HB 432

This bill enacts the "Agricultural Right to Repair Act, "" as described below. REQUIREMENTS FOR ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS For agricultural equipment and parts for such equipment that are sold or used in this state, this bill requires an original equipment manufacturer (""OEM"") to make available to any independent repair provider or owner of agricultural equipment manufactured by or on behalf of, or sold by such OEM, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, parts, and tools required for the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of such agricultural equipment and parts for such equipment, inclusive of any updates. The docum e ntation, parts, and tools must be made available either directly by such OEM or via an authorized repair provider or distributor. As used in this bill, "" f air and reasonable terms"" means the following:  With respect to parts made available by the OEM, either directly or through an authorized repair provider, in a manner that (i) is not conditioned on or imposing a substantial obligation or restriction that is not reasonably necessary for enabling the owner or independent repair provider to engage in the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of agricultural equipment made by or on behalf of the OEM; (ii) does not require a minimum or maximum quantity of parts that owners and independent repair providers can purchase; and (iii) does not condition access to parts on any additional contract other than a purchase order .  With respect to documentation made available by the OEM, without requiring any contract agreement or account creation and at no charge . However, when the documentation is requested in physical printed form, a charge may be included for the reasonable actual costs of preparing and sending the copy .  With respect to tools made available by the OEM, (i) at no charge ; provided, that when a tool is requested in physical form, a charge may be included for the reasonable, actual costs of preparing and sending the tool; (ii) without requiring authorization or internet access for the use or operation of the tools, or imposing impediments to access or use of the tools to diagnose, maintain, or repair and enable full functionality of agricultural equipment; and (iii) in a manner that does not impair the efficient and cost-effective performance of any such diagnosis, maintenance, or repair . This bill prohibits a n OEM from us ing parts pairing or any other mechani sm to ( i ) p revent the installation or functioning of any otherwise functional part; ( ii ) i nhibit or reduce the functioning of any part or board-level component, such that replacement by an independent repair provider or the equipment owner would cause the equipment to operate with reduced functionality or performance; ( iii ) c reate false, misleading, deceptive, or nondismissable alerts or warnings about parts; ( iv ) c harge additional fees or increased prices for future repairs; or ( v ) l imit who can purchase d ocumentation, parts, and tools, or perform repair services. For equipment that requires deactivating an electronic lock for purposes of repair, this bill requires the OEM to make available to any owner, or independent repair provider, with the express pe rmission of the owner, on fair and reasonable terms, any special documentation, tools, and parts needed to access and reset the lock or function when disabled in the course of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of such equipment. The documentation, tools, and parts may be made available through an appropriate secure release system. VIOLATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT A violation of this bill constitutes a violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977 and is subject to the penalties and remedies as provided in that act, which may include, but not be limited to, a restraining order, private right action, and damages. LIMITATIONS This bill does not require an OEM to do the following:  D ivulge any trade secret to an owner or independent service provider, except as necessary to perform diagnosis, maintenance, or repair on fair and reasonable terms.  M ake available special documentation, tools, or parts that would disable or override antitheft security measures set by the owner of the product without the owner's authorization .  S ell a part if the part is no longer available to the manufacturer .  S ell any service materials that would be illegal to use under federal or state law . Additionally, this bill does not a lter the terms of any arrangement in effect between an authorized repair provider and an OEM, including the performance or provision of warranty or recall repair work by an authorized repair provider on behalf of an OEM and pursuant to such arrangement . However, any provision in such terms that purports to waive, avoid, restrict, or limit the OEM's obligations to comply with this bill is void and unenforceable . This bill also does not prevent a parts dealer from marking up goods over the wholesale price. This bill provides that a n OEM or authorized repair provider is not liable for any damage or injury to any agricultural equipment caused by an independent repair provider or owner that occurs during the course of repair, diagnosis, or maintenan ce and is not attributable to the OEM or authorized repair provider other than if the failure is attributable to design or manufacturing defects. APPLICABILITY This bill applies to equipment first manufactured and sold on or after July 1, 2015. As used in this bill, ""a gricultural equipment"" or ""equipment"" d oes not include (i) a motor vehicle that is designed to transport individuals or property on a street or highway and is certified by a motor vehicle manufacturer under all requirements for the distrib ution and sale of motor vehicles in the United States; or (ii) i ndustrial, construction, compact construction, mining, or road-building equipment ."