H.R. 10620 — Barron’s Law

This section requires commercial driver's license and commercial learner's permit applicants to be United States citizens, lawful permanent residents, or otherwise authorized under federal law to work in the United States driving a commercial motor vehicle. It directs states to verify compliance before issuance. It adds an indicator of compliance to the commercial driver's license information system without storing underlying immigration documents. It directs the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to maintain the indicator. It requires the Secretary to issue regulations disqualifying noncompliant individuals for a period determined by the Secretary.

This section requires states to mandate that each applicant for a commercial driver’s license or commercial learner’s permit pass one or more standardized English language proficiency assessments, established and approved by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator, before issuance or renewal. The assessments must evaluate an applicant’s ability to read road signs and safety instructions, understand spoken instructions and emergency communications, and complete required documentation, with a minimum passing standard and procedures for American Sign Language users. Each state must also report aggregate testing and compliance data to the Administrator.

This section requires motor carrier registration applicants to disclose relationships under penalty of perjury and directs the Secretary of Transportation to deny registration to any chameleon carrier whose prior registration was revoked within the preceding 3 years. It establishes a criminal penalty of up to $25,000 per violation or 1 year imprisonment, or both, for knowingly making a materially false statement or using a successor entity to evade Federal motor carrier safety sanctions.

This section imposes civil penalties on motor carriers determined to have knowingly employed or contracted with an operator ineligible to operate a commercial motor vehicle. The penalty is not less than $25,000 per offense, or not less than $100,000 if the violation results in serious injury or death.

This section prohibits foreign motor carriers and foreign motor private carriers from engaging in domestic point-to-point transportation within the United States except as authorized by Federal law. It imposes a civil penalty of up to $100,000 per vehicle per day for violations and directs the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to establish enforcement procedures including out-of-service orders and state referrals. States must cooperate with inspections and reporting or face withholding of 10 percent of funds apportioned under 23 U.S.C. 104(b)(1) and (2). It also establishes a pilot program using electronic logging, GPS, and geofencing at land ports of entry to detect unlawful cabotage, requires a report to Congress within 2 years, and mandates a separate report within 180 days on gaps in cross-border data sharing with Mexico.

This section requires the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit annual reports, individually or jointly, to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure describing implementation of the Act and its amendments, including commercial driver’s license suspensions and revocations, English language proficiency testing, carrier enforcement actions, cabotage violations, penalties assessed, and commercial driver’s license information system modernization. It also directs the Comptroller General to evaluate the Act’s implementation and effectiveness within 3 years of enactment.