Notice2023-11981
Lithium-Ion Battery Safety; Notice of Meeting and Request for Comments
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 6, 2023
Issuing agencies
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Abstract
The Consumer Product Safety Commission will be holding a meeting on lithium-ion battery safety, with a specific focus on fires occurring in e-bikes and other micro-mobility products as well as the fire risks that may arise with the growing consumer market for other products containing such batteries. We invite interested parties to participate in or attend the meeting. A remote viewing option will be available for registrants. We also invite interested parties to submit written comments related to the issues discussed in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 108 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37042-37044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11981]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[Docket No. CPSC-2023-0025]
Lithium-Ion Battery Safety; Notice of Meeting and Request for
Comments
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Announcement of public meeting and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission will be holding a
meeting on lithium-ion battery safety, with a specific focus on fires
occurring in e-bikes and other micro-mobility products as well as the
fire risks that may arise with the growing consumer market for other
products containing such batteries. We invite interested parties to
participate in or attend the meeting. A remote viewing option will be
available for registrants. We also invite interested parties to submit
written comments related to the issues discussed in this notice.
DATES: The hybrid meeting will be held in person at CPSC's headquarters
and remotely via webinar at 10 a.m. Eastern time on July 27, 2023, and
will conclude that same day.
ADDRESSES: For those attending in person, the meeting will be held at
the Commission's Hearing Room, 4th floor of the Bethesda Towers
Building, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814. All virtual
attendees should pre-register for the webinar online at: <a href="https://cpsc.webex.com/weblink/register/rafcc9fee7d4a7f3d2c8149be4d9436e2">https://cpsc.webex.com/weblink/register/rafcc9fee7d4a7f3d2c8149be4d9436e2</a>.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing
information about joining the webinar. In person attendees do not need
to register for the hearing. Any individual interested in serving on a
panel or making an oral presentation, virtually or in person, must
register for the webinar and submit a request to make an oral
presentation to the Office of the Secretary, along with an abstract of
their expertise and the topic they propose to address, and such
requests must be received no later than 5 p.m. Eastern on June 29,
2023. Interested persons should submit such requests by sending an
email with their contact information as well as well as the abstract of
their expertise and proposed topic to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8be8fbf8e8a6e4f8cbb7eaabe3f9eeedb6" http: cpsc.gov">cpsc.gov</a>">cpsc-os@<a href="http://cpsc.gov">cpsc.gov</a></a>, using the
caption ``Lithium-Ion Battery Safety,'' or by mail or delivery to the
Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East
West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, and all such requests must be
received no later than 5 p.m. Eastern time on June 29, 2023. The
Commission will accept written comments, as well, through August 21,
2023. You may submit written comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-
2023-0025, no later than August 21, 2023, by any of the following
methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments. Do not submit through this website: confidential
business information, trade secret information, or other sensitive or
protected information that you do not want to be available to the
public. CPSC does not accept comments submitted by email, except as
described below.
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier/Confidential Written Submissions: CPSC
encourages you to submit comments by using the Federal eRulemaking
Portal. You may, however, submit comments by mail, hand delivery, or
courier to: Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety
Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone:
(301) 504-7479.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number. CPSC may post all comments without change, including any
personal identifiers, contact information, or other personal
information provided, to: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. If you wish to submit
confidential business information, trade secret information, or other
sensitive or protected information that you do not want to be available
to the public, you may submit such comments by mail, hand delivery, or
courier, or you may email them to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#13706360703e7c60532f72337b6176752e" http: cpsc.gov">cpsc.gov</a>">cpsc-os@<a href="http://cpsc.gov">cpsc.gov</a></a>.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, and insert the docket
number, CPSC-2023-0025, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the
prompts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this meeting,
contact Alberta E. Mills, Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product
Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814,
telephone: (301) 504-7479.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Lithium-ion batteries are used in a wide range of consumer
products, including cell phones, laptops, power tools, and
micromobility products such as hoverboards and e-bikes. In recent
years, there has been a rise in the number of fires and other thermal
events involving micromobility products--including e-scooters, self-
balancing scooters (often referred to as hoverboards), e-bicycles, and
e-unicycles.
From January 1, 2021, through November 28, 2022, CPSC received
reports of at least 208 fire or overheating incidents involving
micromobility devices, in 39 states. These incidents resulted in at
least 19 fatalities, including 5 deaths associated with e-scooters, 11
with hoverboards, and 3 with e-bikes. CPSC also received reports of at
least 22 injuries that resulted in emergency department visits, with 12
of the injuries involving e-scooters and 10 of them involving e-bikes.
In December 2022, CPSC staff wrote to a broad swath of the
micromobility industry, urging the recipients to ensure that the
micromobility devices for consumer use that they manufacture, import,
distribute, or sell in the United States have been designed,
manufactured, and certified for compliance with the applicable
consensus U.S. safety standards. In the letter, staff noted that
``[m]anufacturing these products in compliance with the applicable UL
standards significantly reduces the risk of injuries and deaths from
micromobility device fires,'' and made clear that ``[c]onsumers face an
unreasonable risk of fire and risk serious injury or death if their
micromobility devices do not meet the level of safety provided by the
relevant UL standards.''
This letter was part of a long-standing effort at the Commission to
reduce the risk of thermal events and fires involving lithium-ion
batteries in consumer products. For more than a
[[Page 37043]]
decade, staff have been involved in incident investigations, product
recalls, and voluntary standards activities to limit fire risk from
cell phones, laptops, hoverboards, and a range of similar products.
Most recently, in September 2020 Commission staff hosted a webinar
forum on the safety of consumer micromobility products, in which
stakeholders were brought together for a broadly-focused meeting to
exchange information on enhancing the safety of three specific
micromobility products: e-scooters, e-bikes, and hoverboards.
The Commission is holding this meeting to gather additional
information from experts in battery safety, fire prevention, and other
aspects of consumer product safety to further Commissioners'
understanding of best practices for preventing lithium-ion battery
fires in e-bikes and other micromobility products, as well as
additional perspectives on how to prevent such fires in other products
as lithium-ion batteries become more prevalent in the marketplace. As
lithium-ion batteries are powering more and larger consumer products,
the Commissioners are interested in learning about potential standards
and designs for batteries, battery management systems, and consumer
products that might limit the risk of thermal runaway and fire.
II. Topics for the Meeting
We have identified the following specific topics we would like
panelists to address at the meeting:
1. Science of lithium-ion batteries and the relative fire risks
posed by the batteries.
a. Which consumer products pose the highest likelihood of thermal
runaway fire involving lithium-ion batteries?
b. How much do the size or capacity of the battery matter for the
severity of fire, risk of injury or death, or extent of damage?
c. Are there other patterns across consumer products that predict
whether a lithium-ion battery system is more or less prone to a serious
fire?
2. Micromobility device fires--addressing the problem that is
before us today.
a. With respect to e-bike fires, where in the products is the
problem centered? Is the fault primarily with the design or manufacture
of the bikes, or with the batteries specifically? How does the use of
mismatched batteries or chargers factor in?
b. What are best practices for battery replacement as batteries or
chargers reach their end of life in these products? What are best-
practice product design considerations to enable safe replacements?
c. There are several voluntary standards for batteries and the
systems that contain them. How successful are they in preventing fires?
How successful are they at preventing the types of consumer
modifications that could lead to fires?
d. Are there current third-party battery testing and certification
programs in place? If so, are they sufficient?
3. Looking forward to emerging products.
a. Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly used to power home tools
and equipment, such as lawnmowers, in addition to the laptops and cell
phones they have been powering for years. Is it possible to stay ahead
of the fire problem and address associated hazards through product
design?
b. As the number of lithium-ion battery powered products has
increased, we have seen the emergence of lithium-ion batteries that are
not original equipment manufacturer (OEM) batteries. What can be done
to ensure that these batteries are safe?
c. Large, higher capacity battery packs are being used in homes as
backup/emergency power sources coupled with DC to AC inverters. These
often use solar panels to keep them charged. Are there fire incidents
or risks associated with use of these systems in homes?
CPSC will determine the presenters and order of the presentations
once we confirm the number of panelists available for each topic area.
We may combine, expand, or eliminate panel sessions, depending upon the
level of interest. The final schedule will be announced on the
Commission's website (<a href="http://cpsc.gov">cpsc.gov</a>) before the meeting.
III. Details Regarding the Public Meeting
A. When and where will the meeting be held?
The hybrid meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. on July 27, 2023, and
conclude that same day. It will be held at the Commission's Bethesda
Towers Hearing Room, 4th Floor, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD
20814.
B. How can I register for the meeting?
If you would like to be a panelist or present information for a
specific session of the meeting, you should register by June 29, 2023.
(See the ADDRESSES section of this document for instructions on how to
register.) We also ask that you submit a brief (less than 200 word)
abstract of your topic and area of expertise. Staff will select
panelists based on a variety of considerations, including: Whether the
information to be presented has been received in previous open comment
periods; the individual's familiarity or expertise with the topic to be
discussed; the practical utility in the information to be presented;
and the topic's relevance to the identified theme and topic area.
Although an effort will be made to accommodate all persons who wish to
be panelists, we expect to limit each panel session to no more than
approximately five panelists. Therefore, the final number of panelists
may be limited. We recommend that individuals and organizations with
common interests consolidate or coordinate their panelist requests. To
assist in making final panelist selections, staff may ask potential
panelists to submit planned presentations in addition to the initial
abstract. We plan to notify panelists of their selection by July 6,
2023.
If you wish to submit written comments for the record, you may do
so before or after the meeting, as described in the ADDRESSES section
of this notice. These written comments should be received by no later
than August 21, 2023. Comments should focus on new information not
submitted previously that is related to the topic areas listed above.
C. What will be the format of the meeting?
The meeting will begin with introductory statements from the CPSC
Chair and Commissioners. Presentations covering topics listed above
will follow. We expect potential presenters to speak for approximately
5-10 minutes each about their topic area. At the conclusion of the
presentations, there will be a question, answer, and discussion session
among the presenters and the Commission, limited to the topics
discussed by the panelists. There may be more than one panel, depending
on the level of interest and the number of speakers.
D. How can I receive updates about the meeting?
If we decide to cancel or change the meeting, an email will be sent
to each registered participant who provides a valid email address when
registering as described in the ADDRESSES section of this document.
Updates will also be
[[Page 37044]]
posted on the Commission's website (<a href="http://cpcs.gov">cpcs.gov</a>).
Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2023-11981 Filed 6-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
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