House lawmakers say AV bill will be a priority

Editor's note: A photo caption in an earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of Selika Talbott. The story also appeared on Page 23 of the Oct. 26 issue. 

Clear-cut plans to forge a federal framework for autonomous vehicle regulation are a gray area for the Trump and Biden campaigns, but House lawmakers say they're set on prioritizing an AV bill early in the 117th Congress regardless of who is elected president.

"I'm going to be working with stakeholders that have an interest in how it's written and in the next couple of months be at the table, so we have legislation ready to introduce in early January," Rep. Debbie Dingell told Automotive News.

The Michigan Democrat said issues related to energy and the environment, such as investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and battery technology, will also be priorities when a new Congress convenes in 2021.

In late September, Rep. Bob Latta of Ohio renewed efforts to push AV legislation through Congress by reintroducing the Self Drive Act, which establishes a federal outline to ensure the safety of AVs while exempting certain national safety standards and preempting states from enacting laws regarding these vehicles.

House Republicans introduced the bill in 2017, and it was passed unanimously by the House. A complementary bill — the AV START Act — was later introduced in the Senate. Both bills stalled there in 2018.

"We've wasted two years," Latta, ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce communications and technology subcommittee, said in an interview.

Congress isn't moving forward with the reintroduced and updated Self Drive Act, but there will be a new AV bill in 2021, Dingell said.

Both Dingell and Latta are expected to win reelection next week.

Under the Trump administration, the Department of Transportation has taken a hands-off approach to AV regulation, providing voluntary guidance to companies developing self-driving vehicles and related technologies but, ultimately, letting states set their own rules for testing and deployment.

The Biden campaign has released proposals for a clean-energy future but hasn't offered much in the way of an overarching federal AV standard.

"It's great that the federal government says we don't want to stand in the way of innovation, but if I can't take my autonomous truck from one state to the next because the laws are so different ... then I'm impeded in being able to further the technology," said Selika Talbott, a professorial lecturer for American University's Department of Public Administration and Policy.

Talbott said a federal AV bill would set "a level playing field across the nation, so you have a greater opportunity to pilot and test, and so we will have a continuity in the rules and regulations that surround autonomous vehicles."

Dingell and Latta said safety would be a top concern in the next AV bill.

"We want Americans to be the leaders in the technology. We want to use our technology and not somebody else's," Latta said.

"It's important that we get this legislation done and get it done, not yesterday, but today."