Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 1797, the Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act.

This bill will protect Americans from fires from lithium-ion batteries. It requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to create a safety standard for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in micromobility devices, like electric bicycles and scooters.

Fires caused by faulty or misused batteries are increasing throughout our Nation. As just one example, between 2019 and 2023, the Fire Department of the City of New York reported more than 400 fires, 300 injuries, and 12 deaths from fires caused by lithium-ion batteries in New York City alone.

Just a few weeks ago, two people and a cat had to be rescued from a Bridgewater, New Jersey, apartment, not far from my district, because of a fire caused by an electric bicycle battery. After all of these accidents, right now, there is no Federal standard to ensure the products on the market are safe.

As electric bikes and scooters grow in popularity, we must act to guarantee a strong Federal safety standard for lithium-ion batteries. Consumers deserve to feel confident that the products that they see for sale are thoroughly tested and safe, and this legislation would do just that.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres), the main sponsor of this bill, for his leadership on this issue. I also thank the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke) for championing this bill in our committee.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TORRES of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bipartisan legislation titled Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium- Ion Batteries Act.

I am grateful for the support of Chair Rodgers, Ranking Member Pallone, and all the members of the Energy and Commerce Committee. I am also grateful for the partnership of Congress Members Yvette Clarke and Andrew Garbarino.

At the core of our legislative progress has been the indefatigable advocacy of the FDNY, the Nation's premier fire department.

The sheer speed and scale of the destruction that a lithium-ion battery fire can bring to communities like mine is nothing short of staggering. In the Bronx, we saw one of our few neighborhood supermarkets, 2096 Grand Concourse, reduced to complete rubble at the hands of a five-alarm fire caused by a malfunctioning lithium-ion battery.

Lithium-ion battery fires are happening with greater frequency and ferocity in America. Indeed, New York City, in particular, has emerged as the epicenter of lithium-ion battery fires, which have grown exponentially, from more than 30 in 2019 to more than 40 in 2020, to more than 100 in 2021, to more than 200 in 2022. In the span of just 4 years, America's largest city has seen a 900 percent surge in lithium- ion batteries, creating an unprecedented crisis in fire safety.

Poorly manufactured lithium-ion batteries, largely imported from China, are hidden ticking time bombs waiting to detonate in American homes and communities. The fire hazard here has become too glaring to ignore.

The House of Representatives is poised to pass bipartisan legislation that would finally empower the Consumer Product Safety Commission to set long-overdue mandatory safety standards for the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries in e-mobility devices. In passing legislation so urgently needed, we are upholding our most solemn obligation: public safety.

Mr. Speaker, I don't think I can stress enough the importance of this bill as Mr. Torres has related. These fires and these problems are getting worse all the time, so we have to set a standard.

I urge my colleagues on a bipartisan, unanimous basis to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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