SELF DRIVE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8350 To amend title 49, United States Code, regarding the authority of the Na- tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration over highly automated vehicles, to provide safety measures for such vehicles, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 Mr. LATTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Edu- cation and Labor, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 amend title 49, United States Code, regarding the author- ity of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra- tion over highly automated vehicles, to provide safety measures for such vehicles, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research 5 In Vehicle Evolution Act’’ or the ‘‘SELF DRIVE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8350 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Purpose. Sec. 3. NHTSA authority and State preemption for autonomous motor vehicles. Sec. 4. Updated or new motor vehicle safety standards for highly automated ve- hicles. Sec. 5. Cybersecurity of automated driving systems. Sec. 6. General exemptions. Sec. 7. Motor vehicle testing or evaluation. Sec. 8. Information on highly automated driving systems made available to pro- spective buyers. Sec. 9. Highly Automated Vehicle Advisory Council. Sec. 10. Rear seat occupant alert system. Sec. 11. Headlamps. Sec. 12. Privacy plan required for highly automated vehicles. Sec. 13. Definitions. SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 3 The purpose of this Act is to clarify the Federal role 4 in ensuring the safety of highly automated vehicles as it 5 relates to design, construction, and performance, by en- 6 couraging the testing and deployment of such vehicles. 7 SEC. 3. NHTSA AUTHORITY AND STATE PREEMPTION FOR 8 AUTONOMOUS MOTOR VEHICLES. 9 Section 30103 of title 49, United States Code, is 10 amended— 11 (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol- 12 lows: 13 ‘‘(b) PREEMPTION.— 14 ‘‘(1) HIGHLY AUTOMATED VEHICLES.—No 15 State or political subdivision of a State may main- 16 tain, enforce, prescribe, or continue in effect any law 17 or regulation regarding the design, construction, or 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8350 IH performance of highly automated vehicles, auto- 1 mated driving systems, or components of automated 2 driving systems unless such law or regulation is 3 identical to a standard prescribed under this chap- 4 ter. 5 ‘‘(2) MOTOR VEHICLE STANDARD.—When a 6 motor vehicle safety standard is in effect under this 7 chapter, a State or political subdivision of a State 8 may prescribe or continue in effect a standard appli- 9 cable to the same aspect of performance of a motor 10 vehicle or motor vehicle equipment only if the stand- 11 ard is identical to the standard prescribed under this 12 chapter. 13 ‘‘(3) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sub- 15 section may be construed to prohibit a State or 16 a political subdivision of a State from maintain- 17 ing, enforcing, prescribing, or continuing in ef- 18 fect any law or regulation regarding registra- 19 tion, licensing, driving education and training, 20 insurance, law enforcement, crash investiga- 21 tions, safety and emissions inspections, conges- 22 tion management of vehicles on the street with- 23 in a State or political subdivision of a State, or 24 traffic unless the law or regulation is an unrea- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8350 IH sonable restriction on the design, construction, 1 or performance of highly automated vehicles, 2 automated driving systems, or components of 3 automated driving systems. 4 ‘‘(B) MOTOR VEHICLE DEALERS.—Nothing 5 in this subsection may be construed to prohibit 6 a State or political subdivision of a State from 7 maintaining, enforcing, prescribing, or con- 8 tinuing in effect any law or regulation regard- 9 ing the sale, distribution, repair, or service of 10 highly automated vehicles, automated driving 11 systems, or components of automated driving 12 systems by a dealer, manufacturer, or dis- 13 tributor. 14 ‘‘(C) CONFORMITY WITH FEDERAL LAW.— 15 Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 16 preempt, restrict, or limit a State or political 17 subdivision of a State from acting in accordance 18 with any other Federal law. 19 ‘‘(4) HIGHER PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT.— 20 However, the United States Government, a State, or 21 a political subdivision of a State may prescribe a 22 standard for a motor vehicle, motor vehicle equip- 23 ment, highly automated vehicle, or automated driv- 24 ing system obtained for its own use that imposes a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8350 IH higher performance requirement than that required 1 by the otherwise applicable standard under this 2 chapter. 3 ‘‘(5) STATE ENFORCEMENT.—A State may en- 4 force a standard that is identical to a standard pre- 5 scribed under this chapter.’’; 6 (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol- 7 lows: 8 ‘‘(e) COMMON LAW LIABILITY.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Compliance with a motor 10 vehicle safety standard prescribed under this chapter 11 does not exempt a person from liability at common 12 law. 13 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 14 this section shall be construed to preempt common 15 law claims.’’; and 16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(f) LICENSING.—A State may not issue a motor ve- 18 hicle operator’s license for the operation or use of a dedi- 19 cated highly automated vehicle in a manner that discrimi- 20 nates on the basis of disability (as defined in section 3 21 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 22 12102)).’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:31 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8350 IH SEC. 4. UPDATED OR NEW MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STAND- 1 ARDS FOR HIGHLY AUTOMATED VEHICLES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 301 of subtitle VI of title 3 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after sec- 4 tion 30128 the following new section: 5 ‘‘§ 30129. Updated or new motor vehicle safety stand- 6 ards for highly automated vehicles 7 ‘‘(a) SAFETY ASSESSMENT CERTIFICATION.— 8 ‘‘(1) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 24 months 9 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 10 Secretary of Transportation shall issue a final rule 11 requiring the submission of safety assessment certifi- 12 cations regarding how safety is being addressed by 13 each entity developing a highly automated vehicle or 14 an automated driving system. Such rule shall in- 15 clude— 16 ‘‘(A) a specification of which entities are 17 required to submit such certifications; 18 ‘‘(B) a clear description of the relevant test 19 results, data, and other contents required to be 20 submitted by such entity, in order to dem- 21 onstrate that such entity’s vehicles are likely to 22 maintain safety, and function as intended and 23 contain fail safe features, to be included in such 24 certifications; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8350 IH ‘‘(C) a specification of the circumstances 1 under which such certifications are required to 2 be updated or resubmitted. 3 ‘‘(2) INTERIM REQUIREMENT.—Until the final 4 rule issued under paragraph (1) takes effect, safety 5 assessment letters shall be submitted to the National 6 Highway Traffic Safety Administration as con- 7 templated by the Federal Automated Vehicles Policy 8 issued in September 2016, or any successor guid- 9 ance issued on highly automated vehicles requiring a 10 safety assessment letter. 11 ‘‘(3) PERIODIC REVIEW AND UPDATING.—Not 12 later than 5 years after the date on which the final 13 rule is issued under paragraph (1), and not less fre- 14 quently than every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary 15 shall— 16 ‘‘(A) review such rule; and 17 ‘‘(B) update such rule if the Secretary con- 18 siders it necessary. 19 ‘‘(4) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 20 ‘‘(A) NO CONDITIONS ON DEPLOYMENT.— 21 Nothing in this subsection may be construed to 22 limit or affect the Secretary’s authority under 23 any other provision of law. The Secretary may 24 not condition deployment or testing of highly 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8350 IH automated vehicles on review of safety assess- 1 ment certifications. 2 ‘‘(B) NO NEW AUTHORITIES.—No new au- 3 thorities are granted to the Secretary under 4 this section other than the promulgation of the 5 rule pursuant to paragraph (1). 6 ‘‘(5) REVIEW AND RESEARCH.—To accommo- 7 date the development and deployment of highly auto- 8 mated vehicles and to ensure the safety and security 9 of highly automated vehicles and motor vehicles and 10 others that will share the roads with highly auto- 11 mated vehicles, not later than 180 days after the 12 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 13 shall— 14 ‘‘(A) initiate or continue a review of the 15 Federal motor vehicle safety standards in effect 16 on such date of enactment; and 17 ‘‘(B) initiate or continue research regard- 18 ing new Federal motor vehicle safety standards. 19 ‘‘(b) RULEMAKING AND SAFETY PRIORITY PLAN.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 21 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 22 shall make available to the public and submit to the 23 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 24 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8350 IH Science, and Transportation of the Senate a rule- 1 making and safety priority plan, as necessary to ac- 2 commodate the development and deployment of high- 3 ly automated vehicles and to ensure the safety and 4 security of highly automated vehicles and motor ve- 5 hicles and others that will share the roads with high- 6 ly automated vehicles, to— 7 ‘‘(A) update the motor vehicle safety 8 standards in effect on such date of enactment; 9 ‘‘(B) issue new motor vehicle safety stand- 10 ards; and 11 ‘‘(C) consider how objective ranges in per- 12 formance standards could be used to test motor 13 vehicle safety standards, which safety standards 14 would be appropriate for such testing, and 15 whether additional authority would facilitate 16 such testing. 17 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION OF PRIORITIES.— 18 ‘‘(A) PRIORITIES.—The plan required by 19 paragraph (1) shall detail the overall priorities 20 of the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin- 21 istration for the 5 years following the issuance 22 of the plan, including both priorities with re- 23 spect to highly automated vehicles and priorities 24 with respect to other safety initiatives of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8350 IH Administration, in order to meet the Nation’s 1 motor vehicle safety challenges. 2 ‘‘(B) IDENTIFICATION OF ELEMENTS THAT 3 MAY REQUIRE STANDARDS.—For highly auto- 4 mated vehicles, the National Highway Traffic 5 Safety Administration should identify elements 6 that may require performance standards includ- 7 ing human machine interface, sensors, and ac- 8 tuators, and consider process and procedure 9 standards for software and cybersecurity as 10 necessary. 11 ‘‘(3) PERIODIC UPDATING.—The plan required 12 by paragraph (1) shall be updated every 2 years, or 13 more frequently if the Secretary considers it nec- 14 essary. 15 ‘‘(4) RULEMAKING PROCEEDINGS ON UPDATED 16 OR NEW MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 18 months after the date of enactment of this sec- 19 tion, the Secretary shall initiate the first rule- 20 making proceeding in accordance with the rule- 21 making and safety priority plan required by 22 paragraph (1). 23 ‘‘(B) PRIORITIZATION OF SUBSEQUENT 24 PROCEEDINGS.—The Secretary shall continue 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8350 IH initiating rulemaking proceedings in accordance 1 with such plan. The Secretary may change at 2 any time those priorities to address matters the 3 Secretary considers of greater priority. If the 4 Secretary makes such a change, the Secretary 5 shall complete an interim update of the priority 6 plan, make such update available to the public, 7 and submit such update to the Committee on 8 Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep- 9 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, 10 Science, and Transportation of the Senate.’’. 11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap- 12 ter 301 of subtitle VI of title 49, United States Code, is 13 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 14 30128 the following new item: 15 ‘‘30129. Updated or new motor vehicle safety standards for highly auto- mated vehicles.’’. SEC. 5. CYBERSECURITY OF AUTOMATED DRIVING SYS- 16 TEMS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 301 of subtitle VI of title 18 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after sec- 19 tion 30129 (as added by section 4) the following new sec- 20 tion: 21 ‘‘§ 30130. Cybersecurity of automated driving systems 22 ‘‘(a) CYBERSECURITY PLAN.—A manufacturer may 23 not sell, offer for sale, introduce or deliver for introduction 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8350.IH H8350 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8350 IH into commerce, or import into the United States, any high- 1 ly automated vehicle, vehicle t [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]