[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3665 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3665

To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to penalty amounts for 
 civil violations of Federal motor carrier safety regulations, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 22, 1993

Mrs. Morella (for herself and Ms. Byrne) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to penalty amounts for 
 civil violations of Federal motor carrier safety regulations, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Federal motor carrier safety regulations need to be 
        strengthened to improve information provided to motor carriers 
        about past safety performance of drivers and to improve 
        supporting documentation for records of duty status.
            (2) The final penalties imposed on motor carriers for 
        violations of Federal motor carrier safety regulations are 
        sometimes too small to motivate effective compliance with the 
        safety regulations.
            (3) Penalties are too often considered part of the cost of 
        doing business.
            (4) The Federal Highway Administration's ability to promote 
        compliance would be increased by setting minimum penalty 
        amounts and by increasing the current maximum penalties allowed 
        for such violations.
            (5) Minimum penalty amounts would send the message to the 
        motor carrier industry that violations of the Federal motor 
        carrier safety regulations are significantly more serious than 
        traffic violations.
            (6) Imposition of minimum civil penalties would increase 
        uniformity of penalties among different regions of the Federal 
        Highway Administration.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to increase the maximum penalty amounts for civil 
        violations of Federal motor carrier safety regulations;
            (2) to set a minimum penalty amount for such violations of 
        Federal motor carrier safety regulations; and
            (3) to improve information provided to motor carriers about 
        past safety performance of drivers and to improve supporting 
        documentation for records of duty status.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF MINIMUM AMOUNT AND INCREASED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS.

    Section 521(b)(2)(A) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``not to exceed $500'' and inserting ``not 
        less than $500 and not to exceed $1,000'';
            (2) by striking ``not exceed $2,500'' and inserting ``not 
        be less than $500 and shall not exceed $5,000'';
            (3) by striking ``$1,000'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``$2,000'';
            (4) by striking ``$10,000'' the first place it appears and 
        inserting ``$20,000''; and
            (5) by striking ``$10,000'' the second place it appears and 
        inserting ``$25,000''.

SEC. 4. DRIVER'S RECORD OF DUTY STATUS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall promulgate 
regulations amending section 395.8(k) of title 49, Code of Federal 
Regulations, to require that any supporting document bearing on the 
record of duty status of a driver who operates a commercial motor 
vehicle--
            (1) be retained, by the motor carrier using such driver, 
        for at least 6 months following receipt of such document by the 
        motor carrier; and
            (2) include information identifying the driver and vehicle 
        related to the document.
    (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``supporting document'' 
means any electronic or paper document or record generated in the 
normal course of business, in the provision of transportation by 
commercial motor vehicle, that could be used by a safety inspector or 
motor carrier to verify the accuracy of entries in a driver's record of 
duty status, including trip reports, pay slips, bills of lading or 
shipping papers, and receipts for fuel, lodging, and tolls.

SEC. 5. SAFETY PERFORMANCE HISTORY OF NEW DRIVERS.

    (a) Amendment of Regulations.--Within 18 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall amend 
section 391.23 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to--
            (1) specify the safety information that must be sought 
        under that section by a motor carrier with respect to a driver;
            (2) require that such information be requested from former 
        employers and that former employers furnish the requested 
        information within 30 days after receiving the request; and
            (3) ensure that the driver to whom such information applies 
        has a reasonable opportunity to review and comment on the 
        information.
    (b) Safety Information.--The safety information required to be 
specified under subsection (a)(1) shall include information on--
            (1) any motor vehicle accidents in which the driver was 
        involved during the preceding 3 years;
            (2) any failure of the driver, during the preceding 3 
        years, to undertake or complete a rehabilitation program under 
        section 12020 of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 
        1986 (49 U.S.C. App. 2701) after being found to have used, in 
        violation of law or Federal regulation, alcohol or a controlled 
        substance;
            (3) any use by the driver, during the preceding 3 years, in 
        violation of law or Federal regulation of alcohol or a 
        controlled substance subsequent to completing such a 
        rehabilitation program; and
            (4) any other matters determined by the Secretary of 
        Transportation to be appropriate and useful for determining the 
        driver's safety performance.
    (c) Former Employer.--For purposes of this section, a former 
employer is any person who employed the driver in the preceding 3 
years.

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