HR 3411 Introduced – Automated Vehicle Advisory Council

Last month, as part of a series of bills on highly automated vehicles that were introduced on the same day as HR 3388 was revised by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Costello (R,PA) introduced HR 3411. This bill would require DOT to establish the Automated Driving System Cybersecurity Advisory Council. An identical provision was included as §9 in HR 3388.

The Council

The Council would be established under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 USC Appendix). It would consist of 15 to 30 members representing “business, academia and independent researchers, State and local authorities, safety and consumer advocates, engineers, labor organizations, environmental experts, a representative of the Na1tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and other members determined to be appropriate by the Secretary” {§1(b)}.

The Council would advise the DOT Secretary on “cybersecurity for the testing, deployment, and updating of automated driving systems with respect to supply chain risk management, interactions with Information Sharing and Analysis Centers and Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations, and a framework for identifying and implementing recalls of motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment” {§1(e)}.

Moving Forward

As with the other two bills that I have discussed in this series (HR 3401 and HR 3407), it looks like this bill was introduced so that key components of HR 3388 could still be passed by the House if the Republican leadership determined that some of the more controversial (and non-cybersecurity related) provisions of the bill would prohibit consideration of HR 3388. If the leadership decides not to move forward with HR 3388 I expect most of this series of bills would be considered in a single day under the suspension of the rules provision. That would allow for limited debate and no floor amendments. I suspect that the three cybersecurity related bills would pass with a substantial bipartisan majority.

Commentary

The DOT has a long history of using these advisory committees to produce consensus rulemakings on deeply technical topics. The involvement of industry representatives and various activist organizations helps to ensure that a multitude of voices are heard in the development process.

Having said that, I am disappointed that two groups were not specifically identified in the list of entities to be included. I would have liked to see Automotive ISAC specifically listed as a central industry group that should be represented. On the government side, I would have liked to have seen the DHS ICS-CERT specifically mentioned as an agency (along with the current mention of NHTSA) that would have a representative on the Council. I think that these two would be important additions to provide specific cybersecurity expertise for these the complex control systems associated with highly automated vehicles.

The Secretary still has a great deal of leeway to add representatives of these two organizations to the Council, but a Congressional mandate for at least the ICS-CERT would have made the inter-departmental appointment much easier.

Bills Introduced – 07-26-17

Yesterday with both the House and Senate in session there were 58 bills introduced. Of those, nine may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

HR 3401 To amend chapter 301 of subtitle VI of title 49, United States Code, to update or provide new motor vehicle safety standards for highly automated vehicles, and for other purposes. Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]

HR 3404 To provide for the establishment in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of a Highly Automated Vehicle Advisory Council. Rep. Cardenas, Tony [D-CA-29]

HR 3405 To amend title 49, United States Code, to expand the exemption from the motor vehicle safety standards for testing or evaluation purposes to cover manufacturers of highly automated vehicles and automated driving system components, and for other purposes. Rep. Walters, Mimi [R-CA-45]

HR 3406 To amend section 30113 of title 49, United States Code, to increase the annual number of vehicles that may be exempted for the development of new vehicle safety features, and for other purposes. Rep. Upton, Fred [R-MI-6]

HR 3407 To amend chapter 301 of subtitle VI of title 49, United States Code, to require a cybersecurity plan for highly automated vehicles, and for other purposes. Rep. Kinzinger, Adam [R-IL-16]

HR 3408 To amend section 30113 of title 49, United States Code to establish new exemptions for motor vehicle safety standards, and for other purposes. Rep. Lance, Leonard [R-NJ-7]

HR 3411 To establish in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration an Automated Driving System Cybersecurity Advisory Council to make recommendations regarding cybersecurity for the testing, deployment, and updating of automated driving systems. Rep. Costello, Ryan A. [R-PA-6]

HR 3412 To amend section 30103 of title 49, United States Code, to establish sole authority for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over the regulation of highly automated vehicles, and for other purposes. Rep. Mullin, Markwayne [R-OK-2]

HR 3435 To prohibit the transportation of certain volatile crude oil by rail. Rep. Lowey, Nita M. [D-NY-17]

This block of ‘highly automated vehicles’ legislation (along with a couple of other bills that I don’t expect to be of specific interest here) all come from members of the Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It looks like these bills may have arisen out of a mark-up hearing that was held on July 19^th by that Subcommittee. That marked-up bill has not been introduced.

I will be watching these bills for cybersecurity language.

HR 3435 is probably similar to HR 2379 that was introduced by Lowey in the 114^th Congress. No action was taken on that bill.