To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a safety data collection program for certain 6-axle vehicles, and for other purposes.

IB Union Calendar No. 287 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3372 [Report No. 118–352] To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a safety data collection program for certain 6-axle vehicles, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 16, 2023 Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota (for himself and Mr. COSTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure JANUARY 18, 2024 Additional sponsors: Mr. EDWARDS and Mr. DUARTE JANUARY 18, 2024 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 16, 2023] VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3372 RH A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a safety data collection program for certain 6-axle vehicles, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3372 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SAFETY DATA COLLECTION PROGRAM FOR CER- 3 TAIN 6-AXLE VEHICLES. 4 Section 127 of title 23, United States Code, is amended 5 by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(x) PILOT PROGRAM FOR SAFETY DATA COLLECTION 7 ON CERTAIN 6-AXLE VEHICLES.— 8 ‘‘(1) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Not later than 30 9 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 10 Secretary shall establish a pilot program (referred to 11 in this subsection as the ‘pilot program’) under which 12 States admitted by the Secretary under paragraph (2) 13 may allow covered 6-axle vehicles to be operated on 14 the Interstate System in the State. 15 ‘‘(2) ADMISSION TO PILOT PROGRAM.— 16 ‘‘(A) INITIAL APPLICATION.—Beginning on 17 the date that is 30 days after the date of enact- 18 ment of this subsection, a State seeking to par- 19 ticipate in the pilot program shall submit an ap- 20 plication to the Secretary in electronic form, 21 containing such administrative information as 22 the Secretary may require, including a certifi- 23 cation that the State has or will have the author- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3372 RH ity pursuant to State law to implement the pilot 1 program. 2 ‘‘(B) ADMISSION.—The Secretary shall 3 admit to the pilot program, on a rolling basis, 4 States that submit a completed application 5 under subparagraph (A). 6 ‘‘(C) ELECTION TO NO LONGER PARTICI- 7 PATE.—If a State elects to no longer participate 8 in the pilot program, the State shall notify the 9 Secretary of such election. 10 ‘‘(3) MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to par- 12 ticipate in the pilot program, a State shall agree 13 to implement the pilot program through the 14 issuance of permits per vehicle or group of vehi- 15 cles with respect to covered 6-axle vehicles. 16 ‘‘(B) PERMIT.—A permit described in sub- 17 paragraph (A) shall— 18 ‘‘(i) describe the Interstate System 19 routes that may be used while operating at 20 greater than 80,000 pounds gross vehicle 21 weight in a covered 6-axle vehicle; and 22 ‘‘(ii) require the permit holder to re- 23 port to the State, with respect to each cov- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3372 RH ered 6-axle vehicle for which such permit 1 was issued— 2 ‘‘(I) each accident (as such term 3 is defined in section 390.5 of title 49, 4 Code of Federal Regulations, as in ef- 5 fect on the date of enactment of this 6 subsection) that occurred in the State 7 involving the covered 6-axle vehicle on 8 the Interstate System in the State; 9 ‘‘(II) the estimated gross vehicle 10 weight of each covered 6-axle vehicle at 11 the time of an accident described in 12 subclause (I); and 13 ‘‘(III) the estimated miles traveled 14 by the covered 6-axle vehicle on the 15 Interstate System in the State annu- 16 ally. 17 ‘‘(C) SAFETY EQUIPMENT INCENTIVE.— 18 ‘‘(i) FEE REDUCTION.—With respect to 19 any fee associated with a permit under this 20 paragraph, the State may reduce the fee 21 otherwise applicable to a vehicle by 67 per- 22 cent if the vehicle is equipped with an auto- 23 matic emergency braking system, including 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3372 RH such systems in use on the date of enact- 1 ment of this subsection. 2 ‘‘(ii) GROUP OF VEHICLES.—As ap- 3 plied to a permit for a group of vehicles, the 4 reduction under clause (i) shall only apply 5 with respect to individual vehicles in the 6 group that are equipped with an automatic 7 emergency breaking system, including such 8 systems in use on the date of enactment of 9 this subsection. 10 ‘‘(4) OTHER AUTHORIZATIONS NOT AFFECTED.— 11 This subsection shall not restrict— 12 ‘‘(A) a vehicle that may operate under any 13 other provision of this section or another Federal 14 law; or 15 ‘‘(B) a State’s authority with respect to a 16 vehicle that may operate under any other provi- 17 sion of this section or another Federal law. 18 ‘‘(5) NO HIGHWAY FUNDING REDUCTION.—Not- 19 withstanding subsection (a), funds apportioned to a 20 State under section 104 for any period may not be 21 reduced because the State authorizes the operation of 22 covered 6-axle vehicles within such State in accord- 23 ance with this subsection. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3372 RH ‘‘(6) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than the first 1 March 1 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 2 and annually thereafter, a State participating in the 3 pilot program shall submit to the Secretary with re- 4 spect to the previous calendar year, a report on— 5 ‘‘(A) the number of accidents (as such term 6 is defined in section 390.5 of title 49, Code of 7 Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of 8 enactment of this subsection)) that occurred on 9 the Interstate System in the State involving a 10 covered 6-axle vehicle for which a permit was 11 issued under the pilot program; 12 ‘‘(B) the estimated gross vehicle weight of 13 each such vehicle at the time of the accident in 14 the State described in subparagraph (A); and 15 ‘‘(C) the estimated miles traveled by such 16 vehicle on the Interstate System in the State. 17 ‘‘(7) TERMINATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 19 subparagraph (B), the pilot program shall termi- 20 nate on the date that is 5 years after the date 21 of enactment of this subsection. 22 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL APPLICATION; CONTINU- 23 ATION OF AUTHORITY.—For a period of 5 years 24 beginning on the date described in subparagraph 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3372 RH (A), the Secretary may continue the pilot pro- 1 gram with respect to each State in the program, 2 upon the application of a State and after consid- 3 eration of— 4 ‘‘(i) the actual experience of the State 5 under the pilot program; and 6 ‘‘(ii) any documents or other material 7 submitted by the State in support of such 8 an application. 9 ‘‘(8) COVERED 6-AXLE VEHICLE DEFINED.—In 10 this subsection, the term ‘covered 6-axle vehicle’ means 11 a vehicle— 12 ‘‘(A) equipped with 6 or more axles; 13 ‘‘(B) for which the weight— 14 ‘‘(i) on any single axle of the vehicle 15 does not exceed 20,000 pounds, including 16 enforcement tolerances; 17 ‘‘(ii) on any tandem axle of the vehicle 18 does not exceed 34,000 pounds, including 19 enforcement tolerances; and 20 ‘‘(iii) on any group of three or more 21 axles of the vehicle does not exceed 45,000 22 pounds, including enforcement tolerances; 23 ‘‘(C) for which the gross weight does not ex- 24 ceed the lesser of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3372 RH ‘‘(i) 91,000 pounds, including enforce- 1 ment tolerances; and 2 ‘‘(ii) the maximum permitted by the 3 bridge formula under subsection (a); and 4 ‘‘(D) that is not a longer combination vehi- 5 cle, as such term is defined in subsection 6 (d)(4).’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB Union Calendar No. 287 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3372 [Report No. 118–352] A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a safety data collection program for certain 6- axle vehicles, and for other purposes. JANUARY 18, 2024 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H3372.RH H3372 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB