[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 26, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF THE LOCALLY REGULATED TOWING ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 25, 2000

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to be 
introducing the ``Locally Regulated Towing Act.'' This legislation will 
restore the ability of local governments to regulate tow truck 
operations.
  Congress took this authority away from state and local hands when it 
passed the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, 
(P.L. 103-305). This law was intended to replace multiple and sometimes 
conflicting state and local regulations on interstate carriers like 
Federal Express and UPS, with a single uniform, national regulation. 
Expanding services like Federal Express and UPS urged passage of the 
law to help lower costs and improve their delivery time. While the law 
achieved its objectives, it also opened a loophole that permitted tow 
trucks to qualify as an interstate carrier and thereby exempted them 
from state and local regulations.
  Unlike Federal Express, UPS, and other major interstate carriers 
which are regulated by the federal government, tow truck operators are 
not. Congress has never granted any federal agencies the power to 
regulate tow trucks. As a result, their operations are free of any 
direct oversight or public accountability.
  In response to growing complaints about tow truck operations, 
Congress did amend the law in December 1995 (P.L. 104-88) to permit 
state and local governments to regulate prices on non-consensual 
towing. This change in federal law restored state and local 
governments' ability to regulate towing performed without the 
permission of the vehicle's owner, as in the instance where owners of 
vacant, private lots arrange for a tow truck operator to remove cars 
parked there without their permission. I am familiar with a number of 
alleged ``sham operations'' where lot owners failed to properly post 
signs that prohibited parking. Local business and restaurant patrons 
and tourists unable to find street parking were enticed to use these 
vacant lots only to discover later their cars were towed away and the 
cost to recover them is $100 or more.
  Unfortunately, even this modest change in federal law has had limited 
success. Consumer complaints about tow truck operators still abound. In 
the last two years, Arlington County, a jurisdiction I represent, 
received more than 160 complaints ranging from rates charged, some as 
high as $120, to vehicle damage, to theft and rude behavior. People who 
have had their vehicles towed have told my office about having to go to 
impoundment lots late at night in dangerous neighborhoods to recover 
their cars. When they get there, they are told that only cash is 
accepted.
  Moreover, State and local ability to reassert control over tow truck 
operations have been thrown into even greater confusion following two 
conflicting Federal appeals court rulings. Ace Auto Body & Towing v. 
City of New York upheld the ability of states and local governments to 
regulate safety issues and prices of non-consensual towing, while R. 
Mayer of Atlanta, Inc. v. City of Atlanta denied local governments' 
similar authority.
  The only real and effective solution to this problem is to restore 
full state and local authority over all aspects of tow truck 
operations. The legislation I am introducing today will accomplish this 
objective. It is a common sense, pro consumer piece of legislation.
  I urge my colleagues to support it.

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