I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 471
To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to commercial motor
vehicle parking, safety, and licensing, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY24, 2023
Mr. J
OHNSONof South Dakota (for himself and Mr. COSTA) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Education and
the Workforce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to
commercial motor vehicle parking, safety, and licensing,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safer Highways and 4
Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking Act’’ or 5
the ‘‘SHIP IT Act’’. 6
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 471 IH
SEC. 2. MODERNIZING AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN VEHICLE 1
WAIVERS DURING EMERGENCIES. 2
Section 127(i) of title 23, United States Code, is 3
amended to read as follows: 4
‘‘(i) S
PECIALPERMITSDURINGPERIODS OFNA-5
TIONALEMERGENCY.— 6
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 7
provision of this section, a State may issue special 8
permits during an emergency to overweight vehicles 9
and loads that can easily be dismantled or divided 10
if the conditions of either paragraph (2) or para-11
graph (3) are met. 12
‘‘(2) P
RESIDENTIAL DECLARATION .—The con-13
ditions of paragraph (2) as referenced in paragraph 14
(1) of this subsection are— 15
‘‘(A) the President has declared the emer-16
gency to be a major disaster under the Robert 17
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As-18
sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); 19
‘‘(B) the permits described in paragraph 20
(1) are issued in accordance with State law; 21
‘‘(C) the permits are issued exclusively to 22
vehicles and loads that are delivering relief sup-23
plies; and 24
‘‘(D) a permit shall expire not later than 25
120 days after the date of the declaration of 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 471 IH
emergency under subparagraph (A) of this 1
paragraph. 2
‘‘(3) S
ECRETARIAL DECLARATION .—The condi-3
tions of paragraph (3) are the following: 4
‘‘(A) The Secretary has declared that— 5
‘‘(i) emergency or other unusual con-6
ditions, including weather, fire, earth-7
quake, disease, or natural emergencies and 8
including financial or other non-natural 9
emergencies, are having a negative impact 10
on commerce in a State or regionally or 11
nationally; or 12
‘‘(ii) supply chains in United States 13
commerce are functioning in a suboptimal 14
manner in a State or regionally or nation-15
ally, either in terms of slow overall move-16
ment, freight traffic congestion, or other-17
wise. 18
‘‘(B) The permits described in paragraph 19
(1) are issued in accordance with State law. 20
‘‘(C) The permit shall expire— 21
‘‘(i) 365 days after the Secretary 22
makes a declaration pursuant to subpara-23
graph (A), unless the expiration date is ex-24
tended by the Secretary; or 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(ii) 180 days after the Secretary de-1
clares that the emergency or other condi-2
tion declared by the Secretary pursuant to 3
subparagraph (A) has expired, whichever is 4
later. 5
‘‘(D) In administering this paragraph, the 6
Secretary shall give weight to requests by a 7
State to make or extend subparagraph (A) dec-8
larations.’’. 9
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR WORKFORCE GRANTS. 10
Section 134 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor-11
tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174) is amended by adding at the 12
end the following: 13
‘‘(e) T
RUCKDRIVERS.— 14
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—With respect to the com-15
mercial motor vehicle operator profession, the Sec-16
retary shall provide grants to individuals for the tui-17
tion and fees and other costs of entry level driver 18
training provided by an entity listed as a training 19
provider on the registry maintained by the Federal 20
Motor Carrier Safety Administration and for such 21
other education and training costs as the Secretary 22
may approve, including the cost of course materials, 23
supplies, technology, and fees for graduation, licen-24
sure, or certification. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(2) SIMPLIFIED PROCESS.—As soon as prac-1
ticable after the date of enactment of this sub-2
section, the Secretary shall develop a simplified proc-3
ess through which grants may be provided under 4
this subsection that would be readily accessible to in-5
dividuals with non-Federal share requirements set at 6
the lowest level allowed under other provisions of 7
this section. 8
‘‘(3) R
EQUIREMENTS.—Expenses authorized 9
under paragraph (1) shall be provided both through 10
the structure of existing programs pursuant to sub-11
sections (a) through (d) of this section and through 12
the process developed by the Secretary under sub-13
section (e).’’. 14
SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING SUPPLY CHAINS THROUGH 15
TRUCK DRIVER INCENTIVES ACT. 16
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Internal Revenue Code of 17
1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B the fol-18
lowing new section: 19
‘‘SEC. 36C. CREDIT FOR COMMERCIAL TRUCK DRIVERS. 20
‘‘(a) A
LLOWANCE OFCREDIT.—In the case of an eli-21
gible individual, there shall be allowed as a credit against 22
the tax imposed by this subtitle an amount equal to 23
$7,500 for the taxable year. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLEINDIVIDUAL.—For the purposes of 1
this section, the term ‘eligible taxpayer’ means, with re-2
spect to a taxable year, an individual— 3
‘‘(1) who holds a valid Class A commercial driv-4
er’s license (except as provided in subsection (c)) 5
who operates a tractor-trailer combination that 6
qualifies as a Group A vehicle under section 7
383.91(a)(1) of title 49, Code of Federal Regula-8
tions, 9
‘‘(2) whose adjusted gross income for the tax-10
able year does not exceed— 11
‘‘(A) in the case of a joint return or sur-12
viving spouse, $135,000, 13
‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who is a 14
head of household, $112,500, or 15
‘‘(C) in the case of any other individual, 16
$90,000, and 17
‘‘(3) who drove such a vehicle in the course of 18
a trade or business— 19
‘‘(A) and served not less than 1900 hours 20
of on-duty time, including driving time, during 21
such taxable year, or 22
‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who did 23
not drive a commercial truck in the preceding 24
taxable year, not less than an average of 40 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7
•HR 471 IH
hours per week of on-duty time, including driv-1
ing time, with respect to weeks during the tax-2
able year in which such individual drove such a 3
vehicle in the course of a trade or business. 4
‘‘(c) S
PECIALRULE FORAPPRENTICES.—With re-5
spect to an individual enrolled in an apprenticeship pro-6
gram registered under the Act of August 16, 1937 (com-7
monly known as the ‘National Apprenticeship Act’), who, 8
upon completion or in the course of such apprenticeship 9
program will receive a Class A commercial driver’s li-10
cense— 11
‘‘(1) the requirements of subsection (b)(1) shall 12
not apply, and 13
‘‘(2) such individual may count training hours 14
in such program as hours driving a vehicle described 15
in subsection (b)(1) for the purposes of this section. 16
‘‘(d) S
PECIALRULE FORNEWTRUCKDRIVERS.— 17
Except as provided in subsection (e), in the case of an 18
eligible taxpayer who did not drive a commercial truck in 19
the course of a trade or business during the preceding tax-20
able year, subsection (a) shall be applied by substituting 21
‘$10,000’ for ‘$7,500’. 22
‘‘(e) S
PECIALRULE FORDRIVERSWITHLESSTHAN 23
1420 H
OURS.—In the case of an eligible taxpayer who did 24
not drive a commercial truck in the preceding taxable year 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8
•HR 471 IH
who drives a commercial truck and served for less than 1
1420 hours of on-duty time, including driving time, in the 2
course of a trade or business during the taxable year, the 3
amount of the credit allowed by subsection (a) shall be 4
the amount that bears the same proportion to the dollar 5
amount (determined without regard to this subsection) 6
with respect to the individual under subsection (a) as the 7
number of hours of on-duty time, including driving time, 8
such individual drove a commercial truck in the course of 9
a trade or business during such taxable year bears to 1420 10
hours. 11
‘‘(f) I
NFLATIONADJUSTMENT.—In the case of any 12
taxable year beginning after 2022, the dollar amounts in 13
this section shall be increased by an amount equal to— 14
‘‘(1) such dollar amount, multiplied by 15
‘‘(2) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 16
under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 17
the taxable year begins, determined by substituting 18
‘calendar year 2021’ for ‘calendar year 2016’ in sub-19
paragraph (A)(ii). 20
‘‘(g) L
IMITATION.—An eligible individual shall be al-21
lowed the credit under this section only 2 times. 22
‘‘(h) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘on- 23
duty time’’ and ‘‘driving time’’ shall have the meaning 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9
•HR 471 IH
given such terms in section 395.2 of title 49, Code of Fed-1
eral Regulations.’’. 2
(b) C
ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 3
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of the 4
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in-5
serting ‘‘, 36C’’ after ‘‘36B’’. 6
(2) R
EFUND OF INTERNAL REVENUE COLLEC -7
TIONS.—Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 8
States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, 36C’’ after 9
‘‘, 36B’’. 10
(3) C
LERICAL AMENDMENT .—The table of sec-11
tions for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of 12
chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 13
amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-14
tion 36B the following new item: ‘‘Sec. 36C. Credit 15
for commercial truck drivers.’’. 16
(c) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 17
this section shall apply to taxable years ending on or after 18
December 31, 2022. 19
SEC. 5. PARKING FOR COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES. 20
(a) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-21
gress that it should be a national priority to address the 22
shortage of parking for commercial motor vehicles on the 23
Federal-aid highway system to improve highway safety. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10
•HR 471 IH
(b) INGENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 23, United 1
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-2
lowing: 3
‘‘§ 180. Parking for commercial motor vehicles 4
‘‘(a) G
RANTAUTHORITY.—Subject to the availability 5
of funds, the Secretary shall make grants under this sec-6
tion, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities for projects 7
to provide parking for commercial motor vehicles and im-8
prove the safety of commercial motor vehicle operators. 9
‘‘(b) A
PPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant 10
under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 11
Secretary an application at such time and in such manner 12
as the Secretary may require. 13
‘‘(c) A
PPLICATIONCONTENTS.—An application sub-14
mitted under subsection (b) shall contain— 15
‘‘(1) a description of the proposed project; and 16
‘‘(2) any other information that the Secretary 17
may require. 18
‘‘(d) E
LIGIBLEENTITIES.—The following entities 19
shall be eligible to receive amounts under this section: 20
‘‘(1) A State. 21
‘‘(2) A metropolitan planning organization. 22
‘‘(3) A unit of local government. 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(4) A political subdivision of a State or local 1
government carrying out responsibilities relating to 2
commercial motor vehicle parking. 3
‘‘(5) A Tribal government or a consortium of 4
Tribal governments. 5
‘‘(6) A multistate or multijurisdictional group 6
of entities described in paragraphs (1) through (5). 7
‘‘(e) P
RIVATESECTORPARTICIPATION.—An eligible 8
entity that receives a grant under this section may partner 9
with a private entity to carry out an eligible project under 10
this section. 11
‘‘(f) E
LIGIBLEPROJECTS.— 12
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—An entity may use a grant 13
awarded under this section for a project described in 14
paragraph (2) that is on— 15
‘‘(A) a Federal-aid highway; or 16
‘‘(B) a facility with reasonable access to— 17
‘‘(i) a Federal-aid highway; or 18
‘‘(ii) a freight facility. 19
‘‘(2) P
ROJECTS DESCRIBED .—A project de-20
scribed in this paragraph is a project to— 21
‘‘(A) construct safety rest areas (as such 22
term is defined in section 120(c)) that include 23
parking for commercial motor vehicles; 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(B) construct additional commercial 1
motor vehicle parking capacity— 2
‘‘(i) adjacent to private commercial 3
truck stops and travel plazas; 4
‘‘(ii) within the boundaries of, or adja-5
cent to, a publicly owned freight facility, 6
including a port terminal operated by a 7
public authority; and 8
‘‘(iii) at existing facilities, including 9
inspection and weigh stations and park- 10
and-ride locations; 11
‘‘(C) open existing weigh stations, safety 12
rest areas, and park-and-ride facilities to com-13
mercial motor vehicle parking; 14
‘‘(D) construct or make capital improve-15
ments to existing public commercial motor vehi-16
cle parking facilities to expand parking utiliza-17
tion and availability, including at seasonal fa-18
cilities; 19
‘‘(E) identify, promote, and manage the 20
availability of publicly and privately provided 21
commercial motor vehicle parking, such as 22
through the use of intelligent transportation 23
systems; 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(F) improve the safety of commercial 1
motor vehicle operators at parking facilities as 2
part of a project described in subparagraphs 3
(A) through (D); or 4
‘‘(G) improve a parking facility, including 5
through advanced truck stop electrification sys-6
tems and other improvements determined ap-7
propriate by the Secretary, as part of a project 8
described in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 9
‘‘(3) P
UBLICLY ACCESSIBLE PARKING .—Com-10
mercial motor vehicle parking constructed or opened 11
with a grant under this section shall be open and ac-12
cessible to all commercial motor vehicle operators. 13
‘‘(g) U
SE OFFUNDS.— 14
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—An eligible entity may use 15
a grant under this section for— 16
‘‘(A) development phase activities, includ-17
ing planning, feasibility analysis, benefit-cost 18
analysis, environmental review, preliminary en-19
gineering and design work, and other 20
preconstruction activities necessary to advance 21
a project under this section; and 22
‘‘(B) construction and operational improve-23
ments. 24
‘‘(2) L
IMITATION.— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 14
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may 1
use not more than 25 percent of the amount of 2
a grant under this section for activities de-3
scribed in paragraph (1)(A). 4
‘‘(B) E
XISTING FACILITIES.—Not more 5
than 10 percent of the amounts available for 6
each fiscal year for grants under the program 7
may be used for projects described under sub-8
section (f)(2)(E) that solely identify, promote, 9
and manage the availability of existing commer-10
cial motor vehicle parking. 11
‘‘(h) S
ELECTIONCRITERIA.—In making grants 12
under this subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to 13
applications that demonstrate— 14
‘‘(1) a shortage of commercial motor vehicle 15
parking capacity in the corridor in which the project 16
is located; 17
‘‘(2) consultation with motor carriers, commer-18
cial motor vehicle operators, public safety officials, 19
and private providers of commercial motor vehicle 20
parking; 21
‘‘(3) that the project will likely— 22
‘‘(A) increase the availability or utilization 23
of commercial motor vehicle parking; 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 15
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(B) facilitate the efficient movement of 1
freight; and 2
‘‘(C) improve highway safety, traffic con-3
gestion, and air quality; and 4
‘‘(4) the ability to provide for the maintenance 5
and operation of the facility. 6
‘‘(i) F
EDERALSHARE.—Notwithstanding section 7
120, the Federal share for a project carried out under this 8
subsection shall be up to 100 percent. 9
‘‘(j) T
REATMENT OFPROJECTS.— 10
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 11
provision of law, projects funded under this section 12
shall be treated as projects on a Federal-aid highway 13
under this chapter. 14
‘‘(2) P
ERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—Funds appro-15
priated for projects under this section shall remain 16
available for a period of 3 years after the last day 17
of the fiscal year in which the funds are made avail-18
able. 19
‘‘(k) P
ROHIBITION ONCHARGINGFEES.—To be eli-20
gible for a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall 21
agree that no fees will be charged to a commercial motor 22
vehicle to access parking constructed, opened, or improved 23
with a grant under this section. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 16
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(l) NOTIFICATION OFCONGRESS.—Not less than 3 1
business days before making a grant for a project under 2
this section, the Secretary shall notify, in writing, the 3
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 4
House of Representatives and the Committee on the Envi-5
ronment and Public Works of the Senate of the intention 6
to award such a grant. 7
‘‘(m) S
URVEY ANDCOMPARATIVEASSESSMENT.— 8
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 9
after the date of enactment of this subsection, and 10
every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary, in consulta-11
tion with appropriate State motor carrier safety per-12
sonnel, motor carriers, State departments of trans-13
portation, and private providers of commercial motor 14
vehicle parking shall submit to the Committee on 15
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 16
Representatives and the Committee on the Environ-17
ment and Public Works of the Senate a report 18
that— 19
‘‘(A) evaluates the availability of adequate 20
parking and rest facilities, taking into account 21
both private and public facilities, for commer-22
cial motor vehicles engaged in interstate trans-23
portation; 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 17
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(B) evaluates the effectiveness of the 1
projects funded under this section in improving 2
access to commercial motor vehicle parking; 3
‘‘(C) evaluates the ability of entities receiv-4
ing a grant under this section to sustain the op-5
eration of parking facilities constructed with 6
funds provided under this section; and 7
‘‘(D) reports on the progress being made 8
to provide adequate commercial motor vehicle 9
parking facilities in the State. 10
‘‘(2) R
ESULTS.—The Secretary shall make the 11
report and subsequent updated reports under para-12
graph (1) available to the public on the website of 13
the Department of Transportation. 14
‘‘(3) A
LIGNMENT OF REPORTS .—In carrying 15
out this subsection, the Secretary shall consider the 16
results of the commercial motor vehicle parking fa-17
cilities assessments of the States under section 18
70202 of title 49 and seek to align the contents of 19
the report and reporting deadlines under paragraph 20
(1) with the requirements of such section. 21
‘‘(n) C
OMMERCIALMOTORVEHICLEDEFINED.—In 22
this section, the term ‘commercial motor vehicle’ has the 23
meaning given such term in section 31132 of title 49.’’. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 18
•HR 471 IH
(c) CLERICALAMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap-1
ter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add-2
ing after the item relating to section 177 the following: 3
‘‘180. Parking for commercial motor vehicles.’’.
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 4
are authorized to be appropriated out of the general fund 5
of the Treasury for projects for commercial vehicle park-6
ing under section 177 of title 23, United States Code (as 7
added by this Act)— 8
(1) $175,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 9
(2) $185,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 10
(3) $195,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 11
(4) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 12
SEC. 6. LICENSING INDIVIDUAL COMMERCIAL EXAM-TAK-13
ERS NOW SAFELY AND EFFICIENTLY ACT. 14
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 15
of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation, acting 16
through the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier 17
Safety Administration, shall— 18
(1) revise section 384.228 of title 49, Code of 19
Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), to 20
allow a State or third-party examiner to administer 21
a commercial driver’s license knowledge test so long 22
as the examiner— 23
(A) maintains a valid commercial driver’s 24
license test examiner certification; 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 19
•HR 471 IH
(B) completes a commercial driver’s license 1
skills test examiner training course that meets 2
the requirements of subsection (d) of such sec-3
tion; and 4
(C) completes 1 unit of instruction de-5
scribed in subsection (c)(3) of such section; 6
(2) revise section 383.25(a)(1) of title 49, Code 7
of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), 8
to allow a commercial driver’s license holder accom-9
panying a commercial learner’s permit holder to be 10
present anywhere in the cab of the vehicle being op-11
erated by the commercial learner’s permit holder; 12
and 13
(3) revise section 383.79 of title 49, Code of 14
Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), to 15
allow a State to administer a driving skills test to 16
any commercial driver’s license applicant, regardless 17
of the State of domicile of the applicant or where the 18
applicant received driver training. 19
SEC. 7. EXEMPTION FOR ZERO EMISSION CLASS 7 VEHI-20
CLES. 21
Section 31301(4) of title 49, United States Code, is 22
amended by inserting ‘‘, except that, for vehicles powered 23
primarily by means of electric battery power, the weight 24
of the electric battery or batteries shall not count towards 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 20
•HR 471 IH
the gross vehicle weight rating and gross vehicle weight 1
stated in this subparagraph, or towards any lesser gross 2
vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle weight that may be 3
prescribed by the Secretary by regulation’’ after ‘‘10,001 4
pounds’’. 5
SEC. 8. SAFETY DATA COLLECTION PROGRAM FOR CER-6
TAIN 6-AXLE VEHICLES. 7
Section 127 of title 23, United States Code, is 8
amended by adding at the end the following: 9
‘‘(x) P
ILOTPROGRAM FORSAFETYDATACOLLEC-10
TION ONCERTAIN6-AXLEVEHICLES.— 11
‘‘(1) G
ENERAL AUTHORITY .—Not later than 30 12
days after the date of enactment of this subsection, 13
the Secretary shall establish a pilot program (re-14
ferred to in this subsection as the ‘pilot program’) 15
under which States selected by the Secretary under 16
paragraph (2) may allow covered 6-axle vehicles to 17
be operated on the Interstate System in the State. 18
‘‘(2) S
ELECTION OF STATES FOR THE PRO -19
GRAM.— 20
‘‘(A) I
NITIAL APPLICATION.—Beginning on 21
the date that is 30 days after the date of enact-22
ment of this subsection, a State seeking to par-23
ticipate in the pilot program shall submit an 24
application to the Secretary in electronic form, 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 21
•HR 471 IH
containing such administrative information as 1
the Secretary may require, including a certifi-2
cation that the State will have the authority 3
pursuant to State law to implement the pilot 4
program. 5
‘‘(B) S
ELECTION.—The Secretary shall se-6
lect for the pilot program, on a rolling basis, 7
States that submit a completed application 8
under subparagraph (A). 9
‘‘(C) E
LECTION TO NO LONGER PARTICI -10
PATE.—If a State elects to no longer partici-11
pate in the pilot program, the State shall notify 12
the Secretary of such election. 13
‘‘(3) M
EANS OF IMPLEMENTATION .— 14
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—To be eligible to par-15
ticipate in the pilot program, a State shall 16
agree to implement the pilot program through 17
the issuance of permits per vehicle or group of 18
vehicles with respect to covered 6-axle vehicles. 19
‘‘(B) P
ERMIT.—A permit described in sub-20
paragraph (A) shall— 21
‘‘(i) describe the Interstate System 22
routes that may be used while operating at 23
greater than 80,000 pounds gross vehicle 24
weight in a covered 6-axle vehicle; and 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 22
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(ii) require the permit holder to re-1
port to the State, with respect to such per-2
mit holder— 3
‘‘(I) each accident (as such term 4
is defined in section 390.5 of title 49, 5
Code of Federal Regulations, as in ef-6
fect on the date of enactment of this 7
subsection) that occurred in the State 8
involving a covered 6-axle vehicle on 9
the Interstate System in the State; 10
‘‘(II) the estimated gross vehicle 11
weight of each covered 6-axle vehicle 12
at the time of an accident described in 13
subclause (I); and 14
‘‘(III) the estimated miles trav-15
eled by covered 6-axle vehicles on the 16
Interstate System annually. 17
‘‘(C) S
AFETY EQUIPMENT INCENTIVE .— 18
‘‘(i) F
EE REDUCTION.—With respect 19
to any fee associated with a permit under 20
this paragraph, the State shall reduce the 21
fee otherwise applicable to a vehicle by 67 22
percent if the vehicle is equipped with an 23
automatic emergency braking system, in-24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 23
•HR 471 IH
cluding such systems in use on the date of 1
enactment of this subsection. 2
‘‘(ii) G
ROUP OF VEHICLES .—As ap-3
plied to a permit for a group of vehicles, 4
the reduction under clause (i) shall only 5
apply with respect to individual vehicles in 6
the group that are equipped with an auto-7
matic emergency breaking system, includ-8
ing such systems in use on the date of en-9
actment of this subsection. 10
‘‘(4) O
THER AUTHORIZATIONS NOT AF -11
FECTED.—This subsection shall not restrict— 12
‘‘(A) a vehicle that may operate under any 13
other provision of this section or another Fed-14
eral law; or 15
‘‘(B) a State’s authority with respect to a 16
vehicle that may operate under any other provi-17
sion of this section or another Federal law. 18
‘‘(5) N
O HIGHWAY FUNDING REDUCTION .—Not-19
withstanding subsection (a), funds apportioned to a 20
State under section 104 for any period may not be 21
reduced because the State authorizes the operation 22
of covered 6-axle vehicles within such State in ac-23
cordance with this subsection. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 24
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(6) ANNUAL REPORT .—Not later than the 1
first March 1 after the date of enactment of this 2
subsection, and annually thereafter, a State partici-3
pating in the pilot program shall submit to the Sec-4
retary with respect to the previous calendar year, a 5
report on— 6
‘‘(A) the number of accidents (as such 7
term is defined in section 390.5 of title 49, 8
Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 9
date of enactment of this subsection)) that oc-10
curred in the State involving covered 6-axle ve-11
hicles on the Interstate System in the State; 12
‘‘(B) the estimated gross vehicle weight of 13
each such vehicle at the time of the accident in 14
the State described in subparagraph (A); and 15
‘‘(C) the estimated miles traveled by such 16
vehicle on the Interstate System in the State. 17
‘‘(7) T
ERMINATION OF PILOT PROGRAM .— 18
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 19
subparagraph (B), the pilot program shall ter-20
minate on the date that is 10 years after the 21
date of enactment of this subsection. 22
‘‘(B) A
DDITIONAL APPLICATION; CONTINU-23
ATION OF AUTHORITY .—For a period of 10 24
years beginning on the date described in sub-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 25
•HR 471 IH
paragraph (A), the Secretary may continue the 1
pilot program with respect to each State in the 2
program, upon the application of a State and 3
after consideration of— 4
‘‘(i) the actual experience of the State 5
under the pilot program; and 6
‘‘(ii) any documents or other material 7
submitted by the State in support of such 8
an application. 9
‘‘(8) C
OVERED 6-AXLE VEHICLE DEFINED .—In 10
this subsection, the term ‘covered 6-axle vehicle’ 11
means a vehicle— 12
‘‘(A) equipped with 6 or more axles; 13
‘‘(B) for which the weight— 14
‘‘(i) on any single axle of the vehicle 15
does not exceed 20,000 pounds, including 16
enforcement tolerances; 17
‘‘(ii) on any tandem axle of the vehicle 18
does not exceed 34,000 pounds, including 19
enforcement tolerances; and 20
‘‘(iii) on any group of three or more 21
axles of the vehicle does not exceed 45,000 22
pounds, including enforcement tolerances; 23
‘‘(C) for which the gross weight does not 24
exceed the lesser of— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 26
•HR 471 IH
‘‘(i) 91,000 pounds, including enforce-1
ment tolerances; and 2
‘‘(ii) the maximum permitted by the 3
bridge formula under subsection (a); and 4
‘‘(D) that is not a longer combination vehi-5
cle, as such term is defined in subsection 6
(d)(4).’’. 7
SEC. 9. HAULERS OF AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK SAFE-8
TY ACT. 9
(a) T
RANSPORTATION OF AGRICULTURALCOMMOD-10
ITIES ANDFARMSUPPLIES.—Section 229 of the Motor 11
Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (49 U.S.C. 12
31136 note; Public Law 106–159) is amended— 13
(1) in subsection (a)(1)— 14
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 15
(A) by striking ‘‘during planting and harvest 16
periods, as determined by each State,’’; and 17
(B) by striking subparagraph (A) and in-18
serting the following: 19
‘‘(A) drivers transporting agricultural com-20
modities within a 150 air-mile radius from— 21
‘‘(i) the source of the agricultural 22
commodities; or 23
‘‘(ii) the destination of the agricul-24
tural commodities;’’; and 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 27
•HR 471 IH
(2) in subsection (e)(8) by striking ‘‘during the 1
planting and harvesting seasons within each State, 2
as determined by the State, and livestock feed at 3
any time of the year’’ and inserting ‘‘and livestock 4
feed’’. 5
(b) D
EFINITION OFAGRICULTURALCOMMODITY.— 6
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Section 229(e) of the Motor 7
Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (49 U.S.C. 8
31136 note; Public Law 106–159) is amended by 9
striking paragraph (7) and inserting the following: 10
‘‘(7) A
GRICULTURAL COMMODITY .—The term 11
‘agricultural commodity’ has the meaning given the 12
term in section 395.2 of title 49, Code of Federal 13
Regulations (or a successor regulation).’’. 14
(2) R
ULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days 15
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-16
retary of Transportation shall revise the definition of 17
the term ‘‘agricultural commodity’’ in section 395.2 18
of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to in-19
clude— 20
(A) any nonprocessed product planted or 21
harvested for food, feed, fuel, or fiber; 22
(B)(i) any nonhuman living animal, includ-23
ing— 24
(I) fish; 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 28
•HR 471 IH
(II) insects; and 1
(III) livestock (as such term is defined 2
in section 602 of the Emergency Livestock 3
Feed Assistance Act of 1988 (7 U.S.C. 4
1471); and 5
(ii) the nonprocessed products of any 6
nonhuman living animal, including— 7
(I) milk; 8
(II) eggs; and 9
(III) honey; 10
(C) nonprocessed forestry, aquacultural, 11
horticultural, and floricultural commodities; 12
(D) fresh or minimally processed fruits 13
and vegetables, including fruits and vegetables 14
that are rinsed, cooled, cut, ripened, or other-15
wise minimally processed, as determined by the 16
Secretary; 17
(E) animal feed, including the ingredients 18
of animal feed; and 19
(F) any additional agricultural or forest 20
product, whether unprocessed or processed, in-21
cluding paper and packaging products and food 22
and beverage products. 23
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H471.IH H471
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB