such as trip scheduling and selection of destinations and 
        waypoints, and including--
                    ``(A) lateral vehicle motion control via steering;
                    ``(B) longitudinal vehicle motion control via 
                acceleration and deceleration;
                    ``(C) monitoring the driving environment via object 
                and event detection, recognition, classification, and 
                response preparation;
                    ``(D) object and event response execution;
                    ``(E) maneuver planning; and
                    ``(F) enhancing conspicuity via lighting, 
                signaling, and gesturing.
            ``(7) `highly automated vehicle'--
                    ``(A) means a motor vehicle equipped with an 
                automated driving system; and
                    ``(B) does not include a commercial motor vehicle 
                (as defined in section 31101).''; and
                    (D) by inserting after paragraph (13) (as so 
                redesignated) the following:
            ``(14) `operational design domain' means the specific 
        conditions under which a given driving automation system or 
        feature thereof is designed to function.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Revisions to Certain Definitions.--
            ``(1) If SAE International (or its successor organization) 
        revises the definition of any of the terms defined in paragraph 
        (1), (6), or (14) of subsection (a) in Recommended Practice 
        Report J3016, it shall notify the Secretary of the revision. 
        The Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal Register to 
        inform the public of the new definition unless, within 90 days 
        after receiving notice of the new definition and after opening 
        a period for public comment on the new definition, the 
        Secretary notifies SAE International (or its successor 
        organization) that the Secretary has determined that the new 
        definition does not meet the need for motor vehicle safety, or 
        is otherwise inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter. If 
        the Secretary so notifies SAE International (or its successor 
        organization), the existing definition in subsection (a) shall 
        remain in effect.
            ``(2) If the Secretary does not reject a definition revised 
        by SAE International (or its successor organization) as 
        described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall promptly make 
        any conforming amendments to the regulations and standards of 
        the Secretary that are necessary. The revised definition shall 
        apply for purposes of this chapter. The requirements of section 
        553 of title 5 shall not apply to the making of any such 
        conforming amendments.
            ``(3) Pursuant to section 553 of title 5, the Secretary may 
        update any of the definitions in paragraph (1), (6), or (14) of 
        subsection (a) if the Secretary determines that materially 
        changed circumstances regarding highly automated vehicles have 
        impacted motor vehicle safety such that the definitions need to 
        be updated to reflect such circumstances.''.

SEC. 2. HEADLAMPS.

    (a) Safety Research Initiative.--Not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 
complete research into the development of updated motor vehicle safety 
standards or performance requirements for motor vehicle headlamps that 
would improve the performance of headlamps and improve overall safety.
    (b) Rulemaking or Report.--
            (1) Rulemaking.--After the completion of the research 
        required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall initiate a 
        rulemaking proceeding to revise the motor vehicle safety 
        standards regarding headlamps if the Secretary determines that 
        a revision of the standards meets the requirements and 
        considerations set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of section 
        30111 of title 49, United States Code.
            (2) Report.--If the Secretary determines that a revision to 
        the standard described in paragraph (1) does not meet the 
        requirements and considerations set forth in such subsections, 
        the Secretary shall submit a report describing the reasons for 
        not revising the standard to the Committee on Energy and 
        Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
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