AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3413 To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring access to AM broadcast stations in motor vehicles, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2023 Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. WESTERMAN, and Ms. PEREZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring access to AM broadcast stations in motor vehi- cles, 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 ‘‘AM Radio for Every 4 Vehicle Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. AM BROADCAST STATIONS RULEMAKING. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3413 IH (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 2 Emergency Management Agency. 3 (2) AM BROADCAST BAND.—The term ‘‘AM 4 broadcast band’’ means the band of frequencies be- 5 tween 535 kilohertz and 1705 kilohertz, inclusive. 6 (3) AM BROADCAST STATION.—The term ‘‘AM 7 broadcast station’’ means a broadcast station li- 8 censed for the dissemination of radio communica- 9 tions— 10 (A) intended to be received by the public; 11 and 12 (B) operated on a channel in the AM 13 broadcast band. 14 (4) AUTHORIZED ALERT ORIGINATOR.—The 15 term ‘‘authorized alert originator’’ means a Federal, 16 State, local, Tribal, or territorial government agency 17 or official that is legally authorized to initiate alert 18 messages for transmission to the public using the 19 Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. 20 (5) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The term 21 ‘‘Comptroller General’’ means the Comptroller Gen- 22 eral of the United States. 23 (6) DEVICE.—The term ‘‘device’’ means a piece 24 of equipment or an apparatus that is designed— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3413 IH (A) to receive signals transmitted by a 1 radio broadcast station (as defined in section 3 2 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 3 153)); and 4 (B) to play back content or programming 5 derived from those signals. 6 (7) DIGITAL AUDIO AM BROADCAST STATION.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘digital 8 audio AM broadcast station’’ means an AM 9 broadcast station that— 10 (i) is licensed by the Federal Commu- 11 nications Commission; and 12 (ii) uses an In-band On-channel sys- 13 tem (as defined in section 73.402 of title 14 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or a suc- 15 cessor regulation)) for broadcasting pur- 16 poses. 17 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘digital audio 18 AM broadcast station’’ does not include an all- 19 digital AM station (as defined in section 73.402 20 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or a 21 successor regulation)). 22 (8) INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING 23 SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Integrated Public Alert and 24 Warning System’’ means the public alert and warn- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3413 IH ing system of the United States described in section 1 526 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 2 U.S.C. 321o). 3 (9) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac- 4 turer’’ has the meaning given the term in section 5 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code. 6 (10) MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘motor vehi- 7 cle’’ has the meaning given the term in section 8 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code. 9 (11) RECEIVE.—The term ‘‘receive’’ means to 10 receive a broadcast signal via over-the-air trans- 11 mission. 12 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 13 means the Secretary of Transportation. 14 (13) SIGNAL.—The term ‘‘signal’’ means radio 15 frequency energy that a holder of a radio station li- 16 cense granted or authorized by the Federal Commu- 17 nications Commission pursuant to sections 301 and 18 307 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 19 301, 307) intentionally emits or causes to be emitted 20 at a specified frequency for the purpose of transmit- 21 ting content or programming to the public. 22 (14) STANDARD EQUIPMENT.—The term 23 ‘‘standard equipment’’ means motor vehicle equip- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3413 IH ment (as defined in section 30102(a) of title 49, 1 United States Code) that— 2 (A) is installed as a system, part, or com- 3 ponent of a motor vehicle as originally manu- 4 factured; and 5 (B) the manufacturer of the motor vehicle 6 recommends or authorizes to be included in the 7 motor vehicle for no additional or separate 8 monetary fee, payment, or surcharge, beyond 9 the base price of a motor vehicle. 10 (b) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year 11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in 12 consultation with the Administrator and the Federal Com- 13 munications Commission, shall issue a rule— 14 (1) requiring devices that can receive signals 15 and play content transmitted by AM broadcast sta- 16 tions be installed as standard equipment in motor 17 vehicles manufactured in the United States, im- 18 ported into the United States, or shipped in inter- 19 state commerce after the effective date of the rule; 20 (2) requiring dashboard access to AM broadcast 21 stations in a manner that is conspicuous to a driver; 22 and 23 (3) allowing a manufacturer to comply with 24 that rule by installing devices that can receive sig- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3413 IH nals and play content transmitted by digital audio 1 AM broadcast stations as standard equipment in 2 motor vehicles manufactured in the United States, 3 imported into the United States, or shipped in inter- 4 state commerce after the effective date of the rule. 5 (c) INTERIM REQUIREMENT.—For motor vehicles 6 manufactured in the United States, imported into the 7 United States, or shipped in interstate commerce between 8 the period of time beginning on the date of enactment of 9 this Act and ending on the effective date of the rule issued 10 under subsection (b) that do not include devices that can 11 receive signals and play content transmitted by AM broad- 12 cast stations, the manufacturer of the motor vehicles shall 13 provide clear and conspicuous labeling to inform pur- 14 chasers of those motor vehicles that the motor vehicles do 15 not include devices that can receive signals and play con- 16 tent transmitted by AM broadcast stations. 17 (d) ENFORCEMENT.— 18 (1) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person failing to 19 comply with the rule issued under subsection (b) 20 shall be liable to the United States Government for 21 a civil penalty in accordance with section 22 30165(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code. 23 (2) CIVIL ACTION.—The Attorney General may 24 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3413 IH of the United States to enjoin a violation of the rule 1 issued under subsection (b) in accordance with sec- 2 tion 30163 of title 49, United States Code. 3 (e) STUDY.— 4 (1) STUDY REQUIRED.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller Gen- 6 eral shall study and assess whether an alter- 7 native communication system for delivering 8 emergency alerts and critical public safety in- 9 formation distributed by the Integrated Public 10 Alert and Warning System to drivers and pas- 11 sengers of motor vehicles exists that— 12 (i) is as reliable and resilient as AM 13 broadcast stations; and 14 (ii) is capable of ensuring the Presi- 15 dent (or a designee) can reach at least 90 16 percent of the population of the United 17 States in a time of crisis, including at 18 night. 19 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out 20 the study required by subparagraph (A), the 21 Comptroller General shall consider— 22 (i) the cost to drivers and passengers 23 to receive communications through an al- 24 ternative communication system; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3413 IH (ii) in consultation with the Federal 1 Emergency Management Agency, the Fed- 2 eral Communications Commission, and au- 3 thorized alert originators, the cost and 4 time required to develop and implement an 5 alternative resilient communication system 6 that fully replicates the capability to de- 7 liver emergency alerts and critical public 8 safety information distributed by the Inte- 9 grated Public Alert and Warning System. 10 (2) BRIEFING; REPORT.— 11 (A) BRIEFING.—Not later than 1 year 12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the 13 Comptroller General shall brief the appropriate 14 committees of Congress on the results of the 15 study required by paragraph (1)(A), including 16 recommendations for legislation and adminis- 17 trative action as the Comptroller General deter- 18 mines appropriate. 19 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 20 after the date on which the Comptroller General 21 provides the briefing required under subpara- 22 graph (A), the Comptroller General shall sub- 23 mit to the Committees on Commerce, Science, 24 and Transportation; and Homeland Security 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3413 IH and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 1 the Committees on Transportation and Infra- 2 structure and Homeland Security of the House 3 of Representatives a report describing the re- 4 sults of the study required under paragraph 5 (1)(A), including recommendations for legisla- 6 tion and administrative action as the Comp- 7 troller General determines appropriate. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS