Buttigieg: Congressional action needed to expand autonomous vehicle deployment

WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a Senate panel Tuesday that while autonomous vehicles are a priority for the department, legislative action from Congress is needed to expand their testing and deployment.

"We're doing what we can with the authorities and flexibilities that we have, but we lack a fully established legislative framework for that," Buttigieg said during a hearing convened by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Buttigieg pointed to differences between the federal government and states, and said legislation could clarify authorities.

"We tend to regulate or assure the safety of the design of the vehicle, and the state DMVs are concerned with the driver," he said. "That framework makes sense until you have a scenario where the vehicle is the driver. I don't know how we can address some of those issues without the involvement of Congress."

In response to a question from Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., on what the Transportation Department is doing to support more widespread testing and deployment of AVs, Buttigieg said it is using NHTSA's statutory authority to allow the deployment of vehicles that would be exempt from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

NHTSA can authorize up to 2,500 vehicle exemptions per year for two years, or 5,000 per applicant. The agency granted its first exemption to AV startup Nuro during the Trump administration. General Motors and its self-driving unit Cruise also formally petitioned NHTSA in February for an exemption, which is pending, to deploy the Cruise Origin.

"We have more exemptions that have been requested and are working promptly to address those because we do want to see the kind of research, development and testing continue," Buttigieg said.

Last week, 12 Senate Democrats sent a letter to Buttigieg urging the Transportation Department to develop a comprehensive framework for AVs.

"The federal government has the opportunity and responsibility to foster a domestic [AV] industry that is as safe as it is innovative, and that provides high-quality jobs across the economy, including in transportation. … Yet, we lag behind in shaping a regulatory framework that will foster this innovation," wrote the senators, led by Gary Peters of Michigan, who also is a member of the Commerce Committee.

In response to a question from Peters during the hearing, Buttigieg said the department needs to "work with Congress to have a legislative framework that adequately contemplates these kinds of vehicles becoming more widespread."

Previous attempts by Congress to pass bipartisan legislation governing AVs have stalled, leaving developers and other stakeholders to navigate a patchwork of state and local laws.

As of yet, there is no federal law regulating AVs.