Take Unsafe Limos Off the Road Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4709 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to award grants to States that have enacted and are enforcing certain laws with respect to stretch limousines, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 16, 2019 Mr. TONKO (for himself, Mr. DELGADO, and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Secretary 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 04:15 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4709.IH H4709 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4709 IH SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR SAFETY OF STRETCH LIM- 1 OUSINES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 311 of title 49, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘§ 31162. Grant program for safety of stretch lim- 6 ousines 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 8 shall make a grant, in accordance with this section, to any 9 State that has enacted and is enforcing a law that requires 10 the impoundment or immobilization of a stretch limousine 11 if such limousine is found to have an eligible defect upon 12 inspection. 13 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible for a grant 14 under this section for a fiscal year if such State has en- 15 acted and is enforcing a law described in subsection (a) 16 on October 1 of such fiscal year. 17 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on October 1 of 19 the first fiscal year beginning after the date of en- 20 actment of this section, the Secretary shall apportion 21 funds appropriated to carry out this section to each 22 State that has enacted and is enforcing a law de- 23 scribed in subsection (a) in an amount determined 24 by— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4709.IH H4709 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4709 IH ‘‘(A) subtracting all amounts provided to 1 States pursuant to paragraph (2) from 2 $5,000,000; and 3 ‘‘(B) dividing the amount described in sub- 4 paragraph (A) by the number of States eligible 5 for a grant for such fiscal year. 6 ‘‘(2) INCREASE OF AMOUNTS.—Beginning on 7 October 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after the 8 date of enactment of this section, a State is eligible 9 for an additional $50,000 if the State has enacted 10 and is enforcing a law or regulation that requires— 11 ‘‘(A) any safety inspection of a stretch lim- 12 ousine to be conducted at a designated site con- 13 trolled by the State; and 14 ‘‘(B) the inspection described in subpara- 15 graph (A) to be conducted by employees trained 16 in the inspection of stretch limousines. 17 ‘‘(d) USES OF FUNDS.—A State receiving a grant 18 under this section may use such funds— 19 ‘‘(1) for the impoundment or immobilization of 20 a stretch limousine; 21 ‘‘(2) for the establishment and operating ex- 22 penses of designated stretch limousine safety inspec- 23 tion sites; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4709.IH H4709 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4709 IH ‘‘(3) to train employees in the inspection of 1 stretch limousines. 2 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 3 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE DEFECT.—The term ‘eligible de- 4 fect’ means any defect that would cause a motor ve- 5 hicle to fail a commercial motor vehicle safety in- 6 spection. 7 ‘‘(2) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 8 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given the 9 term in section 32101 of title 49, United States 10 Code. 11 ‘‘(3) STRETCH LIMOUSINE.—The term ‘stretch 12 limousine’ means a new or used passenger motor ve- 13 hicle that has been modified, altered, or extended in 14 a manner that increases the overall wheelbase of the 15 vehicle, exceeding the original equipment manufac- 16 turer’s wheelbase dimension for the base model and 17 year of the vehicle, in any amount sufficient to ac- 18 commodate additional passengers with a seating ca- 19 pacity of not fewer than 9 passengers including the 20 driver. 21 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 22 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 23 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2024.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4709.IH H4709 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4709 IH (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap- 1 ter 311 of title 49 is amended by adding at the end the 2 following: 3 ‘‘31162. Grant program for safety of stretch limousines.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4709.IH H4709 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS