zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Don't Track Me Act - Declares that it is contrary to U.S. public policy to require the placement or use of any global positioning satellite (GPS), location, or distance tracking system to collect identities of vehicle owners by remote means.

Prohibits the federal gasoline excise tax from being replaced or supplemented with any tax, fee, or fine based upon vehicle location or distance traveled that is determined by GPS, license plate reading cameras, or other methods of determining vehicle location, travel distance, or registration and identity data.

Prohibits motor vehicles from being required to have certain devices that track or transmit location, distance, or driver identity information.

Bars public funds from being used to study, implement, or require the use of any method of tracking or reporting vehicle movement or location for the purpose of taxes, user fees, traffic fines, accident investigation, or communication with other vehicles or infrastructure.

Prohibits vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-infrastructure communication systems for the purposes of recording or transmitting or storing for later retrieval location, registration, identity, or speed data. Allows such transmissions to be used only for momentary accident avoidance or anonymized traffic reporting.

Bars federal agencies from requiring motor vehicles to have a "black box" accident data recorder that records vehicle data for longer than the last five minutes of vehicle operation. Prohibits such devices from: (1) recording audio, images, or video from inside the vehicle; or (2) broadcasting or transmitting any data except by a direct cable connection to a computer.

Date: 2014-12-11
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Taxation
Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to exempt from the requirement to obtain a hazardous material (hazmat) endorsement all class A commercial driver's license (CDL) holders who are custom harvesters, agricultural retailers, agricultural business employees, agricultural cooperative employees, or agricultural producers who operate a service vehicle with a fuel tank containing 3,785 liters (1,000) gallons or less of diesel fuel if the tank is clearly marked with a placard reading "Diesel Fuel."

Date: 2013-03-07
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Preserving Public Access to Cape Hatteras Beaches Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to review and modify wildlife buffers in the Cape Haterras National Seashore Recreational Area in North Carolina.

Requires the Secretary, in modifying such wildlife buffers, to: (1) ensure that they are of the shortest duration and cover the smallest area necessary to protect a species, and (2) designate pedestrian and vehicle corridors around areas of the National Seashore closed because of wildlife buffers to allow access to areas that are open.

Requires the Secretary to determine appropriate buffer protections for species that are not listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, but that are identified for protection under state law.

Instructs the Secretary to undertake a public process to consider the following changes to the final rule: (1) opening beaches at the National Seashore that are closed to night driving restrictions, (2) extending seasonal off-road vehicle routes for additional periods in the Fall and Spring if off-road vehicle use would not create resource management problems at the National Seashore, and (3) modifying the size and location of vehicle-free areas.

Requires the Secretary to construct new vehicle access points and roads at the National Seashore: (1) as expeditiously as practicable, and (2) in accordance with applicable management plans for the National Seashore.

Date: 2013-03-07
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Amends the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) to authorize appropriations for FY2014 for grants to states for surface transportation projects of national and regional significance.

Date: 2013-04-25
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 2013 - Prohibits a state from prescribing or enforcing any regulation that allows a restricted property-carrying unit (any trailer, semi-trailer, container, or other property-carrying unit longer than 53 feet, except for a fire-fighting unit) to operate on the National Highway System (NHS) (including the Interstate System), unless the operation of such unit is authorized by the state on June 1, 2008, and in actual and lawful operation on a regular or periodic basis (including seasonal operations) on or before that date.

Prohibits a state from allowing the operation of a commercial motor vehicle combination on the NHS (except a vehicle or load that cannot be dismantled or divided easily, and that has been issued a special permit under state law) with more than one property-carrying unit (excluding the truck tractor) whose property-carrying units are more than: (1) the maximum combination trailer, semi-trailer, or other type of length limitation allowed by state law on June 1, 2008; or (2) the length of the property-carrying units of those commercial motor vehicle combinations, by specific configuration, in actual and lawful operation on a regular or periodic basis (including continual seasonal operation) in such state on or before June 1, 2008. Prohibits a state from allowing the operation of a vehicle or combination (other than a longer combination vehicle) exceeding Interstate weight limits on the Interstate System unless its operation was lawful: (1) on July 1, 1956; (2) in the case of the overall gross weight of any group of two or more consecutive axles, on January 4, 1975; or (3) under a special permit pursuant to state (grandfather) law. Declares that Interstate weight limitations on vehicles and combinations (other than longer combination vehicles) that operate on the Interstate System shall apply to such vehicles and combinations that operate on non-Interstate segments of the NHS, unless: (1) such segments are subject to lower state weight limits; or (2) a state allows the operation of any vehicle or combination on an existing non-Interstate segment of the NHS that could have been lawfully operated on June 1, 2008.

Date: 2013-05-07
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Emergency Transportation Safety Fund Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the tax rate on current and accumulated foreign earnings of U.S. corporations reinvested in the United States and make such lower rate permanent.

Establishes the Emergency Transportation Safety Fund and makes appropriations to it.

Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to compile a prioritized list of emergency transportation projects, which will guide the allocation of Fund amounts to the states.

Date: 2013-05-09
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Taxation
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2013 - (Sec. 3) Authorizes a rental company that receives a notification (approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA]) from the manufacturer of a covered rental vehicle about any equipment defect, or noncompliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards, to rent or sell the vehicle or equipment only if the defect or noncompliance is remedied.

Specifies any rental vehicle: (1) rated at 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or less, (2) rented without a driver for an initial term of under 4 months, and (3) that is part of a motor vehicle fleet of 5 or more motor vehicles used for rental purposes by a rental company.

Prescribes a special rule to require rental companies to comply with specified limitations on sale, lease, or rental of a motor vehicle as soon as practicable, but within 24 hours after the earliest receipt of the manufacturer's notification of a defect or noncompliance with vehicle safety standards, whether by electronic means or first class mail. Extends the 24-hour deadline for complying with such limitations to 48 hours if the notification covers more than 5,000 motor vehicles in the rental company's fleet.

Permits a rental company to rent (but not sell or lease) a motor vehicle subject to recall if the defect or noncompliance remedy is not immediately available and the company takes any actions specified in the notice to alter the vehicle temporarily to eliminate the safety risk posed.

Makes these special rules for rental companies inapplicable to junk automobiles.

(Sec. 4) Prohibits a rental company from knowingly making inoperable any safety devices or elements of design installed on or in a compliant motor vehicle or vehicle equipment unless the company reasonably believes the vehicle or equipment will not be used when the devices or elements are inoperable.

(Sec. 5) Authorizes the Secretary, upon request, to inspect records of a rental company with respect to a safety investigation. Authorizes the Secretary to require a rental company to keep records or make reports for purposes of compliance with federal motor vehicle safety orders or regulations.

(Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary to study the effectiveness of the amendments made by this Act and of other activities of rental companies.

(Sec. 7) Amends the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) to require the mandatory study of the safety of rental trucks during a specified seven-year period to evaluate the completion of safety recall remedies on rental trucks.

(Sec. 8) Directs the Secretary to solicit comments regarding the implementation of this Act from members of the public, including rental companies, consumer organizations, automobile manufacturers, and automobile dealers.

Date: 2013-05-09
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Drunk Driving Repeat Offender Prevention Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to withhold specified graduated percentages of a state's apportionment of certain federal-aid highway funds for FY2015-FY2017 if the state has not enacted and is not enforcing a law requiring the installation of an ignition interlock device for a minimum of 180 days on each motor vehicle operated by an individual convicted of driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence.

Defines "driving while intoxicated" and "driving under the influence" as driving or being in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while having a blood alcohol concentration greater than or equal to the lesser of: (1) the blood alcohol concentration limit of the state in which the individual is driving, or (2) 0.08%.

Requires an ignition interlock device to: (1) require a driver to provide a breath sample before the motor vehicle starts, and (2) prevent a motor vehicle from starting if the alcohol concentration of the driver is above the legal limit.

Date: 2013-05-16
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Permits the continued operation of trucks on any segment of U.S. Highway 78 in Mississippi designated as a highway on the Interstate System. Prohibits application of federal weight limitations to those trucks that could operate legally on such a segment before that designation.

Date: 2013-07-11
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Permits the continued operation of trucks on any segment of the U.S. Route 41 corridor in Wisconsin designated as a route on the Interstate System that could operate legally on such segment before that designation without regard to federal weight limitation requirements.

Date: 2013-07-16
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2013 - Prohibits a person from transporting a horse in interstate commerce in a motor vehicle (except a vehicle operated exclusively on rail or rails) containing two or more levels stacked on top of one another. Sets forth civil penalties for persons who knowingly violate such prohibition.

Date: 2013-08-01
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Animals
Increases from 15% to 25% the amount a state is required to set-aside, from funds apportioned for the highway bridge program for FY2009, for off-system bridge replacement and rehabilitation activities for FY2013 and each subsequent fiscal year. (An "off-system bridge" is a highway bridge not located on a federal-aid highway.)

Date: 2013-09-12
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to implement or enforce a requirement providing for the screening, testing, or treatment of individuals operating commercial motor vehicles for sleep disorders (including obstructive sleep apnea) only if it is adopted pursuant to a rulemaking proceeding.

Applies this Act only to a requirement adopted on or after September 1, 2013.

Date: 2013-09-23
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Deficit Neutral Disaster Relief Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to obligate up to $450 million of the amounts made available to carry out federal-aid highways emergency relief under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 (division A, title X, chapter 9 of P.L. 113-2) under the heading "Federal Highway Administration--Federal-Aid Highways--Emergency Relief Program" for emergency relief projects in Colorado arising from damage caused by flooding events in 2013.

Date: 2013-09-30
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Emergency management
Idaho Safe and Efficient Vehicle Act of 2013 - Prohibits application of federal weight limitations to a longer combination vehicle operating on a segment of the Interstate System in Idaho if it: (1) has a gross vehicle weight of 129,000 pounds or less; (2) complies with certain single axle, tandem axle, and bridge formula weight limits; and (3) is authorized to operate on that segment under Idaho law.

Date: 2013-12-18
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
True Understanding of the Economy and Safety Act or TRUE Safety Act - Directs the Comptroller General (GAO), after the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports to Congress on an hours of service field study, to assess the methodology followed by the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) in carrying out the efficacy of the restart rule ("Hours of Service of Drivers") published on December 27, 2011, which applies to operators of commercial motor vehicles of property subject to maximum DOT driving time requirements.

Requires the assessment to evaluate the extent to which that methodology meets the requirements of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) that: (1) the data collected is representative of the drivers subject to the restart rule, (2) the methodology is statistically valid, and (3) the study followed the FMCSA plan for the "Scheduling and Fatigue Recovery Project."

Directs GAO to assess the Regulatory Impact Analysis that accompanied the final 2011 restart rule.

Nullifies the 2011 restart rule during the period beginning upon enactment of this Act and ending six months after the study report required by this Act has been submitted to Congress.

Prohibits the Secretary from applying the restart rule if the conclusions of the field study completed pursuant to MAP-21 do not support or concur with the conclusions of the laboratory study on which the rule was based.

Date: 2013-12-20
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Highway Innovative Financing Act of 2014 - Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to remove limits on the number of state or local governments or public authorities with which the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) may enter into cooperative agreements to establish value pricing pilot programs (in effect, allowing extension of the programs to all such authorities). Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) to increase from 3 to 10 the number of IS highways, bridges, or tunnels where a state may collect tolls for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Interstate System highway corridors.

Date: 2014-02-27
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Strengthen And Fortify Existing Bridges Act of 2014 or SAFE Bridges Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to establish a program to assist states to rehabilitate or replace bridges found to be structurally deficient, functionally obsolete, or fracture critical.

Requires states to use apportioned program funds for projects to rehabilitate and replace such bridges.

Sets the federal share of project costs at 100%.

Date: 2014-02-27
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Stop Motorcycle Checkpoint Funding Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) from providing a grant or any funds to a state, county, town, township, Indian tribe, municipality, or other local government for any program to: (1) check motorcycle helmet use, or (2) create motorcycle checkpoints that specifically target motorcycle operators or motorcycle passengers.

Date: 2014-03-05
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Winter Roads Safety Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT), for a specified period, to waive certain federal vehicle weight limitations for covered logging vehicles to operate on the Interstate Highway System. Specifies the period beginning upon enactment of this Act and ending on the date the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation terminates the seasonal vehicle weight limit increase in the North Zone pursuant to the Minnesota Statutes.

Defines the term "covered logging vehicle" to mean a vehicle that: (1) is transporting raw or unfinished forest products, including logs, pulpwood, biomass, or wood chips; (2) has a gross vehicle weight of no more than 99,000 pounds; (3) has at least six axles; (4) is operating on specified segments of Interstate Route 35 and Interstate Route 535 in Minnesota; and (5) has obtained the appropriate overweight vehicle permit from the Department.

Prohibits this waiver, however, until the bridges along the road segments have been inspected and certified by the Minnesota Department to be structurally capable of supporting such covered logging vehicles.

Date: 2014-03-13
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Early Warning Reporting System Improvement Act of 2014 - Revises early warning reporting requirements for manufacturers of motor vehicles regarding possible defects of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment.

Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to require a manufacturer in cases where the defect has caused a fatality to provide certain additional information as part of its report to the Secretary. Requires that information to be publicly disclosed and entered into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) early warning reporting database.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) take specified actions to improve public accessibility to information on NHTSA's public vehicle safety databases; and (2) give public notice via the internet of all inspections or investigations conducted by the Secretary to enforce a motor vehicle safety requirement or order, or that are related to a motor vehicle accident due to a possible defect.

Date: 2014-03-25
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Pedestrian Safety Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT), through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), to issue a final rule that: (1) establishes standards for the hood and bumper areas of motor vehicles, including passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or less, in order to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities suffered by pedestrians who are struck by such vehicles; and (2) considers the protection of vulnerable pedestrian populations, including children and older adults.

Allows a federal share of up to 100% for any projects for pedestrian hybrid beacons and roadway improvements that provide separation between pedestrians and motor vehicles, including pedestrian sidewalks and crossing islands.

Declares that highway safety improvement projects include one or more projects for safety public awareness campaigns.

Date: 2014-05-01
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Emergency Interstate Bridge Safety Fund Act - Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works).

Establishes in the Treasury an Emergency Interstate Bridge Safety Fund.

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer to the Fund regularly amounts equal to the savings achieved through this repeal from the capital budgets of each affected federal agency.

Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to compile a prioritized list of emergency interstate bridge projects on the federal-aid highway system meeting specified criteria (e.g., the bridge is deemed functionally obsolete). Authorizes the obligation of Fund amounts for such projects.

Date: 2014-06-23
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014 - Revises early warning reporting requirements for manufacturers of motor vehicles regarding possible defects of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment.

Requires the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to issue regulations establishing categories of information that must be made available to the public. Requires the public disclosure of possible defects of motor vehicles or related equipment reported to the Secretary by motor vehicle manufacturers (Early Warning data).

Directs the Secretary to: (1) take specified actions to improve public accessibility to information on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) vehicle safety databases, and (2) promulgate rules requiring the senior senior official for safety for a corporation to be responsible for requests for information in NHTSA safety or compliance investigations.

Requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of the Inspector General to study NHTSA use of Early Warning data.

Prohibits certain vehicle safety officials, for the two-year period after termination of NHTSA employment, from knowingly making any communication to or appearance before NHTSA on behalf of a manufacturer subject to NHTSA regulation in connection with any matter involving vehicle safety on which such person seeks official action by a NHTSA officer or employee.

Prohibits a motor vehicle manufacturer or any other person subject to federal motor vehicle safety regulation from employing NHTSA employees for the two-year period following the employee's termination of employment with NHTSA. Prescribes civil penalties for violations of such prohibition.

Establishes the Vehicle Safety Fund to meet U.S. obligations in carrying out NHTSA vehicle safety programs. Requires the Secretary to assess and collect, for deposit in the Fund, a vehicle safety user fee from the manufacturer for each motor vehicle certified compliant with applicable motor vehicle safety standards.

Increases civil penalties for persons who violate federal motor vehicle safety requirements. Eliminates the maximum civil penalty for a related series of daily violations.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) notify manufacturers of motor vehicles or replacement equipment whose defect or noncompliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards presents an imminent hazard of serious injury or death; and (2) order such manufacturers to notify immediately the owners, purchasers, and dealers of the vehicle or equipment of such hazard, and to remedy the defect or noncompliance.

Prohibits a dealer from selling or leasing a used passenger motor vehicle unless: (1) the dealer clearly and conspicuously notifies the purchaser or lessee in writing of any unremedied defects or noncompliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards, and (2) the purchaser or lessee acknowledges in writing receipt of such notification.

Date: 2014-06-26
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Improving Driver Safety Act of 2014 - Revises distracted driving incentive grant program eligibility requirements to require the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to award such grants to states that include distracted driving issues as part of their driver's license examination.

Authorizes the Secretary to use up to 50% of amounts available for grants to states that: (1) in FY2015 have a basic text messaging statute for drivers of all ages, make violation of the statute a primary offense, and participate in the Secretary's annual distracted driving law enforcement mobilization; and (2) in FY2016 meet the aforementioned requirements, impose increased fines for repeat violations, and have a statute that prohibits a driver younger than 18 from using a personal wireless communications device while driving.

Authorizes states to use grant funds for: (1) enforcement of distracted driving laws, and (2) highway safety program projects.

Directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to report to Congress on any legal and technical barriers to capturing data on the prevalence of wireless communications devices while driving, including recommendations on how to address those barriers.

Date: 2014-06-26
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Route to Opportunity And Development Act of 2014 or the ROAD Act of 2014 - Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, as amended, to revise the high priority Raleigh-Norfolk Corridor of the National Highway System between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, to include Rocky Mount, Williamston, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Date: 2014-07-31
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Natural Gas Long Haul Truck Competitiveness Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to issue regulations to allow natural gas vehicles to exceed any federal weight limitations to operate on the Interstate Highway System by an amount equal to the difference between the weight of the vehicle attributable to the natural gas tank and fueling system and the weight of a comparable diesel tank and fueling system.

Date: 2014-07-31
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2014 - Authorizes a rental company that receives a notification (approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA]) from the manufacturer of a covered rental vehicle about any equipment defect, or noncompliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards, to rent or sell the vehicle or equipment only if the defect or noncompliance is remedied.

Specifies any rental vehicle: (1) rated at 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or less, (2) rented without a driver for an initial term of under 4 months, and (3) that is part of a motor vehicle fleet of 5 or more motor vehicles used for rental purposes by a rental company.

Prescribes a special rule to require rental companies to comply with specified limitations on sale, lease, or rental of a motor vehicle as soon as practicable, but within 24 hours after the earliest receipt of the manufacturer's notification of a defect or noncompliance with vehicle safety standards, whether by electronic means or first class mail. Extends the 24-hour deadline for complying with such limitations to 48 hours if the notification covers more than 5,000 motor vehicles in the rental company's fleet.

Permits a rental company to rent (but not sell or lease) a motor vehicle subject to recall if the defect or noncompliance remedy is not immediately available and the company takes any actions specified in the notice to alter the vehicle temporarily to eliminate the safety risk posed.

Makes these special rules for rental companies inapplicable to junk automobiles.

Prohibits a rental company from knowingly making inoperable any safety devices or elements of design installed on or in a compliant motor vehicle or vehicle equipment unless the company reasonably believes the vehicle or equipment will not be used when the devices or elements are inoperable.

Authorizes the Secretary, upon request, to inspect records of a rental company with respect to a safety investigation. Authorizes the Secretary to require a rental company to keep records or make reports for purposes of compliance with federal motor vehicle safety orders or regulations.

Authorizes the Secretary to study the effectiveness of the amendments made by this Act and of other activities of rental companies.

Amends the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) to require the mandatory study of the safety of rental trucks during a specified seven-year period to evaluate the completion of safety recall remedies on rental trucks.

Directs the Secretary to solicit comments regarding the implementation of this Act from members of the public, including rental companies, consumer organizations, automobile manufacturers, and automobile dealers.

Declares that nothing in this Act shall: (1) be construed to create or increase any liability for a manufacturer who manufactures or imports a motor vehicle that is subject to defect or noncompliance recall requirements; or (2) supersede or otherwise affect the contractual obligations, if any, between such manufacturer and a rental company.

Date: 2014-09-16
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act - Prescribes certain whistleblower incentives and protections for motor vehicle manufacturer, part supplier, or dealership employees or contractors who voluntarily provide the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) information relating to any motor vehicle defect, noncompliance, or any violation of any notification or reporting requirement which is likely to cause unreasonable risk of death or serious physical injury.

Authorizes the Secretary to pay awards to one or more whistleblowers in an aggregate amount of up to 30% of total monetary sanctions collected pursuant to an administrative or judicial action resulting in aggregate monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million.

Prohibits an award to any whistleblower who knowingly and willfully makes false representations. Subjects such a whistleblower to criminal penalties.

Date: 2014-11-20
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
American Jobs for American Infrastructure Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to appropriate to the Highway Account and Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund for FY2014-FY2018 amounts necessary to ensure that the balance of each Account for any quarter is not less than specified levels.

Declares the sense of Congress that Congress should provide annual inflation increases for the Federal Lands Access Program, the Federal Lands Transportation Program, and the Tribal Transportation Program in the next Surface Transportation reauthorization.

Establishes in the Treasury a Reclamation Water Infrastructure Fund, to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior and used for: (1) rural water projects; (2) deferred maintenance of certain Indian irrigation projects; and (3) construction, planning, and design of projects to settle Indian reserved water rights.

Establishes in the Treasury an Energy Upgrade and Retrofit Infrastructure Fund, to be administered by the Secretary of Energy (DOE) and used to: (1) support novel and innovative technologies to capture or prevent carbon dioxide emissions, as well as enable the beneficial use and long-term storage of carbon dioxide; and (2) fund certain commercial-scale, coal-fired electric generation units.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make a special rule to prohibit income deductions allocated to deferred foreign income from offsetting U.S. source income.

Requires foreign-related deductions to be allocated to currently-taxed foreign income in the same proportion which currently-taxed foreign income bears to the sum of currently-taxed foreign income and deferred foreign income.

Revises rules related to inverted domestic corporations (which used to be incorporated in the United States, or used to be a partnership in the United States, but now are incorporated in a foreign country, or are subsidiaries whose parent corporations are incorporated in a foreign country).

Treats as an inverted domestic corporation, for income tax purposes, any foreign corporation (entity) which after May 8, 2014, completes the direct or indirect acquisition of substantially all of the properties or assets of a domestic corporation, and after the acquisition either: (1) more than 50% (currently, in different specified circumstances, 60% or 80%) of the entity's stock is held by former shareholders of the domestic corporation by reason of holding stock in that domestic corporation; or (2) the management and control of the expanded affiliated group which includes the entity occurs, directly or indirectly, primarily within the United States, and the expanded affiliated group has significant domestic business activities. Applies similar rules to an entity's acquisition of a domestic partnership.

Dedicates to deficit reduction $1 billion of any increase in revenue to the Treasury by reason of this Act.

Date: 6/18/2014
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Idaho Safe and Efficient Vehicle Act of 2015

 Prohibits application of federal weight limitations to a longer combination vehicle operating on a segment of the Interstate System in Idaho if it: (1) has a gross vehicle weight of 129,000 pounds or less; (2) complies with certain single axle, tandem axle, and bridge formula weight limits; and (3) is authorized to operate on that segment under Idaho law.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
44 to 69 Act of 2015

 Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to include Texas State Highway 44 from United States Route 59 at Freer, Texas, to Texas State Highway 358 as part of the high priority Lower Rio Grande Valley Corridor of the National Highway System in Texas.

Date: 2015-01-13
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Preserving Jobs in the Oilfield Act of 2015

 Directs the Secretary of Transportation to ensure that, with respect to maximum hours of service for drivers, on-duty time does not include waiting time at a natural gas or oil well site for operators of commercial motor vehicles transporting supplies, equipment, or materials, including sand or water, to or from a natural gas or oil well site.

Applies this exclusion without regard to whether operators have received special training or operate vehicles specially constructed to service wells.

Date: 2015-01-22
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Developing Standards for Electronic Shipping Papers Act of 2015

 Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a Hazardous Materials Information Advisory Committee to develop voluntary standards and best practices for first responders and enforcement officials in the use of electronic shipping papers in the event of a hazardous material transportation incident.

Defines the term "electronic shipping paper" as an electronic version of the physical shipping paper conveying the most current available hazard information and capable of being accessed instantaneously by emergency responders during such an incident.

Date: 2015-01-22
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Road Usage Charge Pilot Program Act of 2015

 Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the Road Usage Charge Pilot Program to make competitive grants to state or local governments, or metropolitan planning, regional transportation planning, or tribal organizations to conduct pilot studies on implementing mileage-based fee systems as a method for funding transportation highway projects.

Directs the Secretary to establish a working group to:

 develop national technology standards for a road usage charge, as well as national privacy standards for such a charge that balance the effectiveness of revenue systems with user privacy; and evaluate the potential of the methods studied in the program to manage demand and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

Date: 2015-02-03
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Safety Technology Investment Flexibility Act of 2015

This bill makes eligible for funding under the National Highway Performance Program, the Surface Transportation Program, and the Highway Safety Improvement Program projects for the installation of vehicle-to-infrastructure communication equipment.

"Vehicle-to-infrastructure communication equipment" means equipment that provides a wireless exchange of critical safety and operational data between highway infrastructure and vehicles in order to avoid or mitigate vehicle collisions and enable a wide range of other safety, mobility, and environmental benefits.

Date: 2015-02-12
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Prohibiting Automated Traffic Enforcement Act of 2015

This bill prohibits a state or local government authority from using an automated traffic enforcement system for law enforcement purposes, except in a school zone or construction zone.

Date: 2015-02-12
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
ROV In-Depth Examination Act

The Consumer Product Safety Commission shall have no authority to: (1) establish recreational off-highway vehicle (ROV) performance or configuration standards until the study required by this Act is completed, or (2) require ROV manufacturers to provide performance and technical data to prospective purchasers and to the first purchaser of an ROV for purposes other than resale.

The Commission shall contract with the National Academy of Sciences to determine:

 the technical validity of the lateral stability and vehicle handling requirements proposed by the Commission for purposes of reducing the risk of ROV off-road rollovers, the number of ROV rollovers that would be prevented if the proposed requirements were adopted, whether there is a technical basis for the proposal to provide information on a point-of-sale hangtag about a vehicle's rollover resistance on a progressive scale, and the effect on the utility of ROVs used by the Armed Forces if the proposed requirements were adopted.

Date: 2015-02-13
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Prohibits a state from enforcing a law or imposing liability on an entity that hires a motor carrier for the transportation of property or household goods if the liability arises from a personal injury, death, or cargo or other property damage claim or cause of action related to the negligent selection of that motor carrier under state law or regulation.

Specifies as such an entity any person acting as a shipper, as a broker, as a consignee, a freight forwarder, a household goods freight forwarder, a Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier, an ocean freight forwarder, an ocean transportation intermediary, an indirect air carrier, a licensed customs broker, an interchange motor carrier, or a warehouse.

Makes an entity eligible for this immunity from liability only if, before tendering a shipment, but not more than 35 days before the hitred motor carrier picks up a shipment, the entity verifies that the motor carrier at the time of verification:

 is registered with and authorized by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to operate as a motor carrier or household goods motor carrier, has the minimum insurance coverage required by federal regulation, and does not have an unsatisfactory safety rating from FMCSA in force at the time of verification.

Date: 2015-02-26
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to exempt from the requirement to obtain a hazardous material endorsement all class A commercial driver's license holders who are custom harvesters, agricultural retailers, agricultural business employees, agricultural cooperative employees, or agricultural producers who operate a service vehicle with a fuel tank containing 3,785 liters (1,000) gallons or less of diesel fuel if the tank is clearly marked with a placard reading "Diesel Fuel."

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Vision Zero Act of 2015

This bill authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to award grants to a city, town, township, borough, county, parish, district, village, or other political subdivision of a state to develop a Vision Zero plan to eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries in its jurisdiction within 10 years. The total number of grants awarded is limited to 5.

At least 25% of funds made available for this Act shall be used to make grants to eligible entities serving a jurisdiction with a population of under 200,000.

The federal share of projects costs shall not exceed 80%.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2015 

 Prohibits a person from transporting a horse in interstate commerce in a motor vehicle (except a vehicle operated exclusively on rail or rails) containing two or more levels stacked on top of one another. Prescribes civil penalties for persons who knowingly violate such prohibition.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Safer Trucks and Buses Act of 2015

The Department of Transportation (DOT) shall enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Public Administration to study how to improve the Compliance, Safety, Accountability initiative of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

 DOT must ensure that motor carrier safety data predictive of crashes which is generated under this initiative is not made available to the public (except law enforcement personnel) until the study findings and recommendations are reported to Congress.

Such data may not be used used in a civil action for damages resulting from an incident involving a motor carrier.

Date: 2015-03-16
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Fighting Occupied Cell Use So Everyone Drives More Safely Act of 2015 or the FOCUS Act of 2015

This bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to withhold 25% of a state's apportionment of certain federal-aid highway funds for a fiscal year if the state has not enacted and is not enforcing a law that:

 prohibits an operator of a moving motor vehicle from using a communication device, except in the event of an emergency, if the operator is under age 21, and using a hand-held communication device if that operator is 21 or older; and requires, upon conviction of a violation of such prohibition, the imposition of penalties similar to those for conviction of the offense of driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence. "Communication device" means a mobile telephone or other portable electronic communication device with which a user engages in a call or writes, sends, or reads a message, or plays a game or watches a video.

Date: 2015-03-17
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Innovation in Surface Transportation Act of 2015

 Directs the Secretary of Transportation , in coordination with state transportation departments, to establish an innovation in surface transportation program.

Requires states to make competitive grants for innovative surface transportation projects to eligible entities, including local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, regional transportation authorities, transit agencies, tribal governments, private providers of public transportation, nonprofit transportation organizations, port authorities, joint power authorities, and local rail authorities.

Requires each state to establish an innovation in surface transportation selection panel to formulate criteria for selecting projects.

Requires a state to reserve certain percentages of federal funds apportioned for the national highway performance, the highway safety improvement, the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement, surface transportation, and transportation alternatives programs in order to fund related projects under state innovative surface transportation grants.

Authorizes states to reserve a certain percentage of such funds for a fiscal year to meet specific requests for project application support from eligible rural local governments.

Date: 2015-03-17
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Drug Free Commercial Driver Act of 2015 

 Revises regulations that require motor carriers to conduct preemployment, reasonable suspicion, random, and post-accident testing of commercial motor vehicle operators for controlled substances or alcohol.

Allows motor carriers to use hair testing as an acceptable alternative to urinalysis for detecting use of controlled substances by an operator, but only for preemployment testing and random testing (but the latter only if the motor carrier tested the operator at preemployment using the same method).

Requires the Secretary of Transportation to develop requirements for laboratories and testing procedures for controlled substances that include mandatory guidelines that establish, among other things, laboratory protocols and cut-off levels for hair testing to detect the use of such substances.

Allows a motor carrier that demonstrates it can carry out a hair testing program consistent with generally accepted industry standards to apply to the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for exemption from mandatory urinalysis testing. Requires a motor carrier's testing program, in order to be eligible for such exemption, to employ procedures and protections similar to a fleet that has carried out a hair testing program for at least 12 months.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue scientific and technical guidelines for hair testing as a method for detecting the use of controlled substances.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works
National Intersection and Interchange Safety Construction Program Act of 2015

This bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a national intersection and interchange safety construction grant program.

The Secretary may make competitive grants to a state or local government, U.S. territory, tribal government, or metropolitan planning organization for projects that:

 are eligible for federal-aid highway funding, and will improve the safety of certain intersections or interchanges on the National Highway System that are in immediate need of safety improvement. The aggregate grant amount provided to an entity in a fiscal year shall not exceed 5% of the amount available for all grants under the program in that fiscal year.

Date: 2015-03-25
Topic: Transportation (Highways)
Subject: Transportation and public works