Maine state lawmakers considered approximately four hours of testimony April 10 regarding five bills addressing the March recommendations of the Maine Automotive Right to Repair Working Group.
One of those five bills, LD 442, would repeal a ballot measure passed in November 2023 by 84% of Maine’s voters. That law requires all Maine-sold vehicles to have a standardized data platform allowing car owners and -- with owner permission -- independent repair shops, access to all vehicle mechanical data via mobile application.
While the law technically took effect Jan. 5, implementation standards and the regulatory framework for right to repair are not in place. The working group’s final report, submitted to the legislature in March, proposes several specific standards to be implemented.
“This repeal is necessary, not because we oppose consumer repairs, but because the [November]law, as written, is unworkable, misleading, potentially unconstitutional, and dangerously out of step with federal safety and cybersecurity regulations,” Democratic Rep. Tiffany Roberts said during a hearing of the Maine Legislature Joint Housing and Economic Development Committee on the five above mentioned bills.
The campaign for the November 2023 referendum was “profoundly flawed” and bankrolled “almost entirely” by national corporate interests “with no stake in our state’s legal integrity,” Roberts added.
A search of the Maine Ethics Commission’s website indicates that O’Reilly Auto Parts, Genuine Parts Co., AutoZone and Advance Auto Parts each donated $675,000 to the Maine Automotive Right to Repair Political Action Committee (PAC), one of the principal entities that championed the November 2023 ballot initiative.
The Coalition for Automotive Repair Equality Inc. was the top donor for the PAC. While a website for the group was not available, the organization’s members have included NAPA, Midas, CARQUEST, AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, O’Reilly’s, Bridgestone-Firestone and “thousands of independent small businesses,” according to Legistorm.
During the April 10 hearing, Roberts touted the federal Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair Act (REPAIR Act). U.S. Reps. Neal Dunn of Florida and Marie Glusenkamp Perez of Washington state introduced that bill in the House in February, while U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico introduced a companion bill in the Senate in April.
On its face, the national bill appears to have the same overall purpose of ensuring that consumers and independent repair facilities have access to the same vehicle diagnostic data as OEM repairers.
However, unlike the Maine law, the REPAIR Act does not call for a “standardized data access platform.” Further, the federal legislation would specifically prohibit states from enacting any laws or regulations with similar provisions.
“Maine should be part of that solution, not a legal outlier,” Roberts said.
Another bill in the package, LD 1227, would repeal language in the November 2023 law specifically requiring all new vehicles sold in Maine to have a standardized data platform allowing car owners and owner-authorized independent repair facilities access to data generated through vehicles’ onboard diagnostic systems.
The requirement for all cars to have a standard data access platform “sounds reasonable, until you realize that the platform does not yet exist to be installed on all vehicle makes and models,” said Republican Rep. Amanda Collamore, who co-sponsored that legislation.
The Future of the ‘Independent Entity’
The legislative package would also prevent the formation of the “independent entity” or “commission,” recommended by the working group to oversee forthcoming right-to-repair regulations.
“The report doesn't identify a sense of purpose for what they have called the commission. While it gives them tasks, it’s not clear why the law cannot be enforced by the Attorney General's [AG’s] office without a commission,” Collamore said. “Creating an independent commission that has no rule making or enforcement authority, appears to be an unnecessary use of taxpayer dollars.”
Collamore added she would be open to discussing an amendment to the legislation to create a commission that would expire one year from its inception.
“This time-limited commission would provide data and recommendations of experts to the [Maine] AG’s office that they may want to use if cases arise,” she said. “This is not something that would need to be ongoing, as the AG’s office has all of the enforcement authority it needs.”
A Maine bill enacted Aug. 9 directed an automotive right to repair working group to develop recommendations for a bill that will form an entity to ensure car owners and owner-authorized independent repair facilities have cyber-secure access to vehicle-generated data for maintenance, diagnostic and repair purposes.
What Does ‘Data’ Cover?
Republican Rep. Mark Walker said he was unclear on the meaning of the term “data” in the November 2023 passed ballot measure.
That law outlines the scope of “mechanical data” as “any vehicle-specific data, including telematics system data, generated by, stored in or transmitted by a motor vehicle and used in the diagnosis, repair or maintenance of a motor vehicle.”
However, responding to Walker’s question, Collamore said the purview of covered data isn’t entirely clear, including what sensitive data may be cut out from any data gleaned from motor vehicles’ diagnostic systems.
“When you research what the meaning of mechanical data, which is how this is written into the law, it comes out with so many different versions of what that could look like,” Collamore said. “The No. 1 thing that it did say everywhere I looked for this definition is that there was no human input. So that tells me that it's raw data, potentially for mechanical data.”
Several Definitions
A separate bill in the package outlines several definitions to undergird any forthcoming right to repair framework.
Defined terms include:
Diagnostic and Repair Information: Electronic messages between a diagnostic scan tool and electronic control unit onboard a vehicle to perform diagnosis, tests and repairs of the vehicle.
Independent Repair Facility: Person or business not affiliated with a manufacturer or manufacturer-authorized dealer, unless that manufacturer or dealer is repairing a vehicle or engine that is of a different brand.
Platform, Access Platform and Standardized Access Platform: All refer to technology to facilitate delivery of motor vehicle data.
That bill also defines a telematics system as a vehicle system that collects information generated by the operation of the vehicle and that transmits that information using wireless communications to a remote receiving point where the information is stored or used.
Under the language, telematics systems include, but are not limited to, automatic airbag deployment and crash notification; remote diagnostics; navigation; vehicle location; remote door unlock; transmission of emergency and vehicle location information to public safety answering points; and any other service integrating vehicle location technology, wireless communications or convenience features.
“Mechanical data is a core component of the voter-approved law without a definition,” Roberts said. “It was unclear whether this meant live vehicle telematics, location info or only diagnostic codes. This clarifies that telematics must be shared if it relates to repair aligning with the ballot language while respecting federal privacy limits.”
Additionally, that bill narrows applicability of Maine right to repair laws to vehicles that are self-propelled, not exclusively operated on railroad tracks or seat 15 or fewer people, as well as those that are not used primarily for commercial purposes. Motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and electric bicycles are also excluded.
Electric Vehicle Exemption
Yet another bill would exempt electric vehicles (EVs) from certain requirements under Maine’s right to repair law.
Certain telematics system requirements for EVs sold by a vehicle manufacturer would be excluded under LD 1394 if the manufacturer annually certifies to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection that the EV’s telematics system complies with applicable security and privacy standards of the Federal Trade Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the manufacturer meets the EV availability threshold established in department rule, according to the legislative summary.
“Maine currently … has approximately 16,000 electric vehicles registered from the model 2022 and onward,” Roberts said. “With that number growing rapidly each year as the state pursues its climate action plan and clean transportation roadmap goals, this doesn't even account for the tens of thousands of plug-in hybrids on the road, which may rely on many of the same telematic-enabled systems.”
Under this bill, telematics systems include, but are not limited to, remote diagnostics essential for over-the-air software updates, battery performance monitoring, and safety alerts that allow the detection of thermal run rate risks or degradation, Roberts said.
EVs’ and hybrid vehicles’ telematics systems functions are so central to the operation of the vehicle that if these systems were turned off, it would render the vehicle useless.
“If you don't know where the charging stations are [as provided by a telematics system], you can't prep your battery,” Roberts said. “All of these things that are necessary, those get shut off. What good is the vehicle?”
Nathan Proctor, senior director of the Public Interest Research Group’s Campaign for the Right to Repair, urged the opposition of the exemption of EVs from the requirements of the bill.
“Without robust and competitive repair markets, the transition to electric vehicles will be much more difficult,” he said. “I believe people should be allowed to fix the products they own. I believe we should own the data that our cars generate, and if we want to use it in ways that the manufacturer would prefer to monetize differently, I think it's our car and our data.”
Brian Bradley