Improved Transportation Consumer Protection Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1551 To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish an Office of Consumer Protection in the Department of Transportation, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2023 Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. WELCH, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mr. MARKEY, and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish an Office of Consumer Protection in the Department of Transportation, 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 ‘‘Improved Transpor- 4 tation Consumer Protection Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF CONSUMER PRO- 6 TECTION. 7 Section 102 of title 49, United States Code, is 8 amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1551.IS S1551 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1551 IS (1) in subsection (e)(1)— 1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 2 (A), by striking ‘‘7’’ and inserting ‘‘8’’; and 3 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and 4 an Assistant Secretary for Transportation Pol- 5 icy’’ and inserting ‘‘an Assistant Secretary for 6 Transportation Policy, and an Assistant Sec- 7 retary for Consumer Protection’’; and 8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(j) OFFICE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION.— 10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 11 the Department an Office of Consumer Protection 12 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Office’) to ad- 13 minister and enforce the authority provided to the 14 Department by statute— 15 ‘‘(A) to assist, educate, and protect con- 16 sumers; 17 ‘‘(B) to monitor compliance with, conduct 18 investigations relating to, and enforce, including 19 by taking appropriate action to address viola- 20 tions of, consumer protection, civil rights, and 21 licensing requirements; and 22 ‘‘(C) to promulgate, as appropriate, con- 23 sumer protection and civil rights regulations. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1551.IS S1551 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1551 IS ‘‘(2) LEADERSHIP.—The Office shall be headed 1 by the Assistant Secretary for Consumer Protection 2 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Assistant Sec- 3 retary’). 4 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION.—The Assistant Secretary 5 shall coordinate with the General Counsel appointed 6 under subsection (e)(1)(E), in accordance with sec- 7 tion 1.26 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations 8 (or a successor regulation), on all legal matters re- 9 lating to— 10 ‘‘(A) consumer protection; or 11 ‘‘(B) the duties and activities of the Office 12 described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of 13 paragraph (1). 14 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Assistant Sec- 15 retary shall submit to Congress and make publicly 16 available on the website of the Department an an- 17 nual report that, with respect to matters under the 18 jurisdiction of the Department, or otherwise within 19 the statutory authority of the Department to ad- 20 dress— 21 ‘‘(A) analyzes trends in consumer protec- 22 tion, civil rights, and licensing; 23 ‘‘(B) identifies major challenges facing 24 consumers; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1551.IS S1551 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1551 IS ‘‘(C) addresses any other relevant issues, 1 as the Assistant Secretary determines to be ap- 2 propriate.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1551.IS S1551 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS