Right to repair agricultural equipment, equipment manufacturers to make documentation, software and other components available to equipment owners and independent service providers at fair and reasonable terms, trade secrets excepted.

HB261 INTRODUCED Page 0 HB261 V1JTPVV-1 By Representatives Travis, Chestnut, Lawrence, McCampbell, Jackson, Daniels RFD: Commerce and Small Business First Read: 28-Feb-24 1 2 3 4 5 6 V1JTPVV-1 02/28/2024 SLU (L)bm 2024-467 Page 1 First Read: 28-Feb-24 SYNOPSIS: An owner of agricultural equipment or an independent service provider that repairs agricultural equipment may find that certain documentation, tools, software or other components of the equipment needed to diagnose the problem, make a repair and maintain the equipment are made inaccessible to them by the manufacturer. This bill would require that an agricultural equipment manufacturer facilitate the repair and maintenance of its equipment by providing owners and independent service providers with the resources needed to diagnose, repair and maintain its equipment at fair and reasonable costs and terms, provided that it shall not be required to divulge any trade secret. A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT Relating to repair of agricultural equipment; to create the Alabama Consumer Repair Bill of Rights Act; to require agricultural equipment manufactures to facilitate the repair and maintenance of the equipment by owners or independent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 HB261 INTRODUCED Page 2 and maintenance of the equipment by owners or independent repair service providers. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA: Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Alabama Consumer Repair Bill of Rights Act. Section 2. For the purposes of this act, the following words have the following meanings: (1) AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT. a. Equipment that is primarily designed for use in a farm or ranch operation, including, but not limited to, the following: 1. A tractor, trailer, combine, sprayer, tillage implement, baler, and other equipment used to plant, cultivate, or harvest agricultural products or to ranch. 2. Attachments to, and repair parts for, equipment described in paragraph a. b. The term does not include any of the following: 1. A self-propelled vehicle designed primarily for the transportation of individuals or property on a street or highway. 2. A motorsports vehicle, including, but not limited to, a vehicle such as a motorcycle, scooter, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, utility vehicle, or jetski and other personal watercraft. 3. An aircraft used in agricultural aircraft operation, as defined in 14 C.F.R. §137.3. 4. Any equipment designed and used primarily for irrigation purposes. (2) AUTHORIZED REPAIR PROVIDER. a. A person that is unaffiliated with a manufacturer other than through 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 HB261 INTRODUCED Page 3 unaffiliated with a manufacturer other than through arrangement with the manufacturer, whether for a definite or indefinite period when the manufacturer for the purpose of offering to provide services to an equipment owner pertaining to the owner's equipment or a part, grants the person either of the following: 1. A license to use a trade name, service mark, or other proprietary identifier. 2. Authorization under any other arrangement to act on behalf of the manufacturer. b. The term includes a manufacturer that offers to provide services to an owner of the manufacturer's equipment pertaining to the owner's equipment or a part if the manufacturer does not have an arrangement with an unaffiliated person, as described in this section. (3) DATA. With the consent of an owner, transmitted or compiled information arising from the operation of an owner's agricultural equipment or its parts. (4) DOCUMENTATION. A manual, diagram, including a schematic diagram, reporting output, service code description, security code or password, or similar type of guidance or information, whether in an electronic or tangible format, that a manufacturer provides to an authorized repair provider to assist the authorized repair provider with services performed on the manufacturer's equipment or a part. (5) EMBEDDED SOFTWARE FOR AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT. Any programmable instructions provided on firmware delivered with, or loaded to, the agricultural equipment with respect to agricultural equipment operation and all relevant patches and 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 HB261 INTRODUCED Page 4 agricultural equipment operation and all relevant patches and fixes that the manufacturer makes, including, but not limited to, items described as "basic internal operating system," "internal operating system," "machine code," "assembly code," "root code," and "microcode." (6) EQUIPMENT. Agricultural equipment or boating equipment consisting of a self-propelled vehicle designed primarily for transporting individuals or property on a water surface, as well as attachments to and repair parts for those vehicles. (7) EQUIPMENT DEALER. Any person that is primarily engaged in the retail sale of agricultural equipment. (8) FAIR AND REASONABLE TERMS AND COSTS. With respect to the sale of parts for agricultural equipment to an owner or an independent provider, equitable terms for access to, or receipt of, any part pertaining to agricultural equipment, in a manner that satisfies both of the following: a. Is fair to both parties in light of any agreed upon conditions, the promised quality, and the timeliness of the delivery. b. Does not discourage or disincentivize repairs to be made by an owner or an independent repair provider, but does not impose on an owner or independent repair provider either of the following: 1. Any substantial obligation to use, or any restriction on the use of, a part, embedded software, embedded software for agricultural equipment, firmware, or tool, including a condition that the owner or independent repair provider become an authorized repair provider of the 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 HB261 INTRODUCED Page 5 provider become an authorized repair provider of the manufacturer. 2. Any requirement that a part, embedded software, embedded software for agricultural equipment, firmware, or tool be registered, paired with, or approved by the manufacturer or an authorized repair provider before the part, embedded software, embedded software for agricultural equipment, firmware, or tool is operational. c. Except as provided in this subdivision, costs shall be calculated using net costs incurred, accounting for any discounts, rebates, or incentives offered. (9) FIRMWARE. A software program or set of instructions programmed on equipment or a part to allow the equipment or part to function or communicate with itself or with other computer hardware. Section 3. (a) As used in this section "documentation, parts, or embedded software" means any documentation, parts, embedded software, embedded software for agricultural equipment, firmware, tools, or, with owner authorization, data, that are intended for use with the equipment or any part, including updates to documentation, parts, embedded software, embedded software for agricultural equipment, firmware, tools, or, with owner authorization, data. (b) Except as provided in subsection (c): (1) For the purpose of providing services for equipment in the state, an original equipment manufacturer, with fair and reasonable terms and costs, shall make available to an independent repair provider or owner of the manufacturer's equipment the documentation, parts, or embedded software, 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 HB261 INTRODUCED Page 6 equipment the documentation, parts, or embedded software, including updates to the documentation, parts, or embedded software. (2) With respect to equipment that contains an electronic security lock or other security-related function, a manufacturer, with fair and reasonable terms and costs, shall make available to independent repair providers and owners the documentation, parts, or embedded software needed to reset the lock or function when disabled in the course of providing services. The manufacturer may make the documentation, parts, or embedded software available to independent repair providers and owners through appropriate secure release systems. (c)(1) Subsection (b) shall not apply to conduct that would require the manufacturer to divulge a trade secret, except that a manufacturer shall not refuse to make available to an independent repair provider or owner any documentation, part, or embedded software necessary to provide services on grounds that the documentation, part, or embedded software itself is a trade secret. (2) A manufacturer may withhold information regarding a component of, design of, functionality of, or process of developing a part, embedded software, embedded software for agricultural equipment, firmware, or a tool if the information is a trade secret and the usability of the part, embedded software, embedded software for agricultural equipment, firmware, or tool for the purpose of providing services is not diminished. (d)(1) Neither an original equipment manufacturer nor an equipment dealer shall be liable for faulty or otherwise 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 HB261 INTRODUCED Page 7 an equipment dealer shall be liable for faulty or otherwise improper repairs provided by independent repair providers or owners, including faulty or otherwise improper repairs that cause any of the following: a. Damage to boating equipment or agricultural equipment that occurs during the repair. b. An inability to use, or a reduced functionality of, powered boating equipment or a piece of agricultural equipment resulting from the faulty or otherwise improper repair. (2) A manufacturer that provides data to an independent repair provider in compliance with this section is neither responsible nor liable to the owner, the independent repair provider, or another party for any action that the independent repair provider or another party takes while using or relying on the data. (e) Subject to subsection (f), nothing in this section authorizes an independent repair provider or owner to do any of the following: (1) Make any modification to agricultural equipment that deactivates a safety notification system, except as necessary to provide services. (2) Access any function of a tool that enables the independent repair provider or owner to change the settings for a piece of agricultural equipment in a manner that brings the equipment out of compliance with any applicable federal, state, or local safety or emissions law, except as necessary to provide services. (3) Evade emissions, copyright, trademark, or patent laws. 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 HB261 INTRODUCED Page 8 laws. (4) Engage in any other illegal equipment modification activities. (f)(1) With respect to a contract or other arrangement, or renewal of a contract or existing arrangement, that an original equipment manufacturer enters into after October 1, 2024, any contract term, provision, agreement, or language in the contract or arrangement that waives, avoids, restricts, or limits the manufacturer's obligations under this section is void and unenforceable. (2) If an agricultural equipment manufacturer enters into, or is covered under, a nationwide memorandum of understanding regarding a right to repair agricultural equipment, the memorandum of understanding governs an owner's right to provide services or to engage the services of an independent repair provider for that manufacturer's brand of agricultural equipment, except for the following: a. If compliance with the memorandum of understanding would deny the owner any rights afforded to the owner under this section, including any rights to documentation, data, tools, or embedded software for agricultural equipment necessary for the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the owner's agricultural equipment, the owner shall be entitled to the necessary documentation, data, tools, or embedded software in accordance with this section. b. The agricultural equipment manufacturer that enters into a memorandum of understanding shall be obligated to meet the requirements established under this section. Section 4. This act shall be repealed if the United 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 HB261 INTRODUCED Page 9 Section 4. This act shall be repealed if the United States Congress enacts federal legislation establishing a right to repair boating equipment and agricultural equipment. The Attorney General shall notify the Code Commissioner in writing of the date on which the condition specified in this section has occurred by e-mail. The repeal shall be effective upon the date identified in the notice that the federal legislation was enacted or, if the notice does not specify that date, upon the date of the notice to the Code Commissioner. Section 5. This act shall become effective on October 1, 2024. 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235