[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3388 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3388

 To provide for information on highly automated driving systems to be 
                 made available to prospective buyers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 25, 2017

  Mr. Latta (for himself and Ms. Schakowsky) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for information on highly automated driving systems to be 
                 made available to prospective buyers.

    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 ``Designating Each Car's Automation 
Level Act'' or the ``DECAL Act''.

SEC. 2. INFORMATION ON HIGHLY AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEMS MADE AVAILABLE 
              TO PROSPECTIVE BUYERS.

    (a) Research.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall complete research to 
determine the most effective method and terminology for informing 
consumers for each highly automated vehicle or a vehicle that performs 
partial driving automation about the capabilities and limitations of 
that vehicle. The Secretary shall determine whether such information is 
based upon or includes the terminology as defined by SAE International 
in Recommended Practice Report J3016 (published September 2016) or 
whether such description should include alternative terminology.
    (b) Rulemaking.--After the completion of the study required under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to 
require manufacturers to inform consumers of the capabilities and 
limitations of a vehicle's driving automation system or feature for any 
highly automated vehicle or any vehicle that performs partial driving 
automation.
    (c) Definitions.--
            (1) In general.--In this section--
                    (A) the term ``automated driving system'' means the 
                hardware and software that are collectively capable of 
                performing the entire dynamic driving task on a 
                sustained basis, regardless of whether such system is 
                limited to a specific operational design domain;
                    (B) the term ``dynamic driving task'' means all of 
                the real time operational and tactical functions 
                required to operate a vehicle in on-road traffic, 
                excluding the strategic functions such as trip 
                scheduling and selection of destinations and waypoints, 
                and including--
                            (i) lateral vehicle motion control via 
                        steering;
                            (ii) longitudinal vehicle motion control 
                        via acceleration and deceleration;
                            (iii) monitoring the driving environment 
                        via object and event detection, recognition, 
                        classification, and response preparation;
                            (iv) object and event response execution;
                            (v) maneuver planning; and
                            (vi) enhancing conspicuity via lighting, 
                        signaling, and gesturing;
                    (C) the term ``highly automated vehicle''--
                            (i) means a motor vehicle equipped with an 
                        automated driving system; and
                            (ii) does not include a commercial motor 
                        vehicle (as defined in section 31101 of title 
                        49, United States Code);
                    (D) the term ``vehicle that performs partial 
                driving automation'' does not include a commercial 
                motor vehicle (as defined in section 31101 of title 49, 
                United States Code); and
                    (E) the term ``operational design domain'' means 
                the specific conditions under which a given driving 
                automation system or feature thereof is designed to 
                function.
            (2) Revisions to certain definitions.--
                    (A) If SAE International (or its successor 
                organization) revises the definition of any of the 
                terms defined in subparagraph (A), (B), or (E) of 
                paragraph (1) in Recommended Practice Report J3016, it 
                shall notify the Secretary of the revision. The 
                Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal 
                Register to inform the public of the new definition 
                unless, within 90 days after receiving notice of the 
                new definition and after opening a period for public 
                comment on the new definition, the Secretary notifies 
                SAE International (or its successor organization) that 
                the Secretary has determined that the new definition 
                does not meet the need for motor vehicle safety, or is 
                otherwise inconsistent with the purposes of chapter 301 
                of title 49, United States Code. If the Secretary so 
                notifies SAE International (or its successor 
                organization), the existing definition in paragraph (1) 
                shall remain in effect.
                    (B) If the Secretary does not reject a definition 
                revised by SAE International (or its successor 
                organization) as described in subparagraph (A), the 
                Secretary shall promptly make any conforming amendments 
                to the regulations and standards of the Secretary that 
                are necessary. The revised definition shall apply for 
                purposes of this section. The requirements of section 
                553 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to 
                the making of any such conforming amendments.
                    (C) Pursuant to section 553 of title 5, United 
                States Code, the Secretary may update any of the 
                definitions in subparagraph (A), (B), or (E) of 
                paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that 
                materially changed circumstances regarding highly 
                automated vehicles have impacted motor vehicle safety 
                such that the definitions need to be updated to reflect 
                such circumstances.
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