[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 266 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 266

 Prohibiting the manufacture, sale, delivery, or importation of school 
       buses that do not have seat belts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 1995

  Mr. Jacobs introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 Prohibiting the manufacture, sale, delivery, or importation of school 
       buses that do not have seat belts, 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. PROHIBITION.

    No person shall manufacture, sell, deliver, or import any school 
bus, constructed after the effective date of this Act, for use by a 
person described in section 2 to provide transportation service, unless 
such school bus is equipped with a seat belt, with particular emphasis 
on the use of an Aaron Gordon type flight attendant double shoulder 
harness mechanism or other appropriate safety restraint device 
providing equal or greater passenger safety, for each passenger riding 
in such school bus.

SEC. 2. PERSONS TO WHICH PROHIBITION APPLIES.

    The prohibition set forth in section 1 shall apply to--
            (1) any school bus, as such term is defined in section 
        4221(d)(7)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
            (2) any Federal, State, or local government entity, school 
        district, or other public or private entity providing 
        transportation to passengers by school bus.

SEC. 3. CIVIL PENALTIES; SECRETARY'S AUTHORITY TO COMPROMISE.

    (a) Amount of Penalties.--Whoever violates any provision of this 
Act, or any regulation issued thereunder, shall be subject to a civil 
penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each such violation. A violation with 
respect to each school bus shall constitute a separate violation, 
except that the maximum civil penalty shall not exceed $800,000 for any 
related series of violations.
    (b) Compromise of Penalties.--Any such civil penalty may be 
compromised by the Secretary of Transportation. In determining the 
amount of such penalty, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, the 
appropriateness of such penalty to the size of the business of the 
person charged and the gravity of the violation shall be considered. 
The amount of such penalty, when finally determined, or the amount 
agreed upon in compromise, may be deducted from any sums owing by the 
United States to the person charged.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect 90 days after the date of its enactment.
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