Home > 106th Congressional Bills > H.R. 775 (enr) To establish certain procedures for civil actions brought for damages relating to the failure of any device or system to process or otherwise deal with the transition from the year 1999 to the year 2000, and for other purposes. [Enrolled bi...H.R. 775 (enr) To establish certain procedures for civil actions brought for damages relating to the failure of any device or system to process or otherwise deal with the transition from the year 1999 to the year 2000, and for other purposes. [Enrolled bi...
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 775
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To establish certain procedures for civil actions brought for damages
relating to the failure of any device or system to process or otherwise
deal with the transition from the year 1999 to the year 2000, and for
other purposes.
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 775
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To establish certain procedures for civil actions brought for damages
relating to the failure of any device or system to process or otherwise
deal with the transition from the year 1999 to the year 2000, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Year 2000 Readiness and
Responsibility Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Congress seeks to encourage businesses to
concentrate their attention and resources in the short time
remaining before January 1, 2000, on addressing, assessing,
remediating, and testing their year 2000 problems, and to
minimize any possible business disruptions associated with year
2000 issues.
(2) It is appropriate for the Congress to enact legislation
to assure that year 2000 problems do not unnecessarily disrupt
interstate commerce or create unnecessary case loads in Federal
and State courts and to provide initiatives to help businesses
prepare and be in a position to withstand the potentially
devastating economic impact of the year 2000 problem.
(3) Year 2000 issues will affect practically all business
enterprises to some degree, giving rise to a large number of
disputes.
(4) Resorting to the legal system for resolution of year
2000 problems is not feasible for many businesses, particularly
small businesses, because of its complexity and expense.
(5) The delays, expense, uncertainties, loss of control,
adverse publicity and animosities that frequently accompany
litigation of business disputes can only exacerbate the
difficulties associated with the year 2000 date change, and
work against the successful resolution of those difficulties.
(6) The Congress recognizes that every business in the
United States should be concerned that widespread and
protracted year 2000 litigation may threaten the network of
valued and trusted business relationships that are so important
to the effective functioning of the world economy, and which
may put unbearable strains on an overburdened judicial system.
(7) A proliferation of frivolous year 2000 actions by
opportunistic parties may further limit access to courts by
straining the resources of the legal system and depriving
deserving parties of their legitimate rights to relief.
(8) The Congress encourages businesses to approach their
year 2000 disputes responsibly, and to avoid unnecessary, time-
consuming and costly litigation based on year 2000 failures.
Congress supports good faith negotiations between parties when
there is a dispute over a year 2000 problem, and, if necessary,
urges the parties to enter into voluntary, non-binding
mediation rather than litigation.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Contract.--The term ``contract'' means a contract,
tariff, license, or warranty.
(2) Damages.--The term ``damages'' means punitive,
compensatory, and restitutionary relief.
(3) Defendant.--The term ``defendant'' means any person
against whom a year 2000 claim has been asserted.
(4) Economic loss.--The term ``economic loss''--
(A) means any damages other than damages arising
out of personal injury or damage to tangible property;
and
(B) includes, but is not limited to, damages for
lost profits or sales, for business interruption, for
losses indirectly suffered as a result of the
defendant's wrongful act or omission, for losses that
arise because of the claims of third parties, for
losses that must be pleaded as special damages, and
consequential damages (as defined in the Uniform
Commercial Code or analogous State commercial law).
(5) Governmental entity.--The term ``governmental entity''
means an agency, instrumentality, other entity, or official of
Federal, State, or local government (including
multijurisdictional agencies, instrumentalities, and entities).
(6) Material defect.--The term ``material defect'' means a
defect in any item, whether tangible or intangible, or in the
provision of a service, that substantially prevents the item or
service from operating or functioning as designed or intended.
The term ``material defect'' does not include a defect that has
an insignificant or de minimis effect on the operation or
functioning of an item, that affects only a component of an
item that, as a whole, substantially operates or functions as
designed, or that has an insignificant or de minimis effect on
the efficacy of the service provided.
(7) Person.--The term ``person'' means any natural person
and any entity, organization, or enterprise, including but not
limited to corporations, companies, joint stock companies,
associations, partnerships, trusts, and governmental entities.
(8) Personal injury.--The term ``personal injury'' means
any physical injury to a natural person, including death of the
person, and mental suffering, emotional distress, or like
elements of injury suffered by a natural person in connection
with a physical injury.
(9) Plaintiff.--The term ``plaintiff'' means any person who
asserts a year 2000 claim.
(10) Punitive damages.--The term ``punitive damages'' means
damages that are awarded against any person to punish such
person or to deter such person, or others, from engaging in
similar behavior in the future.
(11) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and any other territory
or possession of the United States, and any political
subdivision thereof.
(12) Year 2000 action.--The term ``year 2000 action'' means
any civil action of any kind brought in any court under Federal
or State law, or an agency board of contract appeal proceeding,
in which a year 2000 claim is asserted.
(13) Year 2000 claim.--The term ``year 2000 claim''--
(A) means any claim or cause of action of any kind,
other than a claim based on personal injury, whether
asserted by way of claim, counterclaim, cross-claim,
third-party claim, defense, or otherwise, in which the
plaintiff's alleged loss or harm resulted, directly or
indirectly, from a year 2000 failure;
(B) includes a claim brought in any Federal or
State court by a governmental entity when acting in a
commercial or contracting capacity; and
(C) does not include a claim brought by such a
governmental entity acting in a regulatory,
supervisory, or enforcement capacity.
(14) Year 2000 failure.--The term ``year 2000 failure''
means any failure by any device or system (including, without
limitation, any computer system and any microchip or integrated
circuit embedded in another device or product), or any
software, firmware, or other set or collection of processing
instructions, however constructed, in processing, calculating,
comparing, sequencing, displaying, storing, transmitting, or
receiving year 2000 date-related data.
SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF ACT.
(a) General Rule.--This Act applies to any year 2000 claim brought
after January 1, 1999, including any appeal, remand, stay, or other
judicial, administrative, or alternative dispute resolution proceeding
with respect to such claim.
(b) No New Cause of Action Created.--Nothing in this Act creates a
new cause of action, and, except as otherwise explicitly provided in
this Act, nothing in this Act expands any liability otherwise imposed
or limits any defense otherwise available under Federal or State law.
(c) Exclusion of Personal Injury Claims.--None of the provisions of
this Act shall apply to any claim based on personal injury, including
any claim asserted by way of claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, third-
party claim, or otherwise, that arises out of an underlying action for
personal injury.
(d) Preemption of State Law.--Except as otherwise provided in this
Act, this Act supersedes State law to the extent that it establishes a
rule of law applicable to a year 2000 claim that is inconsistent with
State law.
(e) Certain Other Actions.--A person who is liable for damages,
whether by settlement or judgment, in a claim or civil action to which
this Act does not apply by reason of subsection (c) and whose
liability, in whole or in part, is the result of a year 2000 failure
may pursue any remedy otherwise available under Federal or State law
against the person responsible for that year 2000 failure to the extent
of recovering the amount of those damages. Any such remedy shall not be
subject to this Act.
TITLE I--UNIFORM PRE-
LITIGATION PROCEDURES FOR YEAR 2000 ACTIONS
SEC. 101. NOTICE PROCEDURES TO AVOID UNNECESSARY YEAR 2000 ACTIONS.
(a) Notification Period.--Before filing a year 2000 action, except
an action that seeks only injunctive relief, a prospective plaintiff
shall send by certified mail to each prospective defendant a written
notice that identifies, with particularity as to any year 2000 claim--
(1) any symptoms of any material defect alleged to have
caused harm or loss;
(2) the harm or loss allegedly suffered by the prospective
plaintiff;
(3) the facts that lead the prospective plaintiff to hold
such person responsible for both the defect and the injury;
(4) the relief or action sought by the prospective
plaintiff; and
(5) the name, title, address, and telephone numbers of any
individual who has authority to negotiate a resolution of the
dispute on behalf of the prospective plaintiff.
The notice under this subsection does not require descriptions of
technical specifications or other technical details with respect to the
material defect at issue. Except as provided in subsection (c), the
prospective plaintiff shall not commence an action in Federal or State
court until the expiration of 90 days after the date on which such
notice is received. Such 90-day period shall be excluded in the
computation of any applicable statute of limitations.
(b) Response to Notice.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after receipt of
the notice specified in subsection (a), each prospective
defendant shall send by certified mail with return receipt
requested to each prospective plaintiff a written statement
acknowledging receipt of the notice and describing any actions
it has taken or will take by not later than 60 days after the
end of that 30-day period, to remedy the problem identified by
the prospective plaintiff.
(2) Inadmissibility.--A written statement required by this
subsection is not admissible in evidence, under Rule 408 of the
Federal Rules of Evidence or any analogous rule of evidence in
any State, in any proceeding to prove liability for, or the
invalidity of, a claim or its amount, or otherwise as evidence
of conduct or statements made in compromise negotiations.
(3) Presumptive time of receipt.--For purposes of paragraph
(1), a notice under subsection (a) is presumed to be received 7
days after it was sent.
(c) Failure To Respond.--If a prospective defendant fails to
respond to a notice provided pursuant to subsection (a) within the 30-
day period specified in subsection (b) or does not describe the action,
if any, that the prospective defendant has taken or will take to remedy
the problem identified by the prospective plaintiff within the
subsequent 60 days, the 90-day period specified in subsection (a) shall
terminate at the end of that 30-day period as to that prospective
defendant and the prospective plaintiff may thereafter commence its
action against that prospective defendant.
(d) Failure To Provide Notice.--If a defendant determines that a
plaintiff has filed a year 2000 action without providing the notice
specified in subsection (a) and without awaiting the expiration of the
90-day period specified in subsection (a), the defendant may treat the
plaintiff's complaint as such a notice by so informing the court and
the plaintiff in its initial response to the complaint. If any
defendant elects to treat the complaint as such a notice--
(1) the court shall stay all discovery in the action
involving that defendant for the applicable time period
provided in subsection (a) or (c), as the case may be, after
filing of the complaint; and
(2) the time for filing answers and all other pleadings
shall be tolled during such applicable period.
(e) Effect of Contractual Waiting Periods.--In cases in which a
contract or a statute enacted before January 1, 1999, requires notice
of nonperformance and provides for a period of delay prior to the
initiation of suit for breach or repudiation of contract, the period of
delay provided in the contract or the statute is controlling over the
waiting period specified in subsections (a) and (d).
(f) Sanction for Frivolous Invocation of the Stay Provision.--In
any action in which a defendant acts pursuant to subsection (d) to stay
the action, and the court subsequently finds that the defendant's
assertion that the suit is a year 2000 action was frivolous and made
for the purpose of causing unnecessary delay, the court may award
sanctions to opposing parties in accordance with the provisions of Rule
11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or the equivalent applicable
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