Lithium-Ion Battery Safety; Notice of Meeting and Request for Comments, 37042-37044 [2023-11981]

Agencies

• Consumer Product Safety Commission

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37042-37044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[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: https://cpsc.webex.com/weblink/register/rafcc9fee7d4a7f3d2c8149be4d9436e2. 
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: cpsc.gov">[email protected]cpsc.gov, 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: www.regulations.gov. 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: www.regulations.gov. 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: cpsc.gov">[email protected]cpsc.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to: www.regulations.gov, 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 (cpsc.gov) 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 (cpcs.gov).

Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2023-11981 Filed 6-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P