BUS Act of 2020

Best to Use Safety Belts Act of 2020 or the BUS Act of 2020

This bill prohibits a person from manufacturing for sale, selling, introducing into interstate commerce, or importing into the United States a school bus that is not equipped with lap and shoulder belts for each passenger. A violation of this requirement shall be treated as a violation of a federal motor vehicle safety standard.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) shall establish a program to provide school buses with seat belts and other safety features, under which DOT may make a competitive grant to a state educational agency and a local educational agency to (1) retrofit a school bus with seat belts, or (2) make another safety upgrade to a school bus that demonstrably decreases the risk of injury or death to students in the event of an impact or rollover.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7306 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7306

     To improve the safety of school buses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2020

 Mr. Crist (for himself and Mr. Cohen) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
  Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Education and 
    Labor, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To improve the safety of school buses, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Best to Use Safety Belts Act of 
2020'' or the ``BUS Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. SEAT BELT REQUIREMENT FOR SCHOOL BUSES.

    (a) Requirement.--Section 30125 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Seat Belts Required.--A person may not manufacture for sale, 
sell, offer for sale, introduce or deliver for introduction in 
interstate commerce, or import into the United States a schoolbus that 
is not equipped with a seat belt that includes both lap and shoulder 
belts for each intended passenger. A violation of this subsection shall 
be treated as a violation of a motor vehicle safety standard prescribed 
under section 30111 of this subchapter.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. SCHOOL BUS SAFETY UPGRADES GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall establish 
a program to provide school buses with seat belts and other safety 
features.
    (b) Grant Authority and Eligible Recipients.--In carrying out the 
program established under subsection (a), the Secretary may make a 
grant, on a competitive basis, to a State educational agency and a 
local educational agency (as such terms are defined in section 8101 of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)).
    (c) Grant Uses.--A recipient of a grant made under subsection (b) 
may use grant funds only to--
            (1) retrofit a school bus with seat belts; or
            (2) make another safety upgrade to a school bus that 
        demonstrably decreases the risk of injury or death to students 
        in the event of an impact or rollover, including an upgrade 
        designed to prevent a rollover.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out the program established under subsection (a) 
$3,000,000,000.
    (e) Termination.--The program established under subsection (a) 
shall terminate on the date that is 2 years after the date on which the 
program is established.
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