An Act Regarding Automotive Right to Repair Transmitted to the Clerk of the 131st Maine Legislature by the Secretary of State on April 13, 2023 and ordered printed.
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1677
Amends: 29-A MRSA §1801, 29-A MRSA §1810, 29-A MRSA §1811

Legislative Document
No. 1677
I.B. 3
House of Representatives, April 18, 2023
An Act Regarding Automotive Right to Repair
Transmitted to the Clerk of the 131st Maine Legislature by the Secretary of State on April 
13, 2023 and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  29-A MRSA §1801, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:
2-A.  Mechanical data.  "Mechanical data" means any vehicle-specific data, including 
telematics system data, generated by, stored in or transmitted by a motor vehicle and used 
in the diagnosis, repair or maintenance of a motor vehicle.
Sec. 2.  29-A MRSA §1801, sub-§6 is enacted to read:
6.  Telematics system.  "Telematics system" means a system in a motor vehicle that 
collects information generated by the operation of the vehicle and transmits that 
information using wireless communications to a remote receiving point where the 
information is stored or used.
Sec. 3.  29-A MRSA §1810 is enacted to read:
§1810.  Right to repair
1.  Access to diagnostic systems.  Access to the vehicle on-board diagnostic systems 
of all motor vehicles, including commercial motor vehicles and heavy duty vehicles having 
a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds, must be standardized and made 
accessible to owners and independent repair facilities and the access may not require 
authorization by the manufacturer, directly or indirectly, unless that authorization is 
standardized across all makes and models of motor vehicles sold in this State and is 
administered by the independent entity described in subsection 2.
2.  Independent entity.  The Attorney General shall designate an independent entity 
not controlled by one or more motor vehicle manufacturers to establish and administer 
access to vehicle-generated data that is available through the on-board diagnostic system 
or that is transmitted by the standardized access platform authorized under this section. The 
independent entity must consist of one representative each from a cross section of industry 
trade groups including but not limited to organizations representing motor vehicle 
manufacturers, aftermarket parts manufacturers, aftermarket parts distributors and retailers, 
independent motor vehicle service providers and new car dealers.  The independent entity 
shall manage cyber-secure access to motor vehicle-generated data, including ensuring on 
an ongoing basis that access to the on-board diagnostic system and standardized access 
platform is secure based on all applicable United States and international standards.  The 
independent entity shall:
A.  Identify and adopt relevant standards for implementation of this section and 
relevant provisions for accreditation and certification of organizations and for a system 
for monitoring policy compliance;
B.  Monitor and develop policies for the evolving use and availability of data generated 
by the operations of motor vehicles; and
C.  Create policies for compliance with relevant laws, regulations, standards, 
technologies and best practices related to access to motor vehicle data.
3.  Model year 2002 motor vehicles.  For model year 2002 motor vehicles, including 
commercial motor vehicles and heavy duty vehicles having a gross vehicle weight rating 
of more than 14,000 pounds, each manufacturer of motor vehicles sold in this State shall 
make available for purchase under fair and reasonable terms by owners and independent 
repair facilities all diagnostic repair tools, parts, software and components incorporating 
the same diagnostic, functional repair and wireless capabilities that the manufacturer makes 
available to its authorized repair shops.  Each manufacturer shall:
A.  Provide diagnostic repair information to each aftermarket scan tool company and 
each 3rd-party service information provider with whom the manufacturer has 
appropriate licensing, contractual or confidentiality agreements for the sole purpose of 
building aftermarket diagnostic tools and 3rd-party service information publications 
and systems. Once a manufacturer makes information available pursuant to this 
paragraph, the manufacturer is considered to have satisfied its obligations under this 
paragraph and thereafter is not responsible for the content and functionality of 
aftermarket diagnostic tools or service information systems;
B.  Make available for purchase by owners of motor vehicles and by independent repair 
facilities the same diagnostic and repair information, including repair technical 
updates, that the manufacturer makes available to its authorized repair shops through 
the manufacturer's Internet-based diagnostic and repair information system; and
C.  Provide access to the manufacturer's diagnostic and repair information system for 
purchase by owners of motor vehicles and independent repair facilities on a daily, 
monthly and yearly subscription basis and upon fair and reasonable terms.  
All parts, tools, software and other components necessary to complete a full repair of the 
vehicle, as referenced in this subsection, must be included and provided to owners of motor 
vehicles and authorized independent repair shops.
4.  Model year 2002-2017 motor vehicles.  For model year 2002-2017 motor vehicles, 
including commercial motor vehicles and heavy duty vehicles having a gross vehicle 
weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds, access to a vehicle's on-board diagnostic and 
repair information system must be the same for an owner or an independent repair facility 
as that provided to a new vehicle dealer.
5.  Model year 2018 and later motor vehicles.  For model year 2018 and later motor 
vehicles, including commercial motor vehicles and heavy duty vehicles having a gross 
vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds, access to the on-board diagnostic and 
repair information system must be available through use of an off-the-shelf personal 
computer with sufficient memory, processor speed, connectivity and other capabilities as 
specified by the vehicle manufacturer and:
A.  A nonproprietary vehicle interface device that complies with SAE International  
standard J2534, SAE International standard J1939, commonly referred to as SAE 
J2534 and SAE J1939, the International Organization for Standardization standard 
22900, commonly referred to as ISO 22900, or any successor to SAE J2534, SAE 
J1939 or ISO 22900 as may be accepted or published by SAE International or the 
International Organization for Standardization, as appropriate;
B.  An on-board diagnostic and repair information system integrated into and entirely 
self-contained within the vehicle, including, but not limited to, service information 
systems integrated into an on-board display; and
C.  A system that provides direct access to on-board diagnostic and repair information 
through a nonproprietary vehicle interface, such as ethernet, universal serial bus or 
digital versatile disc.
Each manufacturer shall provide access to the same on-board diagnostic and repair 
information available to their dealers, including technical updates to such on-board 
systems, through such nonproprietary interfaces as referenced in this subsection. All parts, 
tools, software and other components necessary to complete a full repair of a vehicle, as 
referenced in this subsection, must be included and provided to motor vehicle owners and 
authorized independent repair shops.
6.  Required equipment.  Not later than one year from the effective date of this section, 
a manufacturer of motor vehicles sold in this State, including commercial motor vehicles 
and heavy duty vehicles having a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds, 
that uses a telematics system is required to equip vehicles sold in this State with an inter-
operable, standardized and owner-authorized access platform across all of the 
manufacturer's makes and models. The platform must be capable of securely 
communicating all mechanical data emanating directly from the motor vehicle via direct 
data connection to the platform. The platform must be directly accessible by the motor 
vehicle owner through a mobile-based application and, upon the authorization of the owner, 
all mechanical data must be directly accessible by an independent repair facility or a 
licensed dealer as described in section 851, subsections 2 and 9, limited to the time to 
complete the repair or for a period of time agreed to by the motor vehicle owner for the 
purposes of maintaining, diagnosing and repairing the motor vehicle. Access must include 
the ability to send commands to in-vehicle components if needed for purposes of 
maintenance, diagnostics and repair. All parts, tools, software and other components 
necessary to complete a full repair of the vehicle, as referenced in this subsection, must be 
included and provided to motor vehicle owners and authorized independent repair shops.
7.  Exclusions.  Manufacturers of motor vehicles sold in the United States may exclude 
diagnostic, service and repair information necessary to reset an immobilizer system or 
security-related electronic modules from information provided to motor vehicle owners and 
independent repair facilities. If excluded under this subsection, the information necessary 
to reset an immobilizer system or security-related electronic modules must be made 
available to motor vehicle owners and independent repair facilities through the secure data 
release model system as used on the effective date of this section by the National 
Automotive Service Task Force or other known, reliable and accepted systems.
8.  Enforcement.  If the independent entity described by subsection 2 has reason to 
believe that a manufacturer has violated any provision of this section, the independent 
entity shall notify the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall promptly institute any 
actions or proceedings the Attorney General considers appropriate.  The independent entity, 
through the Attorney General, may apply to the Superior Court of any county of the State 
to enforce any lawful order made or action taken by the independent entity pursuant to this 
section.
A motor vehicle owner or independent repair facility authorized by an owner who has been 
denied access to mechanical data in violation of this section may initiate a civil action 
seeking any remedies under law.  Each denial of access is compensable by an award of 
treble damages or $10,000, whichever amount is greater.
Sec. 4.  29-A MRSA §1811 is enacted to read:
§1811.  Telematics system notice
1.  Notice.  The Attorney General shall establish for prospective motor vehicle owners 
a motor vehicle telematics system notice that includes, but is not limited to, the following 
features:
A.  An explanation of telematics systems and their purposes;
B.  A description summarizing the mechanical data collected, stored and transmitted 
by a telematics system;
C.  The prospective motor vehicle owner's ability to access the vehicle's mechanical 
data through a mobile device; and
D.  A motor vehicle owner's right to authorize an independent repair facility to access 
the vehicle's mechanical data for vehicle diagnostics, repair and maintenance purposes.
2.  Notice form.  The notice form must provide for the prospective motor vehicle 
owner's signature certifying that the prospective owner has read the telematics system 
notice under subsection 1.
3.  Provision of notice.  When selling or leasing motor vehicles containing a telematics 
system, a dealer as defined in section 851, subsection 2 and a new vehicle dealer as defined 
in section 851, subsection 9 shall provide the telematics system notice under subsection 1 
to the prospective owner, obtain the prospective owner's signed certification that the 
prospective owner has read the notice and provide a copy of the signed notice to the 
prospective owner. A dealer's failure to comply with the provisions of this subsection is 
grounds for any action by the licensing authority relative to the dealer's license, up to and 
including revocation.
SUMMARY
This initiated bill requires manufacturers of certain motor vehicles to standardize the 
vehicle on-board diagnostic systems and make those systems accessible to owners and 
independent repair facilities.  It requires the Attorney General to designate an independent 
entity to administer the accessibility of vehicle on-board diagnostic systems by adopting 
standards and developing policies. The initiated bill requires the release of certain 
diagnostic repair tools, parts, software and components depending on model year of the 
motor vehicle.  It also requires certain motor vehicles to be equipped with a standard access 
platform and provides exclusions for information otherwise required to be shared with 
owners or independent repair shops if that information is necessary for immobilizer 
systems or security-related modules. The initiated bill provides for enforcement by civil 
action of the provisions related to access and information sharing and provides the available 
damages.  It also requires that the Attorney General establish a notice relating to motor 
vehicle telematics systems and requires dealers of certain motor vehicles to provide that 
notice to potential owners of motor vehicles, and it provides for an administrative 
consequence if a dealer does not comply.