U.S. Legislative Issues

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent letters to seven additional carmakers in late September seeking information on which models contain Takata airbag inflators. Recipients included Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar-Land Rover, Suzuki Motor Corp., Tesla, Volvo Trucks, Volkswagen AG, and Spartan Motors Inc. Specifically, NHTSA wants the companies to identify every model that uses a Takata airbag inflater with ammonium nitrate as the propellant. "It is expected that the scope of the current Takata recalls may expand as time goes on and will likely grow to include vehicles that are outside the scope of the current recalls," the letters cautioned. Recalls currently cover 11 auto and truck companies.

Recent efforts to figure out how many additional vehicles may have to be recalled is tied to NHTSA’s preparation for an Oct. 22 public meeting in Washington, DC, in which the agency will discuss its continuing investigation into Takata and whether it will take over management of the recalls to speed up repairs. To date, 23.4 million Takata driver and passenger airbag inflaters have been recalled in the U.S after it was discovered that they can inflate with excessive force, spraying metal shrapnel at drivers. The defective airbags have been blamed for eight deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide. As of September 1, however, only 4.4 million airbag inflaters had been replaced.
 


In response to the record-breaking number of recalls related to defective air bags manufactured by Takata Corp. and faulty ignition switches in General Motors Co. vehicles, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade held a legislative hearing on September 25 to review two discussion drafts aimed at improving vehicle safety.

The first was the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act, companion legislation to S. 304 which was unanimously approved by the Senate last April. Like its Senate counterpart, the bill is intended to improve motor vehicle safety by incentivizing automotive employees and contractors to disclose information about possible safety violations if they are concealed or go unreported. If the information provided by the employee leads to an enforcement action, that employee or whistleblower would be eligible for up to 30 percent of any settlement or adjudication by the Department of Transportation (DOT) or the Department of Justice that results in monetary sanctions exceeding one million dollars.

Under the Act, a whistleblower means any employee or contractor of a (1) motor vehicle manufacturer, (2) part supplier, or (3) dealership who provides "original information" relating to any motor vehicle defect, noncompliance, or violation of any notification or reporting requirement that is likely to cause unreasonable risk of serious physical injury or death.  Information is "original" if it is based on the whistleblower’s independent knowledge or analysis and is not already known to DOT or derived exclusively from a public proceeding.

Shane Karr, Vice President of Federal Government Affairs for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, testified that the industry didn't object to the Senate bill after working with sponsors "to ensure that manufacturers have the opportunity to address safety issues internally as quickly as possible."
 
The second piece of legislation members reviewed in the hearing was the Improving Recall Tracking Act, which would require the establishment of a national database of vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and driver registration information to facilitate efforts by automakers to notify affected consumers of motor vehicle defects and safety recalls. The legislation would also make it easier to check vehicles for open recalls.

The Subcommittee has not scheduled formal markups on the bills.



German automaker Volkswagen has admitted to fitting 11 million of its cars with diesel engines designed to cheat emissions standards. Nearly 500,000 of these cars were sold in the U.S. The diesel cars were programmed to sense when emissions were being tested and to turn on equipment that reduced emissions, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials. When the device was not working and the cars were operating in regular driving mode, officials found they emitted 10 to 40 times more than the allowable legal level of nitrogen oxide.

The EPA has said it will ask Volkswagen to recall almost a half-million vehicles sold in the U.S. from 2009 to 2015. The U.S. models affected include the VW Jetta, Beetle and Golf from 2009 through 2015, the Passat from 2014-2015 as well as the Audi A3, model years 2009-2015.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) have announced their intention to hold a hearing in the coming weeks on the recently discovered issues with Volkswagen diesel engines that resulted in emissions levels exceeding state and federal limits throughout the U.S.

Volkswagen says it will set aside the equivalent of half a year’s profits, or about $7.2 billion, to cover the cost of fixing the cars to comply with pollution standards and to cover other expenses, which are likely to include fines as well as responses to civil lawsuits from angry customers.



The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC) is now accepting applications for the 2015 School Bus Replacement and Retrofit Funding Opportunity. This is a rebate program to replace and retrofit older school buses in both public and private fleets. The total funding for this opportunity is approximately $7 million. More information about the rebate program, applicant eligibility, and the selection process can be found here.

The EPA will accept rebate applications through Friday, October 30, 2015, at 4 PM EST. Applicants can request to replace up to ten buses per application and retrofit ten buses per application with a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst plus Closed Crankcase Ventilation system. Fleets with 101 or more buses may submit two applications. Applications can be downloaded here. Completed applications should be emailed to CleanDieselRebate@epa.gov.  Applicants are advised to include their organization’s name in the subject line of the email. The EPA is hosting a webinar for interested applicants on October 6, 2015, at 2 PM EST.  Interested applicants can register here, and call-in using the following number and access code: 314/ 627-1518; 537-048-931.

 

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