49 U.S.C. § 30121 — Provisional notification and civil actions to enforce

(a) Provisional notification during a lawsuit. (1) If a manufacturer sues to challenge a recall order issued under section 30118(b) (under section 30163), the Secretary can order the manufacturer to send out a "provisional" notice anyway. That notice must state that the Secretary found a safety defect or noncompliance and that the manufacturer is contesting that finding in federal court; give a clear description of the Secretary's reasoning; evaluate the safety risk; describe the steps the Secretary thinks are needed to avoid an unreasonable safety risk; say that the manufacturer will provide a free fix under section 30120, but that this promise depends on how the lawsuit turns out; and include anything else the Secretary requires. (2) Sending this provisional notice doesn't let the manufacturer off the hook if it still fails to send the actual notice the recall order requires. (b) Penalties for not notifying. (1) A manufacturer that doesn't notify owners and buyers as required is liable to the government for a civil penalty — unless it wins its lawsuit, or a court blocks enforcement of the order while the case is pending. A court can only block enforcement if it finds that not notifying was reasonable and that the manufacturer is likely to win the case. If enforcement is blocked, the manufacturer isn't liable for the penalty during that time. (2) But if the manufacturer skips the provisional notice required under subsection (a), it's liable for the penalty regardless of how the underlying lawsuit turns out. (c) What happens if the Secretary wins the lawsuit. If the Secretary wins, the Secretary must order the manufacturer to: notify every owner, buyer, and dealer of the outcome of the case (which can be combined with the original recall notice); set the earliest date the free fix will be available; and, if a provisional notice was required, reimburse owners and buyers for reasonable repair costs (up to the amount the Secretary sets) that they paid between when notice should have gone out and when they actually got it. (d) Where the lawsuit must be filed. A lawsuit challenging a section 30118(b) recall order must be filed in the federal district court for the state where the manufacturer is incorporated, or in the District of Columbia. The court can transfer the case elsewhere for good cause. If more than one lawsuit challenges the same order, they must all be combined into a single case in whichever court got the first one filed — and if that first case gets transferred, the new court issues the order combining the cases.