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Title 49 — Transportation

Chapter 5 — Special Authority

§ 522. Reporting and record keeping violations

Statutory text

A person required to make a report to the Secretary of Transportation, or make, prepare, or preserve a record, under section 504 of this title about transportation by rail carrier, that knowingly and willfully (1) makes a false entry in the report or record, (2) destroys, mutilates, changes, or by another means falsifies the record, (3) does not enter business related facts and transactions in the record, (4) makes, prepares, or preserves the record in violation of a regulation or order of the Secretary, or (5) files a false report or record with the Secretary, shall be fined not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Pub. L. 97–449 § 1(b) · 96 Stat. 2413

    Enacted · 49 U.S.C. § 522

    Pub. L. 97–449, § 1(b), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2436

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    Pub. L. 97–449, § 1(b), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2436

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (b) Title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking out the table of subtitles at the beginning of the title and substituting the following new table of subtitles and subtitles I and II:

  2. Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century

    Pub. L. 105–178 title IV § 4015(c) · 112 Stat. 107

    1. Struck · 49 U.S.C. § 522

      Pub. L. 105–178 struck out “(a)” before “A person required to make a report to the Secretary of Transportation”

    2. Struck · 49 U.S.C. § 522

      Pub. L. 105–178 struck out subsec. (b) which read as follows: “A person required to make a report to the Secretary, answer a question, or make, prepare, or preserve a record under section 504 of this title about transportation by motor carrier, motor carrier of migrant workers, or motor private carrier, or an officer, agent, or employee of that person, that (1) willfully does not make that report, (2) willfully does not specifically, completely, and truthfully answer that question in 30 days from the date the Secretary requires the question to be answered, (3) willfully does not make, prepare, or preserve that record in the form and manner prescribed by the Secretary, (4) knowingly and willfully falsifies, destroys, mutilates, or changes that report or record, (5) knowingly and willfully files a false report or record with the Secretary, (6) knowingly and willfully makes a false or incomplete entry in that record about a business related fact or transaction, or (7) knowingly and willfully makes, prepares, or preserves a record in violation of a regulation or order of the Secretary, shall be fined not more than $5,000.”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Pub. L. 105–178 struck out “(a)” before “A person required to make a report to the Secretary of Transportation” and struck out subsec. (b) which read as follows: “A person required to make a report to the Secretary, answer a question, or make, prepare, or preserve a record under section 504 of this title about transportation by motor carrier, motor carrier of migrant workers, or motor private carrier, or an officer, agent, or employee of that person, that (1) willfully does not make that report, (2) willfully does not specifically, completely, and truthfully answer that question in 30 days from the date the Secretary requires the question to be answered, (3) willfully does not make, prepare, or preserve that record in the form and manner prescribed by the Secretary, (4) knowingly and willfully falsifies, destroys, mutilates, or changes that report or record, (5) knowingly and willfully files a false report or record with the Secretary, (6) knowingly and willfully makes a false or incomplete entry in that record about a business related fact or transaction, or (7) knowingly and willfully makes, prepares, or preserves a record in violation of a regulation or order of the Secretary, shall be fined not more than $5,000.”

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (c) Conforming Amendments.— Section 522 is amended by striking “(a)” and by striking subsection (b).

3 of 3 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Notes

historicalAndRevision
Historical and Revision Notes
RevisedSectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large)
52249:1655(f)(2).Oct. 15, 1966, Pub. L. 89–670, § 6(f)(2), 80 Stat. 940.
522(b)49:304(a)(3) (last sentence) (related to “Sec. 322(g)”).Feb. 4, 1887, ch. 104, 24 Stat. 379, § 204(a)(3) (last sentence) (related to “Sec. 222(g)”); added Aug. 9, 1935, ch. 498, 49 Stat. 546.
 49:304(a)(3a) (last sentence) (related to “Sec. 322(g)”).Feb. 4, 1887, ch. 104, 24 Stat. 379, § 204(a)(3a) (last sentence) (related to “Sec. 222(g)”); added Aug. 3, 1956, ch. 905, § 2, 70 Stat. 958.

The section is included because 49:1655(f)(2) gave the same administrative powers exercised by the Interstate Commerce Commission under certain sections of title 49 to the Secretary of Transportation to carry out duties transferred to the Secretary by 49:1655(e). See the revision notes for section 501 of the revised title for an explanation of the transfer under 49:1655(f)(2). The powers of the Commission have been codified in subtitle IV of the revised title. The comparable provisions of title 49 that are represented by the section may be found as follows:

dispositionOfSections
Section 52249 U.S. CodeRevised Section
(a)20(7)(b) (less proviso).11909
(b)322(g).11909

See the revision notes for the revised section for an explanation of changes made in the text. Changes not accounted for in those revision notes are as follows:

The text of 49:304(a)(3) (last sentence 1st–7th words) and (3a) (last sentence 1st–5th words) is omitted as executed.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Pub. L. 105–178 struck out “(a)” before “A person required to make a report to the Secretary of Transportation” and struck out subsec. (b) which read as follows: “A person required to make a report to the Secretary, answer a question, or make, prepare, or preserve a record under section 504 of this title about transportation by motor carrier, motor carrier of migrant workers, or motor private carrier, or an officer, agent, or employee of that person, that (1) willfully does not make that report, (2) willfully does not specifically, completely, and truthfully answer that question in 30 days from the date the Secretary requires the question to be answered, (3) willfully does not make, prepare, or preserve that record in the form and manner prescribed by the Secretary, (4) knowingly and willfully falsifies, destroys, mutilates, or changes that report or record, (5) knowingly and willfully files a false report or record with the Secretary, (6) knowingly and willfully makes a false or incomplete entry in that record about a business related fact or transaction, or (7) knowingly and willfully makes, prepares, or preserves a record in violation of a regulation or order of the Secretary, shall be fined not more than $5,000.”

Credits

1983–1998 · 2 acts
  1. 1983Pub. L. 97–449, § 1(b), , 96 Stat. 2436
  2. 1998Pub. L. 105–178, title IV, § 4015(c), , 112 Stat. 412.
Show as published

(Pub. L. 97–449, § 1(b), , 96 Stat. 2436; Pub. L. 105–178, title IV, § 4015(c), , 112 Stat. 412.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc49.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-05-04

USLM identifier /us/usc/t49/s522