WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — After initially being included in the government funding bill, the Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act was removed as Congress reached a compromise in time to prevent a government shutdown.
The legislation by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) would have given the Consumer Product Safety Commission authority to adopt mandatory UL safety standards. President Joe Biden signed the funding bill Saturday. President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk rallied Congress against the bipartisan deal after the draft budget resolution was released on Tuesday.
In a tweet on Thursday, Torres said it would not be included after all in the package that funds the government through March 14 and includes $100 billion in disaster aid. BRAIN has reached out Monday to Torres' office for additional comment.
"House Republicans removed my lithium-ion battery fire safety legislation from their funding bill, alongside crucial programs like SNAP protections and child cancer research. All in the name of fiscal responsibility.
"Just for it to lose dozens of Republican votes and fail decisively. Ridiculous."
The UL testing standards in the legislation are 2849 (e-bike electrical system), 2271 (lithium-ion battery), and 2272 (other powered mobility devices, including e-scooters). Absent, though, are the EN 15194 testing standard and three additional UL 2849 battery safety standards that industry members have proposed to be included.
"PeopleForBikes is relieved that the budget bill passed by Congress and signed by the president did not contain a last-minute amendment that would have substantially altered H.R. 1797, the Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act, as passed earlier this year by the House," PeopleForBikes wrote in a statement for BRAIN. "That amendment would have directed the CPSC to adopt unreasonably narrow safety standards for electric bicycles and replacement batteries on an accelerated time frame. PeopleForBikes looks forward to working with the CPSC in 2025 on expected regulatory safety standards for batteries and e-mobility devices, which we have supported and advocated for at the state and federal levels for the past two years.
Caron Whitaker, The League of American Bicyclists' deputy executive director, told BRAIN in an email that while the bill wasn't perfect, having no battery regulation is concerning.
"We've heard from mayors that their fear of battery fires is leading them to want to regulate e-bikes at the local level, which could result in a patchwork of inconsistent regulation," Whitaker said. "If President-elect Trump is true to his word and signs an executive order requiring no new regulations without the removal of an existing regulation, we could be waiting a long time to regulate these batteries. That will allow cheap, untested, and potentially dangerous batteries to continue entering the U.S. market."
While disappointed that the battery legislation wasn't included Whitaker said two bills that did pass will improve bicycling in the U.S. A water resources bill included a provision that transferred $180 million new dollars into the Transportation Alternatives Program, and $1.62 billion into the Surface Transportation Block Grant program. "Transportation Alternatives is the No. 1 source of federal dollars for biking and walking, and the STBG program is the second biggest source," she said.
The second, Whitaker said, was the EXPLORE Act passed that included the Biking on Long Distance Trails (BOLT Act) that requires the Department of Interior to start work on 10 long-distance bike trails on public lands. "The advocacy campaign was led by the International Mountain Bicycling Association," Whitaker said. "Other provisions in the EXPLORE Act make it easier for all Americans, including kids, veterans and people with disabilities to access public lands."
House Republicans removed my lithium-ion battery fire safety legislation from their funding bill, alongside crucial programs like SNAP protections and child cancer research. All in the name of fiscal responsibility.
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorresNY) December 20, 2024
Just for it to lose dozens of Republican votes and fail…
