Bill Text: NJ A4008 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requires notice of motor vehicle safety recalls upon inspection and registration of motor vehicle; requires motor vehicle manufacturers to pay annual fee to MVC in certain circumstances.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-10-21 - Reported out of Asm. Comm. with Amendments, and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee [A4008 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4008-Amended.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHAVONDA E. SUMTER
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblyman CLINTON CALABRESE
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DePhillips, Assemblywoman Carter and Assemblyman Wimberly
SYNOPSIS
Requires notice of motor vehicle safety recalls upon inspection and registration of motor vehicle; requires motor vehicle manufacturers to pay annual fee to MVC in certain circumstances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on October 21, 2024, with amendments.
An Act concerning motor vehicle safety recalls and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
"Chief administrator" means the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission;
"Commission" means the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; and
"Open recall" means a safety-related recall, for which notification by a manufacturer is required to be provided under 49 U.S.C. s.30118 and 49 U.S.C. s.30119, that necessitates repairs or modifications to a motor vehicle by an authorized motor vehicle dealer. For purposes of this section, "open recall" shall not include: recalls related to defects or failures to comply with requirements relating to labeling or notification in a motor vehicle's owner's manual; or recalls where the remedy is for the manufacturer to repurchase the motor vehicle or otherwise provide financial compensation to the owner of the motor vehicle.
b. During a motor vehicle inspection, an official inspection facility, or licensed private inspection facility, shall check information made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine whether the motor vehicle being inspected is subject to an open recall. If the vehicle is subject to one or more open recalls, the official inspection facility, or licensed private inspection facility, shall provide the owner of the motor vehicle, at the time of inspection, written notice of all open recalls applicable to the motor vehicle. The recall notice shall include the following:
(1) a description of each open recall; and
(2) a statement that each open recall may be repaired by a motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle at no cost to the owner of the motor vehicle, except as provided in 49 U.S.C. s.30120.
c. Nothing in this section shall alter the liability under common law of any motor vehicle manufacturer or motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer to repair an open recall.
d. The chief administrator and employees of the commission who are designated by the chief administrator, for the purposes of discharging their duties pursuant to this section, and a private inspection facility or its owner and employees shall not be liable to any person for any act or omission related to the open recall notice provided pursuant to this section, except for cases of gross negligence.
2. a. As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
"Chief administrator" means the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission;
"Commission" means the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; and
"Open recall" means a safety-related recall, for which notification by a manufacturer is required to be provided under 49 U.S.C. s.30118 and 49 U.S.C. s.30119, that necessitates repairs or modifications to a motor vehicle by an authorized motor vehicle dealer. For purposes of this section, "open recall" shall not include: recalls related to defects or failures to comply with requirements relating to labeling or notification in a motor vehicle's owner's manual; or recalls where the remedy is for the manufacturer to repurchase the motor vehicle or otherwise provide financial compensation to the owner of the motor vehicle.
b. The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall, prior to issuing a motor vehicle registration or mailing a motor vehicle registration renewal notice, check information made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine whether the motor vehicle is subject to an open recall. For a vehicle that is subject to one or more open recalls, the commission shall provide the owner of the motor vehicle written notice of all open recalls applicable to the motor vehicle. The recall notice shall be provided at the time the vehicle is registered, except that for registration renewals, the recall notice shall be included in the registration renewal notice. The recall notice shall include the following:
(1) a description of each open recall; and
(2) a statement that each open recall may be repaired by a motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle at no cost to the owner of the motor vehicle, except as provided in 49 U.S.C. s.30120.
c. Nothing in this section shall alter the liability under common law of any motor vehicle manufacturer or motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer to repair an open recall.
d. The chief administrator
and employees of the commission who are designated by the chief administrator,
for the purpose of discharging their duties pursuant to this section, shall not
be liable to any person for any act or omission related to the open recall
notice provided pursuant to this section, except for cases of gross negligence.
13. a. As used in this section, "motor vehicle manufacturer" means a natural person, corporation, partnership, or entity engaged in the business of manufacturing or assembling new motor vehicles that, under normal business conditions during the year, manufactures or assembles at least 10 new motor vehicles.
b. Motor vehicle manufacturers that conduct business in the State shall assist the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission in applying for any funding that may be available to the commission to cover the costs to implement the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), which funding may include, but shall not be limited to, federal grants.
c. In the event that the funding sources acquired pursuant to subsection b. of this section do not cover the commission's costs to implement the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall require each motor vehicle manufacturer that conducts business in the State to pay an annual fee to the commission, except that total collections of the fee shall not exceed the actual costs incurred by the commission to implement P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The amount of the annual fee shall be determined by the chief administrator based on documentation of the actual costs incurred by the commission to implement P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), which documentation shall be published annually on the commission's Internet website and provided directly to each motor vehicle manufacturer that conducts business in the State.
d. The commission shall not implement the provisions of P.L. , c, (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) until it has received sufficient funding to cover the costs to implement the provisions of P.L. , c, (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
e. The chief administrator may adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), such rules and regulations as are necessary to implement this section, which rules and regulations may include enforcement and penalty provisions for violations.1
1[3.] 4.1 This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month after enactment, but the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission may take any administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the timely implementation of this act.
