Massachusetts' right-to-repair law could be enforced in June

BOSTON — Massachusetts' newly elected Attorney General Andrea Campbell said she intends to enforce the state's updated right-to-repair law in June, according to a court filing made public Wednesday.

Campbell, who assumed office in January, said in the filing that terminating her office's nonenforcement stipulation is "in the public interest" and would take effect June 1.

Former Attorney General Maura Healey, who is now governor of Massachusetts, previously said her office will not enforce the state's revised law until after the federal court rules on claims brought by automakers challenging the legislation.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock has delayed ruling on the more than two-year-old lawsuit at least six times.

"The people of Massachusetts deserve the benefit of the law they approved more than two years ago," Campbell said in the filing. "Consumers and independent repair shops deserve to know whether they will receive access to vehicle repair data in the manner provided by the law."

She said auto makers and dealers "need to understand their obligations under the law and take action to achieve compliance."

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation is representing auto makers in the lawsuit to block the voter-approved measure that revised and expanded the state's existing right-to-repair law.

Alliance spokesperson Brian Weiss said the trade association does not comment on pending litigation.

The group has argued the amended law conflicts with several federal laws, poses cybersecurity and vehicle safety risks and sets an impossible timeline for compliance.

The measure — referred to as the "data access law" in the suit — requires auto makers with sales operations in the state to equip vehicles that use telematics systems with a standardized, open-access data platform, beginning with the 2022 model year. It gives vehicle owners and independent repair shops access to real-time information from the telematics, such as crash notifications, remote diagnostics and navigation.

A similar ballot initiative, backed by automotive aftermarket companies, is under way in Maine.

In separate briefs filed in October, cybersecurity executives from General Motors and Stellantis said the automakers cannot implement the law's requirements safely and, therefore, have taken no steps toward compliance.

At least two other auto makers — Subaru Corp. and Kia Motors Co. — have disabled the telematics systems in their 2022 model year and newer vehicles registered in Massachusetts to avoid compliance hiccups amid the ongoing legal battle.

In the filing Wednesday, Campbell said the court previously warned the alliance's members that "if their business planning is not including thinking about" the revised law "coming into play at some point," then they were "whistling by the graveyard on it."