[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 56 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 56

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 1999

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


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

    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 bus, 
constructed after the effective date of this Act, for use by a person 
described in section 2 to provide transportation service, unless such 
bus is equipped with a seat belt for each passenger riding in such bus.

SEC. 2. PERSONS TO WHICH PROHIBITION APPLIES.

    The prohibition set forth in section 1 shall apply to--
            (1) any bus, including a school bus, designed to transport 
        more than 15 passengers, including the driver; and
            (2) any Federal, State, or local government entity, school 
        district, or other public or private entity providing 
        transportation to passengers by 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 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.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

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