School Bus Safety Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2278 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 25, 2019 Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 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 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) 3-POINT SAFETY BELT.—The term ‘‘3-point 8 safety belt’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Type 9 2 seat belt assembly’’ in section 571.209 of title 49, 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2278.IS S2278 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2278 IS Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 1 date of enactment of this Act). 2 (2) AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYS- 3 TEM.—The term ‘‘automatic emergency braking sys- 4 tem’’ means a crash avoidance system installed and 5 operational in a vehicle that consists of— 6 (A) a forward collision warning function— 7 (i) to detect vehicles and objects 8 ahead of the vehicle; and 9 (ii) to alert the operator of the vehicle 10 of an impending collision; and 11 (B) a crash-imminent braking function to 12 provide automatic braking when forward-look- 13 ing sensors of the vehicle indicate that— 14 (i) a crash is imminent; and 15 (ii) the operator of the vehicle is not 16 reacting in a timely or appropriate man- 17 ner. 18 (3) EVENT DATA RECORDER.—The term ‘‘event 19 data recorder’’ has the meaning given the term in 20 section 563.5(b) of title 49, Code of Federal Regula- 21 tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 22 Act). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2278.IS S2278 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2278 IS (4) SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘school bus’’ has 1 the meaning given the term ‘‘schoolbus’’ in section 2 30125(a) of title 49, United States Code. 3 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4 the Secretary of Transportation. 5 SEC. 3. SCHOOL BUS SAFETY. 6 (a) SEAT BELT REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 7 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 8 shall issue final rules prescribing or amending motor vehi- 9 cle safety standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United 10 States Code, to require school buses with a gross vehicle 11 weight rating of greater than 10,000 pounds to be 12 equipped with a 3-point safety belt at each designated 13 seating position. 14 (b) FIRE PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 15 (1) FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 18 retary shall issue rules prescribing or amending 19 motor vehicle safety standards under chapter 20 301 of title 49, United States Code, to require 21 school buses to be equipped with fire suppres- 22 sion systems that, at a minimum, address en- 23 gine fires. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2278.IS S2278 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2278 IS (B) APPLICATION.—The standards pre- 1 scribed or amendments made under subpara- 2 graph (A) shall apply to school buses manufac- 3 tured in, or imported into, the United States on 4 or after the effective date of the standards or 5 amendments. 6 (2) FIREWALLS.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 9 retary shall issue rules prescribing or amending 10 motor vehicle safety standards under chapter 11 301 of title 49, United States Code, for school 12 buses, especially school buses with engines that 13 extend beyond the firewall, to ensure that no 14 hazardous quantity of gas or flame can pass 15 through the firewall from the engine compart- 16 ment to the passenger compartment. 17 (B) APPLICATION.—The standards pre- 18 scribed or amendments made under subpara- 19 graph (A) shall apply to school buses manufac- 20 tured in, or imported into, the United States on 21 or after the effective date of the standards or 22 amendments. 23 (3) INTERIOR FLAMMABILITY AND SMOKE EMIS- 24 SIONS CHARACTERISTICS.—Not later than 1 year 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2278.IS S2278 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2278 IS after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 1 retary shall amend section 571.302 of title 49, Code 2 of Federal Regulations (relating to Federal Motor 3 Vehicle Safety Standard Number 302), to adopt, 4 with respect to a motor vehicle (as defined in section 5 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code), perform- 6 ance standards for interior flammability and smoke 7 emissions characteristics that are not less rigorous 8 than the performance standards for interior flamma- 9 bility and smoke emissions characteristics applicable 10 to— 11 (A) a compartment occupied by the crew 12 or passengers of a transport category airplane 13 (within the meaning of part 25 of title 14, Code 14 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 15 of enactment of this Act)) under section 25.853 16 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 17 effect on the date of enactment of this Act); 18 and 19 (B) a passenger car or locomotive cab (as 20 those terms are defined in section 238.5 of title 21 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 22 the date of enactment of this Act)) under sec- 23 tion 238.103 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2278.IS S2278 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2278 IS lations (as in effect on the date of enactment of 1 this Act). 2 (c) OTHER SAFETY EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS.— 3 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 4 Act, the Secretary shall issue final rules— 5 (1) prescribing or amending motor vehicle safe- 6 ty standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United 7 States Code, to require school buses to be equipped 8 with— 9 (A) an automatic emergency braking sys- 10 tem; 11 (B) an event data recorder; and 12 (C) an electronic stability control system 13 (as defined in section 571.136 of title 49, Code 14 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 15 of enactment of this Act)); and 16 (2) amending part 383 of title 49, Code of Fed- 17 eral Regulations, to require not less than 30 hours 18 of behind-the-wheel instruction for operators of 19 school buses, which shall be accrued— 20 (A) on public roads; and 21 (B) with a trained instructor who pos- 22 sesses a valid commercial driver’s license with a 23 school bus endorsement. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2278.IS S2278 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2278 IS (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 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2278.IS S2278 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2278 IS 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 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2278.IS S2278 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2278 IS 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 18:25 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2278.IS S2278 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS