[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2048 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2048

  To protect the rights of consumers to diagnose, service, and repair 
      motor vehicles in the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 3, 2005

 Mr. Barton of Texas (for himself, Mr. Towns, and Mr. Issa) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To protect the rights of consumers to diagnose, service, and repair 
      motor vehicles in the United States, 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 Vehicle Owners' Right to 
Repair Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The ability to diagnose, service, and repair a motor 
        vehicle in a timely, reliable, and affordable manner is 
        essential to the safety and well-being of automotive consumers 
        in the United States.
            (2) Consumers are entitled to choose among competing repair 
        facilities for the convenient, reliable, and affordable repair 
        of their motor vehicles.
            (3) Increased competition among repair facilities will 
        benefit vehicle owners in the United States.
            (4) Computers of various kinds are increasingly being used 
        in motor vehicle systems, such as pollution control, 
        transmission, anti-lock brakes, electronic and mechanical 
        systems, heating and air-conditioning, mobile electronics, 
        airbags, and steering.
            (5) The diagnosis, service, and repair of these vehicle 
        systems are essential to the safety and proper operation of 
        modern motor vehicles.
            (6) In many instances, access codes prevent owners from 
        making, or having made, the necessary diagnosis, service, and 
        repair of their motor vehicles in a timely, convenient, 
        reliable, and affordable manner.
            (7) Automobile manufacturers have restricted access to the 
        information motor vehicle owners need in order to diagnose, 
        service, and repair their vehicles, in a manner that has 
        hindered open competition among repair facilities.
            (8) Consumers in the United States have benefited from the 
        availability of a competitive aftermarket industry, or parts 
        and accessories used in the repair, maintenance, or enhancement 
        of a motor vehicle. The American economy has also benefited 
        from the availability of a competitive aftermarket industry 
        that provides jobs to over 5 million workers in over 495,000 
        businesses, and generates $200 billion in annual sales.
            (9) Vehicle owners in the United States should have the 
        right--
                    (A) to all information necessary to allow the 
                diagnosis, service, and repair of their vehicles;
                    (B) to choose between original parts and 
                aftermarket parts when repairing their motor vehicles; 
                and
                    (C) to make, or have made, repairs necessary to 
                keep their vehicles in reasonably good and serviceable 
                condition during the life of the vehicle.
            (10) The restriction of vehicle repair information and 
        tools limits who can repair motor vehicles and what parts may 
        be used to repair those vehicles, which limits consumer choice, 
        impedes competition, and increases the costs of vehicle repair 
        for consumers.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are:
            (1) To ensure the safety of all vehicle owners by requiring 
        disclosure of all information necessary for the proper 
        diagnosis, service, and repair of a vehicle in a timely, 
        affordable, and reliable manner.
            (2) To encourage competition in the diagnosis, service, and 
        repair of motor vehicles.

SEC. 3. MANUFACTURER DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Duty to Disclose.--The manufacturer of a motor vehicle sold or 
introduced into commerce in the United States shall promptly provide to 
the vehicle owner, or to a repair facility of the motor vehicle owner's 
choosing, the information necessary to diagnose, service, or repair the 
vehicle. The motor vehicle manufacturer shall make available all non-
emission-related service information, training information, and 
diagnostic tools on a non-discriminatory basis to any repair facility 
of the owner's choosing, and shall not not limit such information to 
those repair facilities within the manufacturers' approved network. The 
information to be made available shall include the following:
            (1) The same service and training information related to 
        vehicle repair shall be made available to all independent 
        repair facilities in the same manner and extent as it is made 
        available to franchised dealerships, and shall include all 
        information needed to activate all controls that can be 
        activated by a franchised dealership.
            (2) The same diagnostic tools and capabilities related to 
        vehicle repair that are made available to franchised 
        dealerships shall be made available to independent repair 
        facilities. These diagnostic tools and capabilities shall be 
        made available for purchase by motor vehicle owners or their 
        agents through reasonable business means. The service and 
        training information and manufacturer diagnostic capabilities 
        shall be available to independent repair facilities, and to the 
        companies from which they normally purchase diagnostic tools, 
        without the need for the motor vehicle owner to return to a 
        franchised dealership.
    (b) Protection of Trade Secrets.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
deemed to require the disclosure of trade secrets, nor the public 
disclosure of any information related exclusively to the design and 
manufacture of motor vehicle parts. No information necessary to repair 
a vehicle shall be withheld by a manufacturer if such information is 
provided (directly or indirectly) to franchised dealerships or other 
repair facilities.

SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall prescribe regulations 
setting forth an appropriate method by which manufacturers shall 
provide the information required by section 3, including disclosure in 
writing, via the Internet, or under such terms as the Commission 
determines appropriate. The regulations shall take effect upon final 
issuance of such regulations and shall apply to vehicles manufactured 
after model year 1994.
    (b) Limitation.--The Federal Trade Commission may not prescribe 
rules that interfere with the authority of, or conflict with rules 
prescribed by, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
under section 202(m) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521(m)) with 
regard to motor vehicle emissions control diagnostics systems.

SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Unfair or Deceptive Act or Practice.--The failure by a 
manufacturer to comply with section 3(a) or the regulations prescribed 
under section 4 shall be treated as an unfair method of competition and 
an unfair or deceptive act or practice in or affecting commerce (within 
the meaning of section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 45(a)(1))). A violation of this Act shall be treated as a 
violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice 
prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission 
Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
    (b) Actions by the Federal Trade Commission.--The Federal Trade 
Commission shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same 
means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 
applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. 
Any entity that violates this Act shall be subject to the penalties and 
entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade 
Commission Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same 
jurisdiction, power, and duties as though all applicable terms and 
provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were incorporated into 
and made a part of this Act.
    (c) Effect on Other Laws.--Nothing contained in this Act shall be 
construed to limit the authority of the Federal Trade Commission under 
any other provisions of law.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The terms ``manufacturer'', ``motor vehicle'', and 
        ``motor vehicle equipment'' have the meanings given those terms 
        in section 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code.
            (2) The term ``motor vehicle owner'' or ``vehicle owner'' 
        means any person who owns, leases, or otherwise has the legal 
        right to use and possess a motor vehicle.
            (3) The term ``repair facility'' means a facility 
        maintained by a person engaged in the repair, diagnosing, or 
        servicing of motor vehicles or motor vehicle engines.
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