SAFE CARS Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2231 To prohibit the sale, lease, or use of recalled motor vehicles by Federal agencies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2021 Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, and Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To prohibit the sale, lease, or use of recalled motor vehicles by Federal agencies, 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 ‘‘Shielding All Federal 4 Employees and Consumers from Actionable Recall Situa- 5 tions Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘SAFE CARS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2231.IH H2231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2231 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE, LEASE, OR USE OF RE- 1 CALLED MOTOR VEHICLES BY FEDERAL 2 AGENCIES. 3 (a) MOTOR VEHICLES OWNED BY FEDERAL AGEN- 4 CIES.—If the head of an agency of the Federal Govern- 5 ment has received notification under section 30119 of title 6 49, United States Code, that a motor vehicle owned by 7 the agency, or an item of replacement equipment used in 8 or on the vehicle, contains a defect related to motor vehicle 9 safety or does not comply with an applicable motor vehicle 10 safety standard prescribed under chapter 301 of such 11 title— 12 (1) the head of the agency may not— 13 (A) sell the vehicle unless— 14 (i) if a remedy for the defect or non- 15 compliance has been made available by the 16 manufacturer at the time of sale, the de- 17 fect or noncompliance has been remedied 18 as required under section 30120 of such 19 title; or 20 (ii) if a remedy for the defect or non- 21 compliance has not been made available by 22 the manufacturer at the time of sale, the 23 head of the agency notifies the purchaser 24 of the vehicle of the defect or noncompli- 25 ance before the time of sale; or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2231.IH H2231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2231 IH (B) enter into an agreement to lease the 1 vehicle to an individual or entity unless— 2 (i) if a remedy for the defect or non- 3 compliance has been made available by the 4 manufacturer at the time when the agree- 5 ment is entered into, the defect or non- 6 compliance has been remedied as required 7 under section 30120 of such title; or 8 (ii) if a remedy for the defect or non- 9 compliance has not been made available by 10 the manufacturer at the time when the 11 agreement is entered into, the head of the 12 agency notifies the individual or entity of 13 the defect or noncompliance before such 14 time; 15 (2) in the case in which the head of the agency 16 has entered into an agreement to lease the vehicle to 17 an individual or entity, and such agreement has not 18 expired at the time of the notification, the head of 19 the agency shall— 20 (A) notify such individual or entity that 21 the agency has received such notification; and 22 (B) in the case in which such individual or 23 entity is not the head of an agency of the Fed- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2231.IH H2231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2231 IH eral Government, encourage such individual or 1 entity to make all reasonable efforts to— 2 (i) have the defect or noncompliance 3 remedied as required under section 30120 4 of such title; and 5 (ii) prevent the use of such vehicle 6 until the defect or noncompliance has been 7 remedied as required under section 30120 8 of such title; and 9 (3) the head of the agency shall make all rea- 10 sonable efforts to prevent the use of such vehicle by 11 individuals of the agency until the defect or non- 12 compliance has been remedied as required under sec- 13 tion 30120 of such title, unless the head of the agen- 14 cy makes a written determination that use of the ve- 15 hicle by individuals of the agency is necessary for a 16 critical mission purpose and that such purpose out- 17 weighs any risks to health and safety caused by 18 using the vehicle before the defect or noncompliance 19 is remedied as required under section 30120 of such 20 title. 21 (b) MOTOR VEHICLES LEASED BY FEDERAL AGEN- 22 CIES.—If an entity notifies the head of an agency of the 23 Federal Government that such entity has received a notifi- 24 cation under section 30119 of title 49, United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2231.IH H2231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2231 IH Code, that a vehicle leased by the entity to the head of 1 the agency, or an item of replacement equipment used in 2 or on the vehicle, contains a defect related to motor vehicle 3 safety or does not comply with an applicable motor vehicle 4 safety standard prescribed under chapter 301 of such title, 5 the head of the agency shall make all reasonable efforts 6 to prevent the use of such vehicle by individuals of the 7 agency until the defect or noncompliance has been rem- 8 edied as required under section 30120 of such title, unless 9 the head of the agency makes a written determination that 10 use of the vehicle by individuals of the agency is necessary 11 for a critical mission purpose and that such purpose out- 12 weighs any risks to health and safety caused by using the 13 vehicle before the defect or noncompliance is remedied as 14 required under section 30120 of such title. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2231.IH H2231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS