Car-jacking bill

Anti-Car Theft Act of 1992 - Title I: Tougher Law Enforcement Against Auto Theft - Subtitle A: Enhanced Penalties for Auto Theft - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for a fine, up to 20 years' imprisonment, or both, for taking (or attempting to take) a motor vehicle from the person or presence of another by force, violence, or intimidation.

Increases penalties for: (1) the importation and exportation of stolen motor vehicles, off-highway mobile equipment, vessels, or aircraft (stolen vehicles); and (2) the transportation, sale, or receipt of stolen vehicles.

Makes altering or removing motor vehicle identification numbers, exporting or importing stolen vehicles, and dealing in counterfeit obligations or securities predicate offenses to a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Subtitle B: Targeted Law Enforcement - Requires the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to Anti-Car Theft Committees submitting applications in compliance with the requirements of this subtitle.

Sets forth application requirements, including a statement from a chief executive of such committee that the applicant committee: (1) is either a State agency, an agency of a unit of local government, or a nonprofit entity organized pursuant to specific authorizing legislation by a State or such unit; (2) is or will be financed in part by a tax or fee on motor vehicles registered by or possessed within the State of not less than one dollar per vehicle; and (3) will devote its resources entirely to combating motor vehicle theft.

Establishes formulas for the allocation of grant funds.

Authorizes appropriations.

Title II: Automobile Title Fraud - Directs the Attorney General: (1) by March 1, 1993, to conduct a review of information systems pertaining to the titling of motor vehicles utilized by one or more States or by a third party which represents the interests of States, and promulgate such regulations as the Attorney General deems necessary to the establishment of an information system to serve as a clearinghouse for information pertaining to the titling of motor vehicles; and (2) within six months of the promulgation of regulations, and by no later than September 1, 1993, to establish such a system.

Sets forth additional provisions with respect to: (1) system operation; (2) user fees; (3) minimum capabilities of the system (such as enabling the user to determine the validity and status of a document purporting to be a certificate of title); and (4) information availability. Authorizes appropriations.

Authorizes a State, by written notice to the operator, to elect to participate in the system. Grants the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation authority to deny access to the National Crime Information Center system to any State failing to participate in the information system pursuant to this Act.

Sets forth: (1) title verification requirements (by participating States); (2) reporting requirements (by operators of junk or salvage yards and by insurance carriers); and (3) enforcement provisions (providing for the assessment and collection, by the Attorney General, of a civil penalty, which sum may be deducted from any sums owed by the United States to the person charged, subject to specified requirements).

Title III: Illicit Trafficking in Stolen Auto Parts - Directs the Attorney General to promulgate a vehicle theft prevention standard which conforms to the requirements of this Act and which applies with respect to major automobile parts and replacement parts.

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) deadlines for promulgation of a proposed and final standard, extensions, and the effective date of such standard; and (2) application of such standard (to major parts installed by the motor vehicle manufacturer in automobiles with a model year designation later than the calendar year in which such standard takes effect and major replacement parts manufactured after such standard takes effect).

Requires that engines and transmissions installed by the motor vehicle manufacturer be permanently stamped with the vehicle identification number and that other major parts have labels affixed meeting certain specifications. Prohibits the standard, in the case of major replacement parts, from requiring identification of any part which is not designed as a replacement for a major part required to be identified under such standard and the inscribing or affixing of any identification other than a symbol identifying the manufacturer and a common symbol identifying the part as a major replacement part.

Prohibits such standards from imposing costs, to comply with such standard, upon any manufacturer of: (1) motor vehicles in excess of $15 per vehicle; or (2) major replacement parts in excess of such reasonable lesser amount per major replacement part as the Attorney General specifies in such standard. Specifies that the cost of identifying engines and transmissions shall not be taken into account in calculating a manufacturer's costs under such provision.

Directs the Secretary of Labor, at the beginning of each calendar year commencing on or after January 1, 1993, as data becomes available, to certify to the Attorney General and publish in the Federal Register the percentage difference between the average of the Consumer Price Index for the 12 months preceding the beginning of such calendar year and such average for the base period. Specifies that, effective for model years beginning in such calendar year, the amounts specified in the previous paragraph shall be adjusted by such percentage difference.

Requires every manufacturer of a motor vehicle part which is subject to the standard and any manufacturer of major replacement parts subject to such standards: (1) to establish and maintain such records, make such reports, and provide such items and information as the Attorney General may reasonably require to enable the Attorney General to determine whether such manufacturer has acted or is acting in compliance with this Act and such standard; and (2) upon request of an officer or employee (officer) designated by the Attorney General, to permit such officer to inspect vehicles and major parts subject to the standard and appropriate documents relevant to determining whether such manufacturer has acted or is acting in compliance with this Act and such standard.

Sets forth additional requirements with respect to inspections, certification of compliance with such standard, notification of errors to the Attorney General, and inapplicability of certification requirements (to motor vehicles or major replacement parts intended solely for export, which are so labeled or tagged on the vehicle or replacement part itself and on the outside of the container, if any, until exported, and which are exported).

Directs the Attorney General to enter into an agreement for the operation of an information system containing the identification numbers of stolen motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts and to designate an individual or entity as the operator of such system. Requires such system to include, at a minimum, the following information pertaining to each motor vehicle reported to a law enforcement authority as stolen and not recovered: (1) the vehicle identification number; (2) the make and model year; (3) the date on which the vehicle was reported as stolen; (4) the location of the law enforcement authority that received the reports of the vehicle's theft; and (5) if the vehicle at the time of its theft contained parts bearing identification numbers different from the vehicle identification number of the stolen vehicle, such identification numbers. Sets forth additional provisions regarding availability of information, recordkeeping, and user fees. Authorizes appropriations.

Prohibits (with exceptions) any person from: (1) manufacturing for sale, selling, offering for sale, or introducing or delivering for introduction in interstate commerce or import into the United States any motor vehicle subject to the theft prevention standard under this Act or any major replacement part subject to such standard which is manufactured on or after the date the standard takes effect unless it is in conformity with such standard; (2) failing to comply with any rule prescribed by the Attorney General under this Act; (3) failing to keep specified records (or refusing access to or copying of records), make reports or provide items or information, or permit (or refusing to permit) entry or inspection as required by this Act; or (4) failing to furnish certification, or issue a certification if such person knows that such certification is materially false or misleading, pursuant to this Act.

Prohibits (with exceptions) any person from selling, transferring, or installing a major part marked with an identification number without: (1) first making a request of the operator of the system and determining that such major part has not been reported as stolen; and (2) providing the transferee with a written certificate bearing a description of such major part and the identification number affixed to such major part.

Establishes civil and criminal penalties for violation of this Act, including injunctions (upon petition by the Attorney General) to restrain specified violations of, and criminal contempt for violation of an injunction or restraining order issued pursuant to, this Act. Sets forth provisions with respect to venue and subpoenas.

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the confidentiality of information reported to, or otherwise obtained by, the Attorney General pursuant to this Act, with exceptions; (2) judicial review; and (3) coordination of State and local law with the Federal vehicle theft prevention standard.

Directs the Attorney General to conduct three- and five-year studies regarding motor vehicle theft and make recommendations to the Congress.

Title IV: Export of Stolen Vehicles - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require the Commissioner of Customs to direct customs officers to conduct random inspections of motor vehicles and shipping containers that contain motor vehicles being exported for purposes of determining whether such vehicles were stolen.

Directs the Commissioner to require all persons or entities exporting used self-propelled vehicles by air or ship to provide to the U.S. Customs Service, at least 72 hours before the export, the vehicle identification number of each such vehicle and proof of ownership of such vehicle. Makes such requirement applicable to vehicles exported for personal use.

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a pilot study of the utility of a nondestructive examination system for inspection of containers that contain motor vehicles leaving the country for the purpose of determining whether such vehicles are stolen.