The Preventing Auto Recycling Theft (PART) Act requires that catalytic converters be treated as identifiable vehicle parts: NHTSA must revise vehicle-theft prevention standards to mandate conspicuous markings tied to a vehicle’s VIN and permit unique part IDs that law enforcement can query. The bill also establishes a Department of Transportation grant program to fund die/pin stamping and high-visibility, high-heat paint on converters, prioritized for high-theft areas and centrally maintained fleets.
On the commercial and criminal side, the bill bars cash and cryptocurrency purchases of catalytic converters, makes it unlawful to sell or buy converters with removed or tampered identifying marks, requires recyclers and dismantlers to retain seller identification and vehicle details for two years, and creates new federal offenses (theft, trafficking, and expanded chop-shop definitions) carrying up to five years’ imprisonment. Those changes aim to improve traceability and raise the cost of laundering stolen parts.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill directs NHTSA to add catalytic converters to the federal motor vehicle theft prevention standard and authorize part markings that link to the vehicle VIN in a law-enforcement-accessible database; it creates a DOT grant program to pay for die/pin stamping and theft-deterrent paint; it requires record retention by recyclers and forbids purchases with cash or cryptocurrency. The bill also amends federal criminal statutes to criminalize converter theft, trafficking in stolen converters, and expands the federal chop-shop definition.
Who It Affects
Automakers and parts manufacturers must accommodate mandated markings; dealers, repair shops, fleet managers, and vehicle recyclers can apply for grants and must provide stamping services or retain seller records; scrap metal buyers and dismantlers face new payment and record-keeping obligations; federal law enforcement and NHTSA must implement and operate the registry and regulations.
Why It Matters
The bill creates a federal traceability regime for catalytic converters—moving enforcement and prevention from a patchwork of state laws toward standardized marking, recordkeeping, and criminal penalties—potentially reducing theft by increasing detection and raising barriers to resale of stolen parts.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
The PART Act attacks catalytic-converter theft on three fronts: identification, transactional controls, and criminal enforcement. It begins by defining 'catalytic converter' broadly (including diesel oxidation catalysts and particulate filters) and directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to revise the federal motor vehicle theft prevention standard to require conspicuous markings on converters.
Those markings may be a unique part identification number that links to a database capable of returning the full VIN of the vehicle in which the converter was originally installed, and the rule must apply to vehicle lines covered by part 565 and to unsold vehicles six months after the agency updates the standard.
To make widespread marking feasible, the Department of Transportation must create a grant program (funded at $7 million from unobligated ARPA balances, with authorization for additional appropriations if necessary) to buy stamping equipment and materials for law enforcement agencies, dealers, fleet operators, repair shops, and nonprofits. Grant-funded services must offer die or pin stamping of either the full VIN or a unique part ID in a typed font, then coat the stamp with high-visibility, high-heat theft-deterrent paint; DOT must prioritize grants to areas with the highest theft rates and to entities responsible for centrally maintained fleets.The bill changes how catalytic converters may be bought and sold: sellers of parts that contain precious metals must have their buyer retain a photocopy of government-issued ID and vehicle details (make, model, VIN or tied unique part ID) for two years.
It bars purchases with cash or cryptocurrency, makes it illegal to sell or buy a converter whose identifying markings have been removed or tampered with, and tasks the Attorney General with issuing implementing regulations and enforcement penalties. Finally, the bill adds new federal crimes and penalties—creating a standalone theft offense for converters, a trafficking offense for knowingly buying or possessing stolen converters, and broadening the definition of 'chop shop' to include facilities that remove identification markings or extract precious metals for interstate commerce, each carrying up to five years’ imprisonment.
The Five Things You Need to Know
NHTSA must revise its vehicle-theft prevention standard within 180 days to include catalytic converters and permit unique part IDs that resolve to the full VIN in a law-enforcement-accessible database.
DOT must run a grant program funded at $7,000,000 (unobligated ARPA balances, with authority to appropriate the remainder if needed) for die/pin stamping equipment, materials, and services to mark converters and apply high-visibility, high-heat theft-deterrent paint.
Recyclers, dismantlers, and others buying parts containing precious metals must retain seller name, address, phone, a photocopy of government-issued ID, the vehicle make/model, VIN or tied part ID, and date of purchase for at least two years.
The bill prohibits buying or selling catalytic converters for cash or cryptocurrency and makes it unlawful to sell or purchase any converter with removed or tampered identifying markings.
The statute creates new federal offenses: theft of a catalytic converter and trafficking in stolen converters, and enhances the chop-shop definition—each crime can carry up to 5 years’ imprisonment, with concurrent sentencing for related offenses.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Definition of 'Catalytic Converter'
This section inserts a single statutory definition that covers traditional three-way catalysts, diesel oxidation catalysts, and diesel particulate filters. By placing the definition into title 49’s definitional section, the bill ensures subsequent regulatory and criminal provisions use a consistent term when targeting converters and related devices.
NHTSA Rulemaking: Mandatory Marking and VIN Linkage
The bill directs NHTSA to revise the federal motor vehicle theft prevention standard within 180 days to add catalytic converters to the list of parts that must be protected/identified and to update the scope so the requirement covers vehicle lines under part 565. It permits the required identifying number to be a unique part ID that must be included in a database accessible to law enforcement for lookup of the vehicle’s full VIN. The statutory edits to title 49 standardize the definition and make the marking requirement applicable to unsold vehicles six months after the agency finalizes the revision—effectively creating a retroactivity mechanism limited to inventory not yet sold to first purchasers.
Marking Requirements and Regulatory Authority
The bill amends existing certification and exemption language to require, notwithstanding prior exemptions, that catalytic converters on a vehicle line be marked conspicuously per the new statutory scheme. NHTSA is explicitly directed to allow unique part identification numbers as the marking medium and to ensure those IDs resolve to full VINs in an accessible database; the agency will need to specify format, durability, and visibility standards and reconcile this with vehicle warranty and emissions system protections.
DOT Grant Program for VIN Stamping and Paint
DOT must establish a grant program to fund equipment and materials for die or pin stamping and application of high-visibility, high-heat paint on converters; eligible recipients include law enforcement, dealers, fleet owners, repair shops, and nonprofits. Grants are prioritized for high-theft areas and entities with centrally maintained fleets; recipients must provide stamping services to the public. DOT must also issue procedures to ensure marking does not impair converter function and must report annually for 10 years on outcomes, including numbers stamped and thefts of stamped units where known.
Commercial Controls: Recordkeeping and Payment Rules
This section amends title 49 to add catalytic converters to the list of regulated parts and imposes a new two-year retention requirement on persons in the business of salvaging, dismantling, recycling, or repairing vehicles that contain precious metals. Required records include seller identification and vehicle details tied to a marked VIN or part ID. It also makes it unlawful to transact converters in cash or cryptocurrency and prohibits sale/purchase of converters with tampered markings; the Attorney General is charged with promulgating enforcement regulations and penalties for violations.
New Federal Crimes: Theft, Trafficking, and Expanded Chop-Shop
Title 18 is amended to add a standalone theft offense for catalytic converters and a trafficking offense for buying, receiving, or possessing converters known to be stolen, each carrying up to five years’ imprisonment. The chop-shop definition is broadened to include premises where unlawfully obtained vehicles or parts have identifying marks removed, precious metals extracted, or other actions taken to disguise origin before interstate commerce. Sentencing language requires concurrent service for overlapping offenses arising from the same conduct.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Transportation across all five countries.
Explore Transportation in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Owners of high-clearance vehicles and fleets — Marked converters and traceable part IDs increase the chance law enforcement can reunite stolen parts with their original vehicles and deter opportunistic thefts that disproportionately target SUVs, trucks, and fleet vans.
- Law enforcement agencies — The mandated markings, a law-enforcement-accessible database, and explicit federal offenses create investigative tools and federal jurisdictional hooks for multi-state theft rings and chop-shop operations.
- Municipalities and high-theft communities — The DOT grant program supplies local agencies and nonprofits with low-cost stamping services, which can be deployed where theft rates are highest without immediate local capital outlays.
- Automobile dealers and certified service centers — As authorized grant recipients and service providers, they gain a new revenue stream providing stamping services and can offer customers theft-deterrence as a value-added service.
- Consumers and insurers — If thefts decline because of improved traceability and transactional controls, vehicle downtime and insurance claims related to converter theft could fall, reducing indirect costs to owners and insurers.
Who Bears the Cost
- Automakers and parts suppliers — They will need to accommodate new marking requirements in parts production, supply chains, and possibly inventory management, and could face engineering review to ensure markings don't impair emissions performance or warranties.
- Small dismantlers, scrapyards, and independent recyclers — New recordkeeping, payment restrictions, and potential investments in database lookups or stamping services increase compliance costs and administrative burdens for small operators.
- Federal agencies (NHTSA, DOT, DOJ) — Agencies must develop and run rulemakings, a law-enforcement-accessible registry, grant administration, and long-term reporting obligations without dedicated recurring appropriations beyond the one-time $7M grant pool.
- Vehicle owners who must obtain stamping services — Owners of older or privately owned vehicles may need to travel to authorized facilities or pay for stamping and paint if not covered by grants, placing a cost burden on individuals.
- Secondary markets and small-time cash buyers — The ban on cash and crypto purchases shrinks informal resale channels and will require buyers to adopt traceable payment and recordkeeping practices, potentially adding friction and overhead.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill balances two legitimate goals—making stolen catalytic converters harder to launder by improving part traceability and deterring theft—against real costs and technical limits: enforcing nationwide marking, maintaining a secure lookup database, and ensuring stamping methods are safe and durable imposes new burdens on manufacturers, recyclers, and under-resourced agencies, and those burdens may reduce compliance or shift theft to other targets if not managed carefully.
Several implementation and policy challenges could limit the bill’s effectiveness. First, the utility of a unique part ID or VIN-stamp depends on the existence, security, and accessibility of a robust law-enforcement database; the bill requires access but does not appropriate funds to build or maintain a national lookup service, leaving agencies to allocate scarce resources or rely on third-party systems.
Second, technical and warranty issues may arise: die or pin stamping and application of high-heat paint must not damage converters or interfere with emissions controls, yet the bill places the burden on DOT and NHTSA to prescribe safe procedures without technical detail. That creates a risk of slow or cautious regulations that blunt deterrence, or of overly permissive standards that compromise part performance.
Enforcement frictions are another concern. The prohibition on cash and cryptocurrency transactions is straightforward on paper but may be hard to police in jurisdictions with many small-scale sellers and in informal markets; agencies will need clear guidance on proving intent and on how to treat low-value or de minimis transactions.
The two-year record-retention requirement will help investigations, but only if records are standardized, easily searchable, and cross-referenced with the marking database; otherwise, investigators may still face time-consuming manual work. Finally, the bill shifts costs to a mix of private actors and underfunded agencies: the one-time $7M grant pool covers stamping equipment and materials in the near term but is unlikely to scale nationally or sustain program administration, which may leave many high-theft areas unserved unless Congress adds funds or agencies reallocate budgets.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.