Capitol Connection Latest Legislative Updates from the Hill and Around the Country

Automaker Recalls and Your Business

n mid-July an email was sent to all ARA direct members from ARA’s President and CEO outlining the efforts of the association to help protect and promote your inventory of safe and quality OEM recycled parts in this era of continuous automotive safety recalls. Specifically, the communication lists the three laws that have been passed (in 1966, 2000 and 2012) that seek to pro- tect drivers from automotive safety defects and then highlights the progress ARA has made on its 3 main goals in this area: (1) to gain access to bulk VIN recall data; (2) to obtain bulk recalled parts data; and (3) to have automakers adhere to the law and provide ARA members with fair market value for recalled parts that recyclers must remove from their inventory.

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ARA leadership and staff are working on these issues daily – efforts which are proving successful as ARA is now an invited participant at many policymaking sessions on this issue and as lawmakers/ regulators are beginning to advocate on our behalf.

ARA Advocates for Professional Automotive Recyclers Making Progress in the Senate on Auto Safety Legislation and at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

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he past year and a half of record- breaking auto recalls has elevated the issue of automotive safety in Congress substantially enough that pro- visions addressing automakers’ penalties, processes, and oversight have been vig- orously debated and included in the Senate’s version of a highway funding reauthorization bill.

Both Republican and Democrat pro- posals have included provisions address-

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Policymakers have heard our concerns and are beginning to include in legislative language the ability to search for multiple VINs at one time.

ing the need to improve the federal gov- ernment’s VIN-based recall tracking data- base (www.safercar.gov) as a result of ARA and other industry stakeholders’ efforts. What is currently included in the Senate measure is Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune’s (R-SD) language that would require the Secretary of Transportation “to improve the organiza- tion, availability and readability to the website [www.safercar.gov]” and further “requires the Secretary, in coordination with industry to study the feasibility of searching multiple vehicle identification numbers at a time to retrieve motor vehi- cle safety recall information.”

ARA is pleased to learn that policy- makers have heard our concerns and are beginning to include in legislative language the ability to search for multi- ple VINs at one time. ARA, however, firmly believes that legislative action to provide for multiple searches should be mandated immediately and that no study as provided for in one of the reau- thorization versions needs to be con- ducted to determine feasibility. Staff and leadership will continue to reach out to Congress to urge policy- makers to include in the final highway reauthorization bill provisions which require NHTSA and the automakers to provide for a multiple VIN search capa- bility as well as to provide for access to parts data.

ARA has also taken the opportunity to reach out to NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind suggesting to him how professional automotive recyclers could serve as critical resources for any poten- tial buy-back program NHTSA consid- ers. Citing past buy-back programs, ARA staff underscored that several automak- ers have relied on professional automo- tive recyclers to appropriately dismantle buy-back vehicles to ensure that they would never be driven on the roadways again.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Recalls Generate NHTSA Penalties, Buy-back Programs and Strict Oversight

Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA US) for its numerous recall infractions. Among the many requirements facing FCA, along with record breaking fines of $105 million, the company also will be required to buy back recalled pickup trucks and Jeep vehicles and meet strict oversight requirements. One of these provisions is that FCA will begin a pilot project to:

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“Initiate and lead, to the extent third- parties agree to participate, an effort to provide secure back-end access to man- ufacturers’ VIN search tools to allow for bulk access to VIN search results.” As part of its ongoing investigation into whether FCA has met its obligations to remedy its recalled vehicles, NHTSA held a public hearing in early July in which ARA participated. Included in this hearing process was an invitation to submit comments for the record on FCA’s remedy actions to-date. ARA took this opportunity to convey to NHTSA that no recall program can be successful unless the automakers’ recall remedy calculations include recycled OEM parts.

n the regulatory side, NHTSA has released a consent order against