BETHESDA, Md. (BRAIN) — The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted 3-2 Wednesday to advance its proposed e-mobility device and lithium-ion battery testing standards to the 60-day public comment period required under the Notice of Public Rulemaking guidelines.
The proposal to require e-bikes and other e-mobility devices to meet modified UL testing standards — while not also recognizing European standards that some brands use — will be published in the Federal Register in a few days, according to the commission, at which time public comments can be submitted. Depending on the comments received, promulgation could be delayed before advancing to a congressional vote to become federal law.
"Ticking time bombs. I mean, that's what we're dealing with here, right?" said CPSC Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. as part of his opening statement. "It's lithium-ion batteries and e-bikes, e-scooters, and hover boards can be ticking time bombs, and it's leaving people across the country on edge."
The best way to defuse the threat stirred some debate during the meeting. While acknowledging safety and keeping unregulated batteries from entering the country from overseas are priorities, Acting Chairman Peter A. Feldman introduced a motion to submit the proposal to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
"Doing so would ensure compliance with the new interagency review process to allow CPSC the benefit of the views of other executive agencies, and further ensure that the federal government speaks with one voice on complex policy matters like the one before us today," Feldman said.
Commissioner Douglas Dziak agreed and voted for the motion.
Feldman added that colleagues who voted for the proposal but against his motion — Trumka, and commissioners Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Mary T. Boyle — were upset with the executive order by President Trump, including the formal interagency review process coordinated through the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
The OIRA, part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), reviews regulations, helping the president evaluate them. Feldman said ignoring the new regulatory process places proposed rulemaking at legal risk and encourages congressional disapproval.
"The CPSC is an independent agency with independent authority to issue regulations," Hoehn-Saric said. "Now the executive order that (Feldman is) talking about proposes to eliminate the independence of the agency by requiring all of our rules to be sent to the Office of Management and Budget within the White House review. I disagree that this is a requirement under the (executive order), or that the (executive order) actually is consistent with the law. In fact, I believe that the language of the (executive order) and the implementing menu a memo violate the requirements of our statutes ... and they're sort of contrary to existing law. And the courts have repeatedly made clear that the president can't override enrolled laws of the United States through executive orders, nor can OMB do so through a memo."
If eventually approved by the CPSC and then Congress, e-bikes that met EN, other standards, or no standards — but not UL — could no longer be legally sold in the U.S. It's not clear how many e-bikes are currently in wholesale or retail inventory that fall into this category.
UL 2849-20 (Standard for Safety for Electrical Systems for E-bikes), UL 2271-23 (Standard for Safety for Batteries for Use in Light Electric Vehicle Applications), and UL 2272-24 (Standard for Safety for Electrical Systems for Personal E-Mobility Devices) are proposed to become the industry standards with the following modifications:
- "Adding to UL 2849-20 and UL 2271-23 tamper-resistant battery enclosure requirements from UL 2272-24 to reduce the risk of injury associated with consumers accessing the battery pack.
- "Adding to UL 2849-20 and UL 2271-23 post-discharge charge test requirements from UL 2272-24 to reduce the risk of injury by ensuring that the battery management system prohibits charging the battery if the cell surface temperature exceeds the specified upper limit.
- "Adding to UL 2849-20, UL 2272-24, and UL 2271-23, a reverse polarity test to reduce the risk of injury by preventing damage to the battery pack due to use of an incompatible charger."
In assessing why it won't recommend European standards, the testing center cited:
- EN 15194: "The commission is aware of and considered the European standard for e-bikes ... which has a narrower scope than UL 2849, and only covers Electrically Power Assisted Cycles (pedal-assisted) e-bikes. ... Compared to UL 2849-20, the EN standard does not include requirements for electrical systems that provide a higher level of safety than the requirements in UL 2849-20, and in some instances, falls short of adequately addressing all of the product hazards covered by the UL 2849-20. For example, EN 15194 does not include any of the requirements for flammability. ... The commission considers the flammability requirements in UL 2849-20 critical for fire safety because they help to deter the spread of fire during a thermal runaway event by requiring that the polymeric material extinguish within a specific maximum amount of time as to limit or slow down fire propagation. Accordingly, the notice of proposed rulemaking does not propose to incorporate requirements of EN 15194 into the rule because UL 2849-20 is more robust in addressing the hazards associated with e-bikes. The commission requests comment on this proposal."
- EN 17128: Applies "to personal light electric vehicles totally or partially electrically powered from self-contained power sources with or without self-balancing system, with exception of vehicles intended for hire from unattended stations. Staff reviewed this European standard, the requirements of which are primarily focused on mechanical performance of off-road micromobility products. The safety performance requirements for electrical systems of the covered products are not as comprehensive as those in UL 2272-24. Therefore, this notice of proposed rulemaking is not based on the provisions in EN 17128."
