Modernizing Agricultural Transportation Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1053 To require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a working group to study regulatory and legislative improvements for the livestock, insect, and agricultural commodities transport industries, and for other pur- poses. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 25, 2021 Mr. HOEVEN (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. DAINES, Ms. SMITH, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. CRAPO, Ms. ERNST, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. MARSHALL, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a working group to study regulatory and legislative im- provements for the livestock, insect, and agricultural commodities transport industries, 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 ‘‘Modernizing Agricul- 4 tural Transportation Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1053.IS S1053 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1053 IS SEC. 2. WORKING GROUP ON IMPROVING THE LIVESTOCK, 1 INSECT, AND AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES 2 TRANSPORT INDUSTRIES. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY.—The term 5 ‘‘agricultural commodity’’ means— 6 (A) an agricultural commodity as defined 7 in section 518 of the Federal Crop Insurance 8 Act (7 U.S.C. 1518); and 9 (B) an agricultural commodity as defined 10 in section 395.2 of title 49, Code of Federal 11 Regulations (or successor regulations). 12 (2) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘‘livestock’’ has the 13 meaning given the term in section 602 of the Emer- 14 gency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1988 (7 15 U.S.C. 1471). 16 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 17 the Secretary of Transportation. 18 (4) WORKING GROUP.—The term ‘‘working 19 group’’ means the working group established by the 20 Secretary under subsection (b). 21 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after 22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es- 23 tablish a working group— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1053.IS S1053 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1053 IS (1) to identify obstacles to safe, humane, and 1 market-efficient transport of livestock, insects, and 2 agricultural commodities; and 3 (2) to develop guidelines and recommended reg- 4 ulatory or legislative actions to improve the safe, hu- 5 mane, and efficient transport of livestock, insects, 6 and agricultural commodities. 7 (c) OUTREACH.—In carrying out the duties of the 8 working group under subsection (b), the working group 9 shall consult with— 10 (1) interested Governors; 11 (2) representatives of State and local agricul- 12 tural and highway safety agencies; 13 (3) other representatives of relevant State and 14 local agencies; 15 (4) members of the public with experience in— 16 (A) the livestock, insect, and agricultural 17 commodities industries; 18 (B) the livestock trucking industry; or 19 (C) transportation safety; and 20 (5) any other groups or stakeholders that the 21 working group determines to be appropriate. 22 (d) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out the duties of 23 the working group under subsection (b), the working 24 group shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1053.IS S1053 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1053 IS (1) consider the impact of the existing hours of 1 service regulations under subpart A of part 395 of 2 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 3 regulations), on the commercial transport of live- 4 stock, insects, and agricultural commodities; 5 (2) identify incompatibilities and other chal- 6 lenges and concerns caused by the hours of service 7 regulations described in paragraph (1) and electronic 8 logging device regulations under subpart B of part 9 395 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc- 10 cessor regulations), on the transport of livestock, in- 11 sects, and agricultural commodities; 12 (3) identify initiatives and regulatory changes 13 that maintain and protect the safety of highways 14 and allow for the safe, efficient, and productive mar- 15 ketplace transport of livestock, insects, and agricul- 16 tural commodities; and 17 (4) consider such other issues as the Secretary 18 considers appropriate. 19 (e) COMPOSITION.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary (or a des- 21 ignee) shall serve as the chair of the working group. 22 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The working group 24 shall be composed of members appointed by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1053.IS S1053 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1053 IS Secretary, including individuals with knowledge 1 and expertise that includes highway safety, the 2 commercial motor vehicle and transportation in- 3 dustries, animal husbandry, and the transpor- 4 tation of livestock, insects, and agricultural 5 commodities. 6 (B) REQUIREMENT.—The working group 7 shall include, at a minimum, representatives 8 of— 9 (i) the Department of Agriculture; 10 (ii) State agencies, including State de- 11 partments of agriculture and transpor- 12 tation; 13 (iii) highway and commercial motor 14 vehicle safety organizations; 15 (iv) agricultural producers, including 16 producers of livestock, insects, and agricul- 17 tural commodities; and 18 (v) commercial motor vehicle opera- 19 tors, including small business operators 20 and operators who haul livestock, insects, 21 and agricultural commodities. 22 (f) WORKING GROUP REPORT AND REGULATORY AC- 23 TION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1053.IS S1053 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1053 IS (1) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 1 date on which the working group is established, the 2 working group shall submit to the Secretary a report 3 that includes— 4 (A) the findings of the working group, in- 5 cluding a summary of the views expressed by 6 individuals and entities consulted under sub- 7 section (c); and 8 (B) the initiatives and regulatory and leg- 9 islative changes that the working group identi- 10 fies as necessary to protect the safety of high- 11 ways and allow for the safe, efficient, and pro- 12 ductive marketplace transport of livestock, in- 13 sects, and agricultural commodities. 14 (2) REGULATORY CHANGES.—Not later than 15 120 days after the date on which the Secretary re- 16 ceives the report under paragraph (1), the Secretary 17 shall propose regulatory changes that take into ac- 18 count the findings and recommendations of the 19 working group, including— 20 (A) changes to the hours of service regula- 21 tions under subpart A of part 395 of title 49, 22 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu- 23 lations); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1053.IS S1053 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1053 IS (B) changes to the electronic logging de- 1 vice regulations under subpart B of part 395 of 2 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc- 3 cessor regulations), including changes to regula- 4 tions relating to the performance and design of 5 electronic logging devices; and 6 (C) any other changes that the working 7 group recommends. 8 (3) APPLICATION.—Subsections (a) through (f) 9 of section 31137 of title 49, United States Code (in- 10 cluding any regulations promulgated to carry out 11 those subsections), shall not apply to commercial 12 motor vehicles hauling livestock, insects, or agricul- 13 tural commodities until the date on which the Sec- 14 retary proposes regulatory changes under paragraph 15 (2). 16 (g) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS BY SEC- 17 RETARY.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which 18 the Secretary receives the report of the working group 19 under subsection (f)(1), the Secretary shall submit to the 20 appropriate committees of Congress a report, including— 21 (1) a summary of the views expressed by the in- 22 dividuals and entities consulted under subsection (c); 23 (2) a description of the findings of the working 24 group, including the identification of any areas of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1053.IS S1053 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1053 IS general consensus among the non-Federal partici- 1 pants in the consultation under subsection (c); and 2 (3) any recommendations for legislative or regu- 3 latory action that would assist in maintaining and 4 improving the safe, humane, and market-efficient 5 transport of livestock, insects, and agricultural com- 6 modities. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1053.IS S1053 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS