[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 560 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 560

        To enhance disclosure of automobile safety information.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2005

 Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To enhance disclosure of automobile safety information.

    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 ``Stars on Cars Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF AUTOMOBILE INFORMATION DISCLOSURE ACT.

    (a) Safety Labeling Requirement.--Section 3 of the Automobile 
Information Disclosure Act (15 U.S.C. 1232) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (e), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``and'' after 
                the semicolon; and
                    (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting 
                a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) if 1 or more safety ratings for such automobile have been 
assigned and formally published or released by the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration under the New Car Assessment Program, 
information about safety ratings that--
            ``(1) includes a graphic depiction of the number of stars, 
        or other applicable rating, that corresponds to each such 
        assigned safety rating displayed in a clearly differentiated 
        fashion indicating the maximum possible safety rating;
            ``(2) refers to frontal impact crash tests, side impact 
        crash tests, and rollover resistance tests (whether or not such 
        automobile has been assigned a safety rating for such tests);
            ``(3) contains information describing the nature and 
        meaning of the crash test data presented and a reference to 
        additional vehicle safety resources, including http://
        www.safecar.gov; and
            ``(4) is presented in a legible, visible, and prominent 
        fashion and covers at least--
                    ``(A) 8 percent of the total area of the label; or
                    ``(B) an area with a minimum length of 4\1/2\ 
                inches and a minimum height of 3\1/2\ inches; and
    ``(h) if an automobile has not been tested by the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration under the New Car Assessment Program, or 
safety ratings for such automobile have not been assigned in one or 
more rating categories, a statement to that effect.''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than January 1, 2006, the Secretary of 
Transportation shall issue regulations to implement the labeling 
requirements under subsections (g) and (h) of section 3 of the 
Automobile Information Disclosure Act, as added by subsection (a).
    (c) Applicability.--The labeling requirements under subsections (g) 
and (h) of section 3 of such Act (as added by subsection (a)), and the 
regulations prescribed under subsection (b), shall apply to new 
automobiles delivered on or after--
            (1) September 1, 2006, if the regulations under subsection 
        (b) are prescribed not later than August 31, 2005; or
            (2) September 1, 2007, if the regulations under subsection 
        (b) are prescribed after August 31, 2005.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 
Transportation, to accelerate the testing processes and increasing the 
number of vehicles tested under the New Car Assessment Program of the 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration--
            (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
            (2) $8,134,065 for fiscal year 2007;
            (3) $8,418,760 for fiscal year 2008;
            (4) $8,713,410 for fiscal year 2009; and
            (5) $9,018,385 for fiscal year 2010.
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