H.R. 1828 — School Bus Safety Act of 2025

This section defines terms used in the Act, including (1) "3-point safety belt" (i.e., Type 2 seat belt assembly under 49 CFR 571.209); (2) "automatic emergency braking system" (i.e., a crash avoidance system with forward collision warning to detect and alert on impending collisions and automatic braking when a crash is imminent and the operator does not react appropriately); (3) "event data recorder" (i.e., as defined under 49 CFR 563.5(b)); (4) "school bus" (i.e., as defined under 49 U.S.C. 30125(a)); and (5) "Secretary" (i.e., Secretary of Transportation).

This section directs the Secretary of Transportation, within one year of enactment, to issue final rules under motor vehicle safety standards (49 U.S.C. ch. 301) prescribing or amending standards to require (1) school buses with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds to be equipped with a three-point safety belt at each designated seating position; (2) school buses to be equipped with fire suppression systems addressing at least engine fires and firewalls preventing hazardous gas or flame passage from the engine to passenger compartment (especially for engines extending beyond the firewall); (3) automatic emergency braking systems, event data recorders, and electronic stability control systems on school buses; and (4) amendment of 49 C.F.R. part 383 to require at least eight hours of behind-the-wheel instruction for school bus operators on public roads with a qualified instructor holding a valid commercial driver's license with school bus endorsement. It further directs the Secretary to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 302 (49 C.F.R. § 571.302) within one year of enactment to adopt interior flammability and smoke emissions standards at least as rigorous as those for transport-category airplane crew/passenger compartments (14 C.F.R. § 25.853), passenger cars, or locomotive cabs (49 C.F.R. § 238.103). Separately, this section directs the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Federal Railroad Administration Administrators, within one year of enactment, to finalize the rulemaking from the March 10, 2016, advance notice of proposed rulemaking on evaluating safety-sensitive personnel for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (81 Fed. Reg. 12,642). The standards under subsections (a) and (c) apply to school buses manufactured in or imported into the United States on or after one year following issuance of the rules.

This section directs the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to (1) complete, not later than two years after enactment, a study on the benefits of requiring school buses manufactured in or imported into the United States to be equipped with motion-activated detection systems capable of identifying pedestrians, bicyclists, and other road users near the bus exterior and alerting the operator; and (2) issue, not later than one year after completing that study, regulations effectuating such a requirement. The section further directs the Administrator to complete, not later than two years after enactment, a study on the benefits of requiring such school buses to be equipped with systems alerting the operator if a passenger is not wearing a three-point safety belt.

This section directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish, not later than one year after the date of enactment, a grant program providing grants to states for subgrants to local educational agencies to (1) purchase school buses equipped with three-point safety belts at each designated seating position or any other school bus safety feature described in sections 3 or 4; and (2) modify existing school buses owned by the local educational agencies to add such features. It authorizes appropriations of such sums as are necessary to carry out the program.