School Bus Safety Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3381 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue rules requiring the inclusion of new safety equipment in school buses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. COHEN (for himself and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue rules requiring the inclusion of new safety equipment in school buses, 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 ‘‘School Bus Safety Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3381.IH H3381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3381 IH (1) 3-POINT SAFETY BELT.—The term ‘‘3-point 1 safety belt’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Type 2 2 seat belt assembly’’ in section 571.209 of title 49, 3 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 4 date of enactment of this Act). 5 (2) AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYS- 6 TEM.—The term ‘‘automatic emergency braking sys- 7 tem’’ means a crash avoidance system installed and 8 operational in a vehicle that consists of— 9 (A) a forward collision warning function— 10 (i) to detect vehicles and objects 11 ahead of the vehicle; and 12 (ii) to alert the operator of the vehicle 13 of an impending collision; and 14 (B) a crash-imminent braking function to 15 provide automatic braking when forward-look- 16 ing sensors of the vehicle indicate that— 17 (i) a crash is imminent; and 18 (ii) the operator of the vehicle is not 19 reacting in a timely or appropriate man- 20 ner. 21 (3) EVENT DATA RECORDER.—The term ‘‘event 22 data recorder’’ has the meaning given the term in 23 section 563.5(b) of title 49, Code of Federal Regula- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3381.IH H3381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3381 IH tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 1 Act). 2 (4) SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘school bus’’ has 3 the meaning given the term ‘‘schoolbus’’ in section 4 30125(a) of title 49, United States Code. 5 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 6 the Secretary of Transportation. 7 SEC. 3. SCHOOL BUS SAFETY. 8 (a) SEAT BELT REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 9 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 10 shall issue final rules prescribing or amending motor vehi- 11 cle safety standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United 12 States Code, to require school buses with a gross vehicle 13 weight rating of greater than 10,000 pounds to be 14 equipped with a 3-point safety belt at each designated 15 seating position. 16 (b) FIRE PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 17 (1) FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 20 retary shall issue rules prescribing or amending 21 motor vehicle safety standards under chapter 22 301 of title 49, United States Code, to require 23 school buses to be equipped with fire suppres- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3381.IH H3381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3381 IH sion systems that, at a minimum, address en- 1 gine fires. 2 (B) APPLICATION.—The standards pre- 3 scribed or amendments made under subpara- 4 graph (A) shall apply to school buses manufac- 5 tured in, or imported into, the United States on 6 or after the effective date of the standards or 7 amendments. 8 (2) FIREWALLS.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 11 retary shall issue rules prescribing or amending 12 motor vehicle safety standards under chapter 13 301 of title 49, United States Code, for school 14 buses, especially school buses with engines that 15 extend beyond the firewall, to ensure that no 16 hazardous quantity of gas or flame can pass 17 through the firewall from the engine compart- 18 ment to the passenger compartment. 19 (B) APPLICATION.—The standards pre- 20 scribed or amendments made under subpara- 21 graph (A) shall apply to school buses manufac- 22 tured in, or imported into, the United States on 23 or after the effective date of the standards or 24 amendments. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3381.IH H3381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3381 IH (3) INTERIOR FLAMMABILITY AND SMOKE EMIS- 1 SIONS CHARACTERISTICS.—Not later than 1 year 2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 3 retary shall amend section 571.302 of title 49, Code 4 of Federal Regulations (relating to Federal Motor 5 Vehicle Safety Standard Number 302), to adopt, 6 with respect to a motor vehicle (as defined in section 7 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code), perform- 8 ance standards for interior flammability and smoke 9 emissions characteristics that are not less rigorous 10 than the performance standards for interior flamma- 11 bility and smoke emissions characteristics applicable 12 to— 13 (A) a compartment occupied by the crew 14 or passengers of a transport category airplane 15 (within the meaning of part 25 of title 14, Code 16 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 17 of enactment of this Act)) under section 25.853 18 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 19 effect on the date of enactment of this Act); 20 and 21 (B) a passenger car or locomotive cab (as 22 those terms are defined in section 238.5 of title 23 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 24 the date of enactment of this Act)) under sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3381.IH H3381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3381 IH tion 238.103 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu- 1 lations (as in effect on the date of enactment of 2 this Act). 3 (c) OTHER SAFETY EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS.— 4 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 5 Act, the Secretary shall issue final rules— 6 (1) prescribing or amending motor vehicle safe- 7 ty standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United 8 States Code, to require school buses to be equipped 9 with— 10 (A) an automatic emergency braking sys- 11 tem; 12 (B) an event data recorder; and 13 (C) an electronic stability control system 14 (as defined in section 571.136 of title 49, Code 15 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 16 of enactment of this Act)); and 17 (2) amending part 383 of title 49, Code of Fed- 18 eral Regulations, to require not less than 30 hours 19 of behind-the-wheel instruction for operators of 20 school buses, which shall be accrued— 21 (A) on public roads; and 22 (B) with a trained instructor who pos- 23 sesses a valid commercial driver’s license with a 24 school bus endorsement. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3381.IH H3381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3381 IH (d) OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA.—Not later than 1 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 2 trator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 3 and the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Adminis- 4 tration shall complete the rulemaking process and publish 5 a final rule with respect to the advance notice of proposed 6 rulemaking entitled ‘‘Evaluation of Safety Sensitive Per- 7 sonnel for Moderate-to-Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea’’ 8 (81 Fed. Reg. 12642 (March 10, 2016)). 9 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The standards prescribed or 10 amendments made under subsections (a) and (c) shall 11 apply with respect to school buses manufactured in, or im- 12 ported into, the United States on or after the date that 13 is 1 year after the date on which the Secretary issues the 14 rules required under the applicable subsection. 15 SEC. 4. STUDIES. 16 (a) MOTION-ACTIVATED DETECTION SYSTEMS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 19 of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra- 20 tion (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Adminis- 21 trator’’) shall complete a study with respect to the 22 benefits of requiring school buses manufactured in, 23 or imported into, the United States to be equipped 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3381.IH H3381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3381 IH with a motion-activated detection system that is ca- 1 pable of— 2 (A) detecting pedestrians, bicyclists, and 3 other road users located near the exterior of the 4 school bus; and 5 (B) alerting the operator of the school bus 6 of the road users described in subparagraph 7 (A). 8 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 9 the date on which the Administrator completes the 10 study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 11 issue rules requiring school buses manufactured in, 12 or imported into, the United States to effectuate 13 that requirement. 14 (b) SAFETY BELT ALERT.—Not later than 2 years 15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 16 shall complete a study on the benefits of requiring school 17 buses manufactured in, or imported into, the United 18 States to be equipped with a system to alert the operator 19 of the school bus if a passenger in the school bus is not 20 wearing a 3-point safety belt equipped on the school bus. 21 SEC. 5. SAFETY GRANT PROGRAM. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 23 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 24 tation shall establish a grant program to provide grants 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3381.IH H3381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3381 IH to States to make subgrants to local educational agen- 1 cies— 2 (1) to assist the local educational agencies in 3 purchasing school buses equipped with— 4 (A) 3-point safety belts at each designated 5 seating position; or 6 (B) any other school bus safety feature de- 7 scribed in section 3 or 4; and 8 (2) to assist the local educational agencies in 9 modifying school buses already owned by the local 10 educational agency to be equipped with— 11 (A) 3-point safety belts at each designated 12 seating position; or 13 (B) any other school bus safety feature de- 14 scribed in section 3 or 4. 15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec- 17 essary to carry out this section. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3381.IH H3381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS