HAULS Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 792 To amend the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 to modify certain agricultural exemptions for hours of service requirements, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 17 (legislative day, MARCH 16), 2021 Mrs. FISCHER (for herself, Mr. TESTER, Mr. WICKER, and Ms. SMITH) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 to modify certain agricultural exemptions for hours of service requirements, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Haulers of Agriculture 4 and Livestock Safety Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘HAULS Act 5 of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S792.IS S792 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 792 IS SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION OF AGRICULTURAL COMMOD- 1 ITIES AND FARM SUPPLIES. 2 Section 229 of the Motor Carrier Safety Improve- 3 ment Act of 1999 (49 U.S.C. 31136 note; Public Law 4 106–159) is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 6 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 7 (A), by striking ‘‘during planting and harvest 8 periods, as determined by each State,’’; and 9 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) and in- 10 serting the following: 11 ‘‘(A) drivers transporting agricultural com- 12 modities within a 150 air-mile radius from— 13 ‘‘(i) the source of the agricultural 14 commodities; or 15 ‘‘(ii) the destination of the agricul- 16 tural commodities;’’; and 17 (2) in subsection (e)(8), by striking ‘‘during the 18 planting and harvesting seasons within each State, 19 as determined by the State, and livestock feed at 20 any time of the year’’ and inserting ‘‘and livestock 21 feed’’. 22 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 229(e) of the Motor Car- 24 rier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (49 U.S.C. 31136 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S792.IS S792 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 792 IS note; Public Law 106–159) is amended by striking para- 1 graph (7) and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘(7) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY.—The term 3 ‘agricultural commodity’ has the meaning given the 4 term in section 395.2 of title 49, Code of Federal 5 Regulations (or a successor regulation).’’. 6 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the 7 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 8 tation shall revise the definition of the term ‘‘agricultural 9 commodity’’ in section 395.2 of title 49, Code of Federal 10 Regulations, to include— 11 (1) any nonprocessed product planted or har- 12 vested for food, feed, fuel, or fiber; 13 (2)(A) any nonhuman living animal, includ- 14 ing— 15 (i) fish; 16 (ii) insects; and 17 (iii) livestock (as defined in section 602 of 18 the Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act 19 of 1988 (7 U.S.C. 1471)); and 20 (B) the nonprocessed products of any 21 nonhuman living animal, including— 22 (i) milk; 23 (ii) eggs; and 24 (iii) honey; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S792.IS S792 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 792 IS (3) nonprocessed forestry, aquacultural, horti- 1 cultural, and floricultural commodities; 2 (4) fresh or minimally processed fruits and 3 vegetables, including fruits and vegetables that are 4 rinsed, cooled, cut, ripened, or otherwise minimally 5 processed, as determined by the Secretary; and 6 (5) animal feed, including the ingredients of 7 animal feed. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S792.IS S792 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS