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

ARA Testifies Before Congress

RA testified during a hearing on vehicle safety in the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade on Wednesday, October 21st. The Association’s testimony was delivered by ARA CEO Michael Wilson, and ARA President Mike Swift made a special trip to Washington to accompany ARA staff to meetings with subcommittee mem- bers prior to the hearing to offer on-the- ground examples of why recyclers need original equipment (OE) parts data to enhance vehicle and consumer safety. ARA delivered its testimony as part of a panel which included representatives from the automakers’ trade groups.

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ARA CEO Michael Wilson testifies before Congress on automotive recy- clers access to manufacturers vehicle part numbers.

that this practice of sharing original equip- ment parts numbers with professional automotive recyclers should not be an anomaly, rather it should be a standard automotive industry practice, especially in light of the automakers’ new “safety norm.”

ARA’s statement focuses on why the industry needs OE recycled parts data to help identify automotive parts and requests that language be added to the subcommit- tee’s draft legislation that would provide the automotive recycling industry access to critical original equipment parts data on all vehicles. The critical data includes motor vehicle part numbers, names and descrip- tions tied to each motor vehicle’s specific Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). ARA took this opportunity to underscore the fact that automakers are accountable for the safety of all OE parts throughout their life-cycle and should be required to share whatever parts information is neces- sary to identify and locate recalled defective parts within the recycled original equip- ment parts population. ARA emphasized

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ARA concluded its statement by reinforcing that consumer demand for a safe and vibrant replacement parts market makes it imperative that Congress include language that would require automakers to remove the barriers they have construct- ed so that all of the parts data is available to the professional automotive recycling industry.

The professional automotive recycling industry was well represented on Capitol Hill during this week as individuals from Car-Part, LKQ, Pull-A-Part, Nucor and Schnitzer also attended the hearing and met with several members of Congress. In response to the testimony along with ARA’s longstanding efforts on this issue, Congress has included language requiring automakers to provide access to OE parts data in the just-passed high- way bill. ARA thanks Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for offering the amendment. You can view ARA’s testimony at: www. c-span.org/video/?c4556138/road-vehicle- safety.

ARA Submits Comments to NHTSA’s Public Meeting on Takata Air Bag Recall

al Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in mid-October in follow- up to a public informa- tion meeting the Agency held earlier in the month

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on the recalls of Takata air bag inflators and NHTSA’s Coordinated Remedy Program. During the meeting which ARA attended, NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind and representatives from the Agency’s Vehicle Safety Division pro- vided updates on the steps that NHTSA is taking to address the safety risks asso- ciated with the defective inflators. In its comments, ARA noted its sup- port of the Coordinated Remedy Pro- gram for the Takata air bag inflator and for NHTSA’s plans to apply the program to all vehicle manufacturers who have sold automobiles with the defective infla- tors, including BMW, FCA, Ford, GM, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota.

ARA also took this opportunity to once again remind NHTSA that it can not reach its oft- stated 100% recall rem- edy goal without the help of ARA mem- bers – members who must have access to parts number data so professional automotive recyclers can efficiently iden- tify automakers’ defective non-remedied OE parts. As ARA has repeatedly argued, NHTSA must focus on identifying both the vehicle and its parts to enhance driv- ers’ safety and the only way to identify specific parts is by their part numbers, names and descriptions.

ARA once again requested that NHTSA assert its authority “to carry out needed safety research and develop-

RA submitted com- ments to the Nation-