Access to Salvage Auto recyclers in MISSISSIPPI are opposing a bill that

would exempt the owner of a vehicle that is older than model year 1969 or that has not been issued a license tag or decal in the last two years from requirement that the title be delivered to DOR for cancellation. Senate Bill 2287 would have a serious negative impact on the availability of salvage for ARA member companies as well as create new loopholes for late model vehicles without a tag to be sold to unlicensed businesses. The bill has been assigned to the Transportation and Judiciary committees, which had until March 4 to take action otherwise the bill would be dead. In TENNESSEE, automotive recyclers are working to defeat House Bill 789 which would increase the age of a vehicle a recycler may purchase without a title from 12 years with an affidavit, to 15 years. Currently there is no reporting mechanism in place to report vehicle purchases to the state and the state has thus far refused to invest in building the necessary electronic reporting system, so leg-

ARA Well Represented at February NMVTIS Advisory Board Meeting

RA Executive Committee Member RD Hopper of Sonny’s Auto Salvage and Pull-A-Part, LLC Senior Vice President Steve Levetan and ARA policy staff attended the first in-person meeting of the 2015 National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) Advisory Board on February 24. Both recyclers also are serving on the Board’s Compli- ance Subcommittee which is chaired by Howard Nusbaum, Administrator of the National Salvage Vehicle Reporting Program (NSVRP). The Subcommittee met during the NMVTIS meeting in fol- low-up to its teleconference calls held over the past few months. During the introductory meeting, members heard strategic and opera- tional updates from the Association of American Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) and listened to a demonstra- tion on the NMVTIS law enforcement access tool. In addition, Steve gave a leg- islative report on the status of NMVTIS reporting at the state level and noted that “it is critical to the success of NMVTIS to support efforts by state leg- islatures to require NMVTIS reporting to states.” RD offered comments on

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islators are focusing on increasing the age of the vehicle rather than address the lack of reporting infrastructure. The bill has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Business and Utilities and ARA members continue to dia- logue with stakeholders.

Similar bills were introduced in MISSOURI earlier this

year, Senate Bill 249 and House Bill 724, seeking to remove the state’s current exemption for scrap metal operators from the requirement to obtain an original cer- tificate of title, salvage title, or junking certificate if a vehicle or its parts are more than 10 years old after certify- ing that there is no lien on the motor vehicle or more than 20 years old without the lien check requirement. There has not been much activity on either bill, the Senate bill has been assigned to the Commerce Committee, and ARA members in the state will continue to actively monitor any developments. It is unlikely the bills will pass and similar legislation was defeated last year.

“how important it is for NMVTIS to effectively track vehicles from cradle to grave, and that professional automotive recyclers are committed to continue to do their part to making this happen.”

ARA Works with NHTSA to Help Identify Vehicles With Takata Airbag Recalls

Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to help professional automotive recyclers identify vehicles in their inventory that may be subject to a Takata airbag(s) recall. NHTSA directed ARA to their www.safercar.gov website and provided recall ID numbers to access the specific recall file. Based on the automaker-sub- mitted data within those files, ARA staff created a document (https://files.ctctcdn. com/dae4f49d001/83a6cba2-2e62-4867- a2e3827a8b9b473f.pdf), which lists those vehicles and airbag(s) that have been recalled due to defects.

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Recyclers who determine that they have a recalled vehicle in their inventory can input a specific VIN to safercar.gov and determine if that particular vehicle’s airbag(s) are subject to a recall. Automotive recyclers seeking to partici- pate in ARA class action litigation can ref-

RA recently requested additional information from the National

erence this information to help them fol- low the recommended procedures. Under those directions, professional automotive recyclers are requested to recover the recalled bags, store, and maintain them through the duration of the lawsuit for evi- dence or possible testing.

In related news, NHTSA reports that nearly 90 percent of vehicles with defective Takata airbag inflators remain unrepaired. Approximately 17 million vehicles with defective Takata airbags have been recalled since 2008 and just under 2 million of those have been fixed as of December 31, according to a NHTSA spokesperson. Efforts to replace the faulty airbags have been stalled as Takata continues to scram- ble to supply automakers and dealers with replacement parts.

Federal safety regulators are assessing

Takata with a $14,000 per day fine for fail- ing to fully cooperate with a probe of the defective airbags. In a joint statement, U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) have called on Takata to immediately do everything possible to expeditiously replace airbags that could cause serious injury or the loss of life. ARA continues its work to urge legislators and regulators to consider the effects of the recalls throughout the automotive parts supply chain.

March-April 2015 | Automotive Recycling 71