
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 49USC32910]

 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
             SUBTITLE VI--MOTOR VEHICLE AND DRIVER PROGRAMS
 
            PART C--INFORMATION, STANDARDS, AND REQUIREMENTS
 
                  CHAPTER 329--AUTOMOBILE FUEL ECONOMY
 
Sec. 32910. Administrative

    (a) General Powers.--(1) In carrying out this chapter, the Secretary 
of Transportation or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency may--
        (A) inspect and copy records of any person at reasonable times;
        (B) order a person to file written reports or answers to 
    specific questions, including reports or answers under oath; and
        (C) conduct hearings, administer oaths, take testimony, and 
    subpena witnesses and records the Secretary or Administrator 
    considers advisable.

    (2) A witness summoned under paragraph (1)(C) of this subsection is 
entitled to the same fee and mileage the witness would have been paid in 
a court of the United States.
    (b) Civil Actions To Enforce.--A civil action to enforce a subpena 
or order of the Secretary or Administrator under subsection (a) of this 
section may be brought in the district court of the United States for 
any judicial district in which the proceeding by the Secretary or 
Administrator is conducted. The court may punish a failure to obey an 
order of the court to comply with the subpena or order of the Secretary 
or Administrator as a contempt of court.
    (c) Disclosure of Information.--The Secretary and the Administrator 
each shall disclose information obtained under this chapter (except 
information obtained under section 32904(c) of this title) under section 
552 of title 5. However, the Secretary or Administrator may withhold 
information under section 552(b)(4) of title 5 only if the Secretary or 
Administrator decides that disclosure of the information would cause 
significant competitive damage. A matter referred to in section 
552(b)(4) and relevant to an administrative or judicial proceeding under 
this chapter may be disclosed in that proceeding. A measurement or 
calculation under section 32904(c) of this title shall be disclosed 
under section 552 of title 5 without regard to section 552(b).
    (d) Regulations.--The Administrator may prescribe regulations to 
carry out duties of the Administrator under this chapter.

(Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1070; Pub. L. 103-
429, Sec. 6(39), Oct. 31, 1994, 108 Stat. 4382.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
                                                 Pub. L. 103-272
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
           Revised  Section                    Source (U.S. Code)              
 Source (Statutes at Large)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
32910(a)..............................  15:2005(b)(1), (3).              Oct. 2
0, 1972, Pub. L. 92-513, 86 Stat.
                                                                          947, 
Sec.  505(b), (d); added Dec. 22,
                                                                          1975,
 Pub. L. 94-163, Sec.  301, 89
                                                                          Stat.
 909.
32910(b)..............................  15:2005(b)(2).
32910(c)..............................  15:2005(d).
32910(d)..............................  (no source).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------

    In subsection (a)(1), before clause (A), the words ``or their duly 
designated agents'' are omitted as surplus because of 49:322(b) and 
section 3 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 (eff. Dec. 2, 1970, 84 
Stat. 2089). In clause (A), the words ``inspect and copy records of any 
person'' are substituted for ``require, by general or special orders, 
that any person . . . (B) provide . . . access to (and for the purpose 
of examination, the right to copy) any documentary evidence of such 
person'' to eliminate unnecessary words. The words ``which is relevant 
to any functions of the Secretary or the EPA Administrator under this 
subchapter'' are omitted as covered by ``In carrying out this chapter''. 
In clause (B), the word ``order'' is substituted for ``require, by 
general or special orders'', and the words ``including reports or 
answers under oath'' are substituted for ``Such reports and answers 
shall be made under oath or otherwise'', to eliminate unnecessary words. 
The words ``in such form as the Secretary or EPA Administrator may 
prescribe'' and ``shall be filed with the Secretary or the EPA 
Administrator within such reasonable period as either may prescribe'' 
are omitted as surplus because of subsection (d) of this section and 
49:322(a). The words ``relating to any function of the Secretary or the 
EPA Administrator under this subchapter'' are omitted as surplus. In 
clause (C), the words ``sit and act at such times and places'' are 
omitted as being included in ``conduct hearings''. The words ``subpena 
witnesses'' are substituted for ``require, by subpena, the attendance 
and testimony of such witnesses'' to eliminate unnecessary words.
    In subsection (b), the words ``A civil action to enforce a subpena 
or order of the Secretary or Administrator under subsection (a) of this 
section may be brought in the district court of the United States for 
the judicial district in which the proceeding by the Secretary or 
Administrator was conducted'' are substituted for 15:2005(b)(2) (1st 
sentence) for consistency and to eliminate unnecessary words.
    In subsection (c), the words ``to the public'' are omitted as 
surplus. The words ``However, the Secretary or the Administrator may 
withhold information'' are substituted for ``except that information may 
be withheld from disclosure'' for clarity.
    Subsection (d) is added for convenience because throughout the 
chapter the Administrator is given authority to prescribe regulations to 
carry out duties of the Administrator.


                             Pub. L. 103-429

    This amends 49:32910(b) to clarify the restatement of 15:2005(b)(2) 
by section 1 of the Act of July 5, 1994 (Public Law 103-272, 108 Stat. 
1071).


                               Amendments

    1994--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103-429 substituted ``any judicial 
district in which the proceeding by the Secretary or Administrator is 
conducted'' for ``the judicial district in which the proceeding by the 
Secretary or Administrator was conducted''.


                    Effective Date of 1994 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 103-429 effective July 5, 1994, see section 9 
of Pub. L. 103-429, set out as a note under section 321 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in title 42 section 13263.
