PENALTY FOR DENIAL OF ACCESS TO RECORDS.

SEC. 4103. PENALTY FOR DENIAL OF ACCESS TO RECORDS. Section 521(b) of title 49, United States Code, is amended—(1) by striking “(b)(1)(A) If the Secretary” and inserting the following:“(b) Violations Relating to Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Regulation and Operators.—“(1) Notice.—“(A) In general.—If the Secretary”; and(2) by adding at the end of paragraph (2) the following:“(E) Copying of records and access to equipment, lands, and buildings.—A person subject to chapter 51 or a motor carrier, broker, freight forwarder, or owner or operator of a commercial motor vehicle subject to part B of subtitle VI who fails to allow promptly, upon demand, the Secretary (or an employee designated by the Secretary) to inspect and copy any record or inspect and examine equipment, lands, buildings and other property in accordance with sections 504(c), 5121(c), and 14122(b) shall be liable to the United States for a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each offense. Each day the Secretary is denied the right to inspect and copy any record or inspect and examine equipment, lands, buildings and other property shall constitute a separate offense, except that the total of all civil penalties against any violator for all offenses related to a single violation shall not exceed $10,000. It shall be a defense to such penalty that the records did not exist at the time of the Secretary’s request or could not be timely produced without unreasonable expense or effort. Nothing in this subparagraph amends or supersedes any remedy available to the Secretary under section 502(d), section 507(c), or any other provision of this title.”.