WASHINGTON (June 4, 2015) — The GROW AMERICA Act — the Obama administration's six-year, $478 billion transportation funding package — has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Tire Industry Association (TIA) is urging tire dealers to write members of Congress opposing a provision in the GROW AMERICA Act that could bring back mandatory tire registration, a measure potentially ruinous to many independent tire dealers.
Sponsored by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and 23 other House Democrats, the GROW AMERICA Act was introduced May 19 and assigned the bill number H.R. 2410.
The 361-page document includes a provision, Section 4112, on page 189, TIA said in the June 2 issue of the “TIA Weekly Legislative Update.”
Section 4112 would give the Secretary of Transportation leave to initiate rulemaking to require independent tire dealers and distributors to maintain records identifying both the tires they sell and the names and addresses of purchasers.
“According to the language in Section 4112…it's reasonable to assume that NHTSA (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) would require the distributor or dealer to maintain the records and electronically transmit the information to the manufacturer at no cost to the consumer,” wrote TIA Executive Vice President Roy Littlefield III in the legislative update.
“Based on those assumptions, TIA believes that NHTSA intends to reinstate some form of a mandatory tire registration system.”
If Section 4112 passes, that could lead to fines of up to $700,000 per dealership location for failing to register tires, Mr. Littlefield said.
He urged TIA members to contact members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee in opposition to Section 4112. The issue provided a link to a sample letter, and also gave the number for the main congressional switchboard (202-224-3121) for TIA members to find the office numbers for their representatives.
Mr. Littlefield also asked members to contact TIA Government Affairs Manager Roy Littlefield IV — via email at [email protected] — to let him know when they had made contact with a member of Congress or congressional staff.
“We need to do all we can to build support among committee members,” he said.
The Senate voted May 19 to allow a two-month extension of current transportation funding. Congress now has until July 31 to pass new transportation legislation.