Tire Safety Modernization Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5095 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5095

 To require the Secretary of Transportation to revise certain Federal 
 motor vehicle safety standards to advance tire technologies, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2026

Mr. Wicker (for himself and Mr. Warnock) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To require the Secretary of Transportation to revise certain Federal 
 motor vehicle safety standards to advance tire technologies, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tire Safety Modernization Act of 
2026''.

SEC. 2. ADVANCING TIRE TECHNOLOGIES.

    (a) Elimination of Outdated Testing Requirements for Tire 
Performance in FMVSS No. 139.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation (referred to in 
this section as the ``Secretary'') shall revise section 571.139 of 
title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to remove the sample provision, 
testing, and performance requirements that relate to tire strength and 
tubeless tire bead unseating resistance for passenger car and light 
truck radial tires, as described in S6.5 and S6.6 of that section.
    (b) Definition of Chunking in FMVSS No. 139.--Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
            (1) revise the definition of ``chunking'' in S3 of section 
        571.139 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, by striking 
        ``sidewall.'' and inserting ``sidewall, except that, in the 
        case of a snow tire, chunking means the breaking away of pieces 
        of the tread or sidewall exposing reinforcing materials of the 
        tire.''; and
            (2) conduct a review of the definition of ``chunking'' in 
        S3 of that section to determine whether the definition requires 
        further revision or clarification with respect to non-snow 
        tires, including all-season tires, taking into account--
                    (A) international definitions and standards, 
                current industry best practices, and testing standards 
                for modern passenger car and light truck radial tires; 
                and
                    (B) currently available data on motor vehicle 
                safety and tire performance.
    (c) Performance Requirements for Tire Endurance and Low Pressure 
Under FMVSS No. 139.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall revise section 571.139 of title 49, 
Code of Federal Regulations, to clarify that visual evidence of 
chunking constitutes a failure under the performance requirements for 
tire endurance and low pressure described in that section.
    (d) Elimination of Outdated Testing Requirements for Tire 
Performance in FMVSS No. 119.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise section 571.119 of 
title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to remove the testing and 
performance requirements for, and references to, tire strength as 
applied to radial light truck tires and radial commercial tires as 
specified in S6.2 of that section.
    (e) High-Speed Testing Protocols for Tire Performance.--Not later 
than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall promulgate regulations establishing uniform high-speed 
performance testing protocols for passenger car and light truck tires, 
which shall be consistent with sections 3.6.1.4 through 3.6.1.7 and 
section 3.6.2.2 of Amendment 2 to the United Nations Global Technical 
Regulation on Tyres (numbered GTR No. 16), including requirements for 
speed symbols and sustained operation at incrementally increasing 
speeds under specified load, pressure, and temperature conditions 
sufficient to verify structural integrity and safety margins.
    (f) GAO Study.--Not earlier than 3 years and not later than 5 years 
after the date of the publication in the Federal Register of the final 
rules as promulgated pursuant to subsections (a) through (e), or 8 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is sooner, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a 
report that--
            (1) evaluates the implementation of this section and its 
        impact on the market for passenger car and light truck tires, 
        including the safety and availability of passenger car and 
        light truck tires;
            (2) examines international definitions and standards, 
        current industry best practices, and testing standards for 
        modern passenger car and light truck radial tires with respect 
        to chunking of non-snow tires, including all-season tires; and
            (3) provides recommendations to the Secretary and the 
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
        Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives for any additional measures to improve the 
        safety and availability of passenger car and light truck tires.
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