SECURES Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2792 To require the Secretary of Transportation to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking concerning seat belts on school buses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 16, 2019 Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself, Mr. REED, and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking concerning seat belts on 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 ‘‘Secure Every Child 4 Under the Right Equipment Standards Act of 2019’’ or 5 the ‘‘SECURES Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. PROPOSED RULEMAKING. 7 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 180 days after 8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2792.IH H2792 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2792 IH portation shall publish a notice of proposed rulemaking 1 on new Federal standards for school bus seat belt require- 2 ments on all school buses, regardless of gross vehicle 3 weight rating. 4 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In the proposed rulemaking, 5 the Secretary shall consider— 6 (1) the safety benefits of a lap/shoulder belt 7 system (also known as a ‘‘Type 2 seat belt assem- 8 bly’’); 9 (2) the conclusion of the National Transpor- 10 tation Safety Board that ‘‘Lap/shoulder belts pro- 11 vide the highest level of protection for school bus 12 passengers’’ and that ‘‘Properly worn lap belts pro- 13 vide some benefit,’’ while ‘‘Properly worn lap/shoul- 14 der belts provide greater benefit by reducing injuries 15 related to upper body flailing’’; 16 (3) the 2015 announcement by the Adminis- 17 trator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Ad- 18 ministration Mark Rosekind, stating that the agency 19 believes ‘‘that every child on every school bus should 20 have a three-point seat belt’’; 21 (4) any innovative approaches to seat belt de- 22 tection, seat belt reminder systems, and seat belt 23 violation alert systems that could be incorporated 24 into school bus designs; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2792.IH H2792 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2792 IH (5) existing experience from the States that 1 have already required school buses to be equipped 2 with seat belts. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2792.IH H2792 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS