CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with subsection 4 of rule XXIX of the Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): [Public Law 563, 89th Cong. (80 Stat. 718)] NATIONAL TRAFFIC AND MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY ACT OF 1966 TITLE I-MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS SEC. 122. The provisions of this title for certification of motor vehicles and items of motor vehicle equipment shall take effect on the effective date of the first standard actually issued under section 103 of this title. SEC. 123. (a) Upon application made by a manufacturer at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary shall prescribe, he may temporarily exempt a limited production motor vehicle from any motor vehicle safety standard established under this title if he finds that compliance would cause such manufacturer substantial economic hardship and that such temporary exemption would not result in undue hazard to the public. (b) A manufacturer granted a temporary exemption shall affix to the window of any motor vehicle for which temporary exemption has been granted a label containing a statement that the motor vehicle does not comply with the appropriate standard, and the manner in which such vehicle does not comply. The Secretary shall prescribe the form and content of such label. The provisions of section 114 of this title shall otherwise apply as to those standards for which no temporary exemption has been granted. (c) The Secretary shall require in such manner as he deems appropriate, the notification of the dealer ard of the first purchaser of a limited production motor vehicle (not including the dealer of such manufacturer) that such vehicle has not been tested for compliance with the standards from which it has been exempted. (d) In order to avoid undue economic hardship, where technically feasible and consistent with the public interest and the objectives of this Act, the Secretary shall have the authority to prescribe alternative procedures for demonstrating compliance with the standards applying to limited production motor vehicles. (e) For the purposes of this section "limited production motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle produced by a manufacturer whose total motor vehicle production, as determined by the Secretary, does not exceed five hundred annually. (f) The authority of the Secretary under this section shall terminate two years after the date of enactment of this Act, and no exemption granted under this section shall remain in effect after two years after such date. House Debate Congressional Record-House EXEMPTION FROM SAFETY STANDARDS OF LIMITED MOTOR VEHICLE PRODUCTION Mr. BOLLING. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 1106) providing for consideration of S. 2029, to amend the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 relating to the application of certain standards to motor vehicles produced in quantities of less than 500, and ask for its immediate consideration. The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. RES. 1106 Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to move that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the considerations of the bill (S. 2029) to amend the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 relating to the application of certain standards to motor vehicles produced in quantities of loss than five hundred. After general debate, which shall be confined to the bill and shall continue not to exceed one hour, to be equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, the bill shall be read for amendment under the five-minute rule. At the conclusion of the consideration of the bill for amendment, the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted, and the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit. Mr. BOLLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessec Mr. QUILLEN] and, pending that, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, there is no controversy over the rule and very little controversy over the bill, if any. The bill itself provides for giving certain special treatment, which seems legitimate, in the safety standards for motor vehicles, with respect to those companies that produce less than 500 motor vehicles annually. This, it seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. QUILLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. As the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. BOLLING] has stated, House Resolution 1106 provides an open rule with 1 hour of general debate for the consideration of S. 2029. The purpose of the bill is to exempt from the safety requirement provisions of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 certain auto manufacturers who produce only a very limited number of vehicles each year. The act provides for the establishment of vehicle safety standards by the Secretary of Transportation and their inclusion in automobiles. There are a number of small manufacturers producing specialized vehicles who have informed the Secretary that because of economic limitations they cannot comply with all the regulatory safety standards which have been established. This is particularly true of those standards which can only be tested fully by actually wrecking & car. Relief of these small manufacturers can only be granted by legislation, hence this bill which is supported by the Department of Transportation. The bill provides that the Secretary may exempt for a period of up to 3 years a manufacturer of fewer than 500 cars a year from any safety standard if he finds that compliance would cause a real economic hardship for such manufacturer. This does not mean that such manufacturers would be then exempted from all standards. Only those the Secretary finds actually create a hardship would be eliminated for such a manufacturer. The Secretary is also authorized to exempt from particular standards a manufacturer who is attempting to develop a vehicle using a power source other than internal combustion, again for a period of up to 3 years. The costs of administering this program will be paid out of existing sums appropriated for carrying out the existing provisions of the act. Mr. Speaker, I know of no objection to the rule, and I ask that it be adopted. I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. BOLLING. Mr. Speaker, I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered. The resolution was agreed to. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. Mr. STAGGERS. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the considera. tion of the bill (S. 2029) to amend the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 relating to the application of certain standards to motor vehicles produced in quantities of less than 500. The motion was agreed to. IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE Accordingly the House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill S. 2029, with Mr. DADDARIO in the chair. The Clerk read the title of the bill. By unanimous consent, the first reading of the bill was dispensed with. The CHAIRMAN. Under the rule, the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. STAGGERS] will be recognized for 30 minutes, and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. STRINGER] will be recognized for 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. STAGGERS). Mr. STAGGERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may require. Mr. Chairman, the purpose of this legislation is to allow small manufacturers of motor vehicles to remain in business. Some of them have concluded that they are financially unable to meet the testing requirements as established by the Department of Transportation. Others have inventory problems where, if they have to discard present items they will not be able to sustain the financial burden. The Secretary of Transportation has taken the position that the 1966 act does not permit him to grant any exemptions to small manufacturers. This bill has passed the other body and the committee has reported it favorably in order to afford a limited measure of relief to manufacturers of 500 units or less a year. I believe that we have put safeguards in to assure that there is no downgrading of safety on our highways. In order to obtain an exemption as to any standards, an applicant must establish, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that failure to grant an exemption would cause the manufacturer a substantial economic hardship, or that the temporary exemption would facilitate the development of vehicles using propulsion systems other than internal combustion engines, and that the temporary exemption is consistent with the public interest and the objectives of the 1966 act. Finally, I would point out that this amendment will terminate 3 years after enactment and no exemption may be granted for more than a 3-year period. In this time present inventory problems Mr. SPRINGER. Mr. Chairman, the And even now there are some minor differences of viewpoint. The Department seems to indicate that we are talking about all of the special purpose vehicles such as fire trucks, while it is my contention that we are not. It was never intended that one set of standards should apply to any vehicle regardless of its intended use. Buses, trucks, and special purpose vehicles naturally would have different standards than passenger cars. And the problem which has brought the matter to a head does not involve such vehicles. We can forget about the several hundred companies engaged in such activity and concentrate upon these 10 or 12 which really do run into trouble with the rules. One instance illustrates best what this bill does. When Studebaker moved to Canada and left vacant the plants in South Bend, a few local men bought up the dies and parts for the Avanti, a recent and sporty addition to the Studebaker line. Employing Studebaker men, they have built limited numbers of the Avanti, mostly by hand. I am told that the car is a well designed vehicle with high performance characteristics. It is probably better built in many ways than many similar assembly-line cars. The parts being used are not necessarily obsolete, but they are a year or two old. It would be safe to say that these automobiles have at least comparable safety features with your 1966 or 1967 automobile. It is not possible, however, for this company to destroy several automobiles a year to prove the point. Neither is it possible for a company of this type to 7285 abandon large inventories of parts which will last them 2 or 3 years to accomplish small changes which are or may be required under the safety standards. For these reasons it seems sensible enough for the Safety Administrator to exempt such a vehicle from the standards for a limited time as long as it is basically safe. This bill provides such authority. The Administrator must make a finding that such an exemption would be consistent with the public interest. Safety standards are not requirements that come to maturity overnight, Observing the activity of the traffic safety organization, we have seen that it must necessarily be an evolutionary process. It must take into account the realities of automobile production, and it does. The realities of such production for the giants in the industry are somewhat different from the realities of production for a small company manufacturing very few vehicles. It is not the intention of this legislation to give permanent exemptions to limited production vehicles. On the contrary, they must strive to meet the standards and actually meet them within a 3-year period. It is possible that some manufacturers in the category we are discussing will not be able to make it. It is possible that some kinds of limited production vehicles can never be brought up to the standards which evolve. It is not the intention of this legislation to keep them in business at all costs, particularly at the cost of safety. But as of now it seems practical, sensible and fair to provide this additional authority with which the Safety Administrator can help them work out their problems. I recommend this bill to the House. Mr. HALEY. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield? Mr. SPRINGER. I yield to the gentleman from Florida. Mr. HALEY. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman tell us how many manufacturers are involved in this? Mr. SPRINGER, Mr. Chairman, there are several hundred manufacturers in the country in these classifications, who manufacture fewer than 500 vehicles per year. Mr. HALEY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman. Mr. MURPHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the bill. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 was passed to meet a critical national problem, the increasingly high number of accidents and deaths on this Nation's highways. More than a million and a half people have been killed in automobile accidents in the United States since the auto mobile was invented; 50,000 people will die on our highways this year alone. Of the more than 100 million cars roaming our highways this year one in four will be damaged. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 authorized the Secretary of Transportation to establish safety standards for all motor vehicles. This law has resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of automobiles in this country. Since the passage of this act, however, a number of manufacturers engaged in the production of motor vehicles have complained that because of economic limitations they cannot meet all of the safety requirements established by the Secretary of Transportation. The Secretary has indicated that there are special circumstances where small manufacturers are not able to meet all safety requirements, and recommends that he be allowed to grant temporary exemptions. Since the 1966 act precludes the Secretary from making any exceptions from safety standards, any relief must be made by legislation. The bill now before the House would provide for this relief by authorizing the Secretary of Transportation to grant temporary exemption from motor vehicle safety standards for limited production motor vehicles. Such exemption could be granted if the Secretary finds that compliance would cause substantial economic hardship or that such temporary exemption "would facilitate the development of vehicles utilizing a propulsion system other than or supplementing an internal combusion engine," and that the exemption would be consistent with the public interest. The provision granting an exemption where it would facilitate the development of vehicles with propulsion systems other than internal combustion engines is language which I offered in the executive session of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. One type of vehicle which would qualify would be an electric automobile which is being developed by a number of firms. This may be one answer to the increasing problem of air pollution in our urban areas. In my own city of New York, which was recently rated as the most polluted area in the Nation, millions of tons of pollutants are discharged into the air each year by automobiles. The electric automobile may or may not be the answer to this problem, but we must not restrict its development before we find out. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. SPRINGER. Mr. Chairman, I have no further requests for time. |