Sponsors
The bill strengthens safety and response to lithium‑ion battery fires and clarifies transport rules—benefiting responders, shippers, and communities—at the cost of higher compliance and redesign costs for industry, some taxpayer spending, and potential gaps or equity issues in how rules and grants are applied.
Firefighters, emergency responders, transport workers, and hospital staff face fewer and less severe lithium‑ion thermal‑runaway incidents because the bill tightens transport SoC limits, requires improved impact testing, defines thermal runaway, and funds tested suppression methods and equipment.
Manufacturers, shippers, and regulators gain clearer statutory definitions and mandatory guidance (including rules for damaged, defective, or recalled cells) that reduce legal ambiguity and make compliance and enforcement more predictable.
Fire departments and at‑risk communities can get equipment and environmental monitoring more quickly through new grant programs and accelerated application/selection timelines, helping contain contamination and speed local response capability upgrades.
Shippers, manufacturers, and consumers are likely to face higher costs, delays, and supply‑chain disruption because stricter SoC limits, new impact tests, repackaging/approval requirements, and redesign/testing needs increase compliance burdens.
Narrow or exception‑based definitions (including exclusions tied to 49 C.F.R. § 173.185(c) and (g)(2)) could create regulatory gaps or uncertainty for alternative/hybrid battery chemistries, complicating compliance and potentially chilling innovation.
Taxpayers bear new federal spending (including up to $10 million authorized for the grant and research program) and the Department of Transportation faces added administrative workload to implement criteria and run accelerated solicitations.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Requires DOT/PHMSA to limit commercial shipment of lithium‑ion batteries to 30% state of charge by default, add testing standards, fund suppression testing, and create grants for fire departments.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Alice Costandina Titus · Last progress March 12, 2026
Requires the Department of Transportation and PHMSA to tighten how lithium‑ion cells and batteries are tested and moved in commerce to reduce the risk of thermal runaway during transport. It directs rulemaking to add an impact test to UN 38.3, sets a default 30% state‑of‑charge limit for commercial transport (with limited exceptions), directs guidance on moving damaged/defective/recalled cells, and mandates periodic reviews. Creates two federal grant programs: one run by PHMSA to fund testing of fire‑suppression methods for transported lithium‑ion batteries (with a $10 million authorization for FY2027–FY2031), and a competitive grant program to equip local fire departments to respond to lithium battery thermal runaway incidents. The bill sets specific deadlines for rulemaking, grant solicitations, application windows, project durations, and reporting to Congress.