Take Unsafe Limos Off the Road Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1531 To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Transpor- tation to award grants to States that have enacted and are enforcing certain laws with respect to stretch limousines, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 10, 2021 Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the Sec- retary of Transportation to award grants to States that have enacted and are enforcing certain laws with respect to stretch limousines, 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 ‘‘Take Unsafe Limos 4 Off the Road Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1531.IS S1531 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1531 IS SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR SAFETY OF STRETCH LIM- 1 OUSINES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 311 of 3 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 4 end the following: 5 ‘‘§ 31162. Grant program for safety of stretch lim- 6 ousines 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE DEFECT.—The term ‘eligible de- 9 fect’ means a defect that would cause a motor vehi- 10 cle to fail a commercial motor vehicle safety inspec- 11 tion. 12 ‘‘(2) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 13 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given the 14 term in section 32101. 15 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 16 the Secretary of Transportation. 17 ‘‘(4) STRETCH LIMOUSINE.—The term ‘stretch 18 limousine’ means a new or used passenger motor ve- 19 hicle that— 20 ‘‘(A) has been modified, altered, or ex- 21 tended in a manner that increases the overall 22 wheelbase of the vehicle— 23 ‘‘(i) beyond the wheelbase dimension 24 of the original equipment manufacturer for 25 the base model and year of the vehicle; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1531.IS S1531 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1531 IS ‘‘(ii) to a length sufficient to accom- 1 modate additional passengers; and 2 ‘‘(B) after being altered as described in 3 subparagraph (A), has a seating capacity of not 4 fewer than 9 passengers, including the driver. 5 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.—Each fiscal year, the Sec- 6 retary shall make a grant, in accordance with this section, 7 to each State that is eligible for a grant under subsection 8 (c). 9 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible for a grant 10 under this section for a fiscal year if, on October 1 of that 11 fiscal year, the State— 12 ‘‘(1) has enacted a law that requires the im- 13 poundment or immobilization of a stretch limousine 14 that is found to have an eligible defect on inspection; 15 and 16 ‘‘(2) is enforcing the law described in para- 17 graph (1), as determined by the Secretary. 18 ‘‘(d) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on October 1 of 20 the first fiscal year beginning after the date of en- 21 actment of this section, the Secretary shall apportion 22 the amounts appropriated to carry out this section 23 to each State that is eligible to receive a grant under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1531.IS S1531 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1531 IS subsection (c) in an amount that is equal to the 1 quotient obtained by dividing— 2 ‘‘(A) the difference between— 3 ‘‘(i) $5,000,000; and 4 ‘‘(ii) the total amount provided to 5 States under paragraph (2); and 6 ‘‘(B) the number of States eligible for a 7 grant under subsection (c) for the fiscal year. 8 ‘‘(2) INCREASE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Begin- 9 ning on October 1 of the first fiscal year beginning 10 after the date of enactment of this section, a State 11 that is eligible for a grant under subsection (c) may 12 receive an additional $50,000 in grant funds if, on 13 October 1 of that fiscal year, the State has enacted 14 and is enforcing a law or regulation that requires— 15 ‘‘(A) any safety inspection of a stretch lim- 16 ousine to be conducted at a designated site con- 17 trolled by the State; and 18 ‘‘(B) the inspection described in subpara- 19 graph (A) to be conducted by employees trained 20 in the inspection of stretch limousines. 21 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—A State receiving a grant 22 under this section may use grant amounts— 23 ‘‘(1) for the impoundment or immobilization of 24 a stretch limousine; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1531.IS S1531 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1531 IS ‘‘(2) for the establishment and operating ex- 1 penses of designated stretch limousine safety inspec- 2 tion sites; or 3 ‘‘(3) to train employees in the inspection of 4 stretch limousines. 5 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 6 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 7 out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 8 through 2024.’’. 9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for sub- 10 chapter IV of chapter 311 of title 49 is amended by insert- 11 ing after the item relating to section 31161 the following: 12 ‘‘31162. Grant program for safety of stretch limousines.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1531.IS S1531 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS