49 U.S.C. § 30117 — Providing information to, and maintain-

Page 769 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 30117 In subsection (c), the words ‘‘the amount of reim- bursement’’ are substituted for ‘‘such reasonable reim- bursements’’ for clarity and because of the restate- ment. The words ‘‘by mutual agreement’’ are omitted as surplus. The words ‘‘If the parties do not agree’’ are substituted for ‘‘or failing such agreement’’, and the words ‘‘by the court pursuant to the provisions of sub- section (b) of this section’’ are omitted, because of the restatement. The words ‘‘the requirements of’’, ‘‘then’’, ‘‘as the case may be’’, and ‘‘without respect to the amount in controversy’’ are omitted as surplus. The words ‘‘civil action’’ are substituted for ‘‘suit’’ because of rule 2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (28 App. U.S.C.). The words ‘‘against such manufacturer or distributor’’ are omitted as surplus. The word ‘‘judi- cial’’ is added for consistency. The words ‘‘to recover damages, court costs, and a reasonable attorney’s fee’’ are substituted for ‘‘and shall recover the damage by him sustained, as well as all court costs plus reasonable attorneys’ fees’’, and the words ‘‘must be brought’’ are substituted for ‘‘shall be forever barred unless com- menced’’, to eliminate unnecessary words. The word ‘‘claim’’ is substituted for ‘‘cause of action’’ for con- sistency. § 30117. Providing information to, and maintain- ing records on, purchasers (a) PROVIDING INFORMATION AND NOTICE.—The Secretary of Transportation may require that each manufacturer of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment provide technical informa- tion related to performance and safety required to carry out this chapter. The Secretary may re- quire the manufacturer to give the following no- tice of that information when the Secretary de- cides it is necessary: (1) to each prospective purchaser of a vehicle or equipment before the first sale other than for resale at each location at which the vehi- cle or equipment is offered for sale by a person having a legal relationship with the manufac- turer, in a way the Secretary decides is appro- priate. (2) to the first purchaser of a vehicle or equipment other than for resale when the ve- hicle or equipment is bought, in printed mat- ter placed in the vehicle or attached to or ac- companying the equipment. (b) MAINTAINING PURCHASER RECORDS AND PRO- CEDURES.—(1) A manufacturer of a motor vehicle or tire (except a retreaded tire) shall cause to be maintained a record of the name and address of the first purchaser of each vehicle or tire it pro- duces and, to the extent prescribed by regula- tions of the Secretary, shall cause to be main- tained a record of the name and address of the first purchaser of replacement equipment (ex- cept a tire) that the manufacturer produces. The Secretary may prescribe by regulation the records to be maintained and reasonable proce- dures for maintaining the records under this subsection, including procedures to be followed by distributors and dealers to assist the manu- facturer in obtaining the information required by this subsection. A procedure shall be reason- able for the type of vehicle or tire involved, and shall provide reasonable assurance that a cus- tomer list of a distributor or dealer, or similar information, will be made available to a person (except the distributor or dealer) only when nec- essary to carry out this subsection and sections 30118–30121, 30166(f), and 30167(a) and (b) of this title. Availability of assistance from a dis- tributor or dealer does not affect an obligation of a manufacturer under this subsection. (2)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, the Secretary may require a dis- tributor or dealer to maintain a record under paragraph (1) of this subsection only if the busi- ness of the distributor or dealer is owned or con- trolled by a manufacturer of tires. (B) The Secretary shall require each dis- tributor and dealer whose business is not owned or controlled by a manufacturer of tires to give a registration form (containing the tire identi- fication number) to the first purchaser of a tire. The Secretary shall prescribe the form, which shall be standardized for all tires and designed to allow the purchaser to complete and return it directly to the manufacturer of the tire. The manufacturer shall give sufficient copies of forms to distributors and dealers. (3) RULEMAKING.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ini- tiate a rulemaking to require a distributor or dealer of tires that is not owned or controlled by a manufacturer of tires to maintain records of— (i) the name and address of tire purchasers and lessors; (ii) information identifying the tire that was purchased or leased; and (iii) any additional records the Secretary considers appropriate. (B) ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION.—The rule- making carried out under subparagraph (A) shall require a distributor or dealer of tires that is not owned or controlled by a manufac- turer of tires to electronically transmit the records described in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (A) to the manufacturer of the tires or the designee of the manufacturer by secure means at no cost to tire purchasers or lessors. (C) SATISFACTION OF REQUIREMENTS.—A regu- lation promulgated under subparagraph (A) may be considered to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (2)(B). (c) ROLLOVER TESTS.— (1) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 2 years from the date of the enactment of this sub- section, the Secretary shall— (A) develop a dynamic test on rollovers by motor vehicles for the purposes of a con- sumer information program; and (B) carry out a program of conducting such tests. (2) TEST RESULTS.—As the Secretary devel- ops a test under paragraph (1)(A), the Sec- retary shall conduct a rulemaking to deter- mine how best to disseminate test results to the public. (3) MOTOR VEHICLES COVERED.—This sub- section applies to motor vehicles, including passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehi- cles, and trucks, with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less. A motor vehicle designed to provide temporary residential ac- commodations is not covered. (Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 948; Pub. L. 106–414, § 12, Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1806; Pub. L. 114–94, div. B, title XXIV, § 24333, Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1715.) Page 770 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 30118 HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 30117(a) ...... 15:1397(a)(1)(B), (E) (as 1397(a)(1)(B), (E) relates to 15:1401(d)). Sept. 9, 1966, Pub. L. 89–563, § 108(a)(1)(B) (related to § 112(d)), (D) (related to § 158(b)), (E) (related to § 112(d)), 80 Stat. 722; Oct. 27, 1974, Pub. L. 93–492, § 103(a)(1)(A), (2), (3), 88 Stat. 1477, 1478. 15:1401(d). Sept. 9, 1966, Pub. L. 89–563, § 112(d), 80 Stat. 725; May 22, 1970, Pub. L. 91–265, § 3, 84 Stat. 262. 30117(b) ...... 15:1397(a)(1)(D) (re- lated to 15:1418(b)). 15:1418(b)(1). Sept. 9, 1966, Pub. L. 89–563, 80 Stat. 718, § 158(b)(1); added Oct. 27, 1974, Pub. L. 93–492, § 102(a), 88 Stat. 1476; Nov. 6, 1978, Pub. L. 95–599, § 317, 92 Stat. 2752; Oct. 15, 1982, Pub. L. 97–331, § 4(a)(1), 96 Stat. 1619. 15:1418(b)(2), (3). Sept. 9, 1966, Pub. L. 89–563, 80 Stat. 718, § 158(b)(2), (3); added Oct. 15, 1982, Pub. L. 97–331, § 4(a)(2), 96 Stat. 1620. In this section, the text of 15:1397(a)(1)(B) (related to 15:1401(d)), (D) (related to 15:1418(b)), and (E) (related to 15:1401(d)) is omitted as surplus. In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words ‘‘such performance data and other’’, ‘‘as may be’’, ‘‘the pur- poses of’’, ‘‘performance and technical’’, and ‘‘to carry out the purposes of this chapter’’ the 2d time they ap- pear are omitted as surplus. In clause (1), the words ‘‘such manufacturer’s’’ and ‘‘which may include, but is not limited to, printed matter (A) available for reten- tion by such prospective purchaser and (B) sent by mail to such prospective purchaser upon his request’’ are omitted as surplus. The words ‘‘legal relationship’’ are substituted for ‘‘contractual, proprietary, or other legal relationship’’ to eliminate unnecessary words. In subsection (b)(1), the word ‘‘cause to be main- tained’’ is substituted for ‘‘cause the establishment and maintenance of’’ to eliminate unnecessary words. The words ‘‘prescribe by regulation’’ are substituted for ‘‘by rule, specify’’ for consistency and because ‘‘rule’’ and ‘‘regulation’’ are synonymous. The words ‘‘under this subsection’’ are added for clarity. The word ‘‘involved’’ is substituted for ‘‘for which they are prescribed’’ to eliminate unnecessary words. The words ‘‘the purpose of’’ and ‘‘except that . . . or not’’ are omitted as sur- plus. The words ‘‘from a distributor or dealer’’ are added for clarity. In subsection (b)(3)(A), before clause (i), the words ‘‘At the end of the two-year period following the effec- tive date of this paragraph’’ are omitted as expired. In clause (iii), the words ‘‘(or any combination of such groups)’’ are omitted as unnecessary. In subsection (b)(3)(B), before clause (i), the words ‘‘may prescribe a requirement’’ are substituted for ‘‘may order by rule the imposition of requirements’’ for consistency and to eliminate unnecessary words. Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The date of the enactment of this subsection, referred to in subsec. (c)(1), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 106–414, which was approved Nov. 1, 2000. AMENDMENTS 2015—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 114–94 amended par. (3) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (3) related to re- quirement for Secretary to evaluate record mainte- nance procedures under par. (2) and submit reports to Congress. 2000—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106–414 added subsec. (c). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries RETENTION OF SAFETY RECORDS BY MANUFACTURERS Pub. L. 114–94, div. B, title XXIV, § 24403, Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1720, provided that: ‘‘(a) RULE.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2015], the Secretary of Transportation shall issue a final rule pursuant to sec- tion 30117 of title 49, United States Code, requiring each manufacturer of motor vehicles or motor vehicle equip- ment to retain all motor vehicle safety records re- quired to be maintained by manufacturers under sec- tion 576.6 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, for a period of not less than 10 calendar years from the date on which they were generated or acquired by the manu- facturer. ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—The rule required by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any record described in such subsection that is in the possession of a manufac- turer on the effective date of such rule.’’ 15-PASSENGER VAN SAFETY Pub. L. 109–59, title X, § 10309(a), Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1942, provided that: ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation shall require the testing of 15-passenger vans as part of the rollover resistance program of the National High- way Traffic Safety Administration’s new car assess- ment program. ‘‘(2) 15-PASSENGER VAN DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘15-passenger van’ means a vehicle that seats 10 to 14 passengers, not including the driver.’’ § 30118. Notification of defects and noncompli- ance (a) NOTIFICATION BY SECRETARY.—The Sec- retary of Transportation shall notify the manu- facturer of a motor vehicle or replacement equipment immediately after making an initial decision (through testing, inspection, investiga- tion, or research carried out under this chapter, examining communications under section 30166(f) of this title, or otherwise) that the vehi- cle or equipment contains a defect related to motor vehicle safety or does not comply with an applicable motor vehicle safety standard pre- scribed under this chapter. The notification shall include the information on which the deci- sion is based. The Secretary shall publish a no- tice of each decision under this subsection in the Federal Register. Subject to section 30167(a) of this title, the notification and information are available to any interested person. (b) DEFECT AND NONCOMPLIANCE PROCEEDINGS AND ORDERS.—(1) The Secretary may make a final decision that a motor vehicle or replace- ment equipment contains a defect related to motor vehicle safety or does not comply with an applicable motor vehicle safety standard pre- scribed under this chapter only after giving the manufacturer an opportunity to present infor- mation, views, and arguments showing that there is no defect or noncompliance or that the defect does not affect motor vehicle safety. Any interested person also shall be given an oppor- tunity to present information, views, and argu- ments. (2) If the Secretary decides under paragraph (1) of this subsection that the vehicle or equipment contains the defect or does not comply, the Sec- retary shall order the manufacturer to— (A) give notification under section 30119 of this title to the owners, purchasers, and deal- ers of the vehicle or equipment of the defect or noncompliance; and