Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Supporting America’s Firefighters and Emergency Responders to Electric Vehicles Act of 2024” or the “SAFER EVs Act”.
Supporting America’s Firefighters and Emergency Responders to Electric Vehicles Act of 2024
A BILL
To standardize and improve safety training specific to electric vehicles for firefighters and other emergency response providers, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Definitions
In this Act:
Electric vehicle— The term electric vehicle means a vehicle that draws propulsion energy from a rechargeable energy storage system.
Emergency response providers— The term emergency response providers has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101).
Second responder— The term second responder—
means personnel who support the work of emergency response providers; and
includes tow truck operators and salvage yard personnel.
Sec. 3 Coordination of electric vehicle safety standards and training
In general— The Secretary of Energy shall coordinate with the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, acting through the United States Fire Administrator, (referred to in this section as the “agency heads”)—
to aggregate cross-agency research relating to electric vehicles;
to align future research and development efforts with respect to electric vehicles; and
to plan to effectively deploy electric vehicle training across the United States.
Efforts— In carrying out subsection (a), the agency heads shall align and coordinate efforts relating to—
the research and coordination of safety and testing standards for electric vehicles and the components and infrastructure relating to those vehicles, including—
electric vehicles;
hybrid vehicles;
electric buses;
hybrid buses; and
components and infrastructure relating to replenishing the on-board sources of power of the vehicles described in subparagraphs (A) through (D), including batteries, vehicle charging stations, vehicle battery swap stations, and vehicle-related energy storage units;
research and development on emergency response provider safety and corresponding best practices; and
the delivery of safety training course materials to emergency response providers and second responders.
Technical report—
In general— The Secretary of Energy shall produce a technical report on electric vehicles, and batteries, power storage, and power replenishment infrastructure relating to those vehicles, that—
documents best practices for consumers, emergency response providers, and second responders in the event of an emergency;
identifies gaps in current best practices described in subparagraph (A); and
recommends regions of the United States to target for training deployment due to observed increases in the use of electric vehicles.
Updates— The technical report described in paragraph (1) shall be updated every 3 years.
Coordination and consultation— In producing the technical report, the Secretary of Energy shall—
coordinate with the Secretary of Transportation;
ensure consultation among, at a minimum, the Vehicle Technologies Office in the Department of Energy, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and the United States Fire Administration; and
solicit input from interested parties, including the UL Fire Safety Research Institute, the National Fire Protection Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the North American Fire Training Directors, and the International Society of Fire Service Instructors, for the purpose of incorporating important issues from the emergency responder community that may help shape strategies for developing safety standards, best practices, and effective training materials.
FACA exemption— Chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the coordination or consultation under paragraph (3).
Publicly available— The most recent version of the technical report produced under this subsection shall be—
publicly available on the website of the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation; and
linked to on the website of the United States Fire Administration.
Sec. 4 Updating safety training programs and materials
Definitions— In this section:
Administrator— The term Administrator means the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration.
Firefighting personnel— The term firefighting personnel has the meaning given that term in section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229).
State— The term State has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101).
State Fire Training Grant— The term State Fire Training Grant means a State Fire Training Grant issued by the National Fire Academy, as authorized under section 7(f) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(f)).
Updating of safety training programs—
In general— The Administrator, in consultation and coordination with the Secretary of Transportation, and in consultation with the National Fire Protection Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Association of State Fire Marshals, and other stakeholders, shall update safety training programs regarding electric vehicles, including related external components used for recharging, refueling, or replacing the power supply of electric vehicles, for firefighting personnel, other emergency response providers, and second responders based on the reports under section 3(c).
FACA exemption— Chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the consultation under paragraph (1).
Distributing the training— The Administrator, acting through the National Fire Academy, and in coordination with State fire academies, and other stakeholder organizations shall develop and implement a plan to—
accelerate the availability of the safety training programs updated under subsection (b), including through the use of State Fire Training Grants, with an emphasis on train-the-trainer programs; and
provide recurring training to ensure firefighting personnel, emergency medical services personnel, other emergency response providers, and second responders receive the training, including responders in both urban and rural geographic regions.
State fire academies— A State fire academy that receives a State Fire Training Grant shall—
contact fire departments in the State to provide information about available safety training regarding electric vehicles when 1 or more commercial vehicle charging stations are installed within the jurisdiction of the fire department; and
collect and submit to the Administrator data and annual statistics about the level of participation in safety training regarding electric vehicles in the State, including the percentage of career and volunteer firefighters and career and volunteer emergency medical services personnel in the State who completed electric vehicle safety training each year.
Authorizations of appropriations— There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator, in addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated (such as amounts authorized to be appropriated for State and local fire service training grants under section 7(f) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(f))), $10,000,000 for grants to State fire academies under the State Fire Training Grants program for training and education purposes to provide safety training and reporting related to electric vehicles.
Sec. 5 Emergency response instructions
Definitions— In this section:
Emergency response instructions— The term emergency response instructions means the emergency response information for a vehicle prepared by the manufacturer of that vehicle.
Program— The term program means the New Car Assessment Program of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Consideration of emergency response instructions—
In general— In determining the score of a vehicle under the program, the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (referred to in this subsection as the “Administrator”) shall consider—
the completeness of the emergency response instructions for the vehicle; and
whether and the extent to which those emergency response instructions adhere to—
International Organization for Standardization standard 17840; and
any other relevant standards.
Electric vehicles— In determining the score of an electric vehicle under the program, the Administrator shall consider whether the emergency response instructions for the electric vehicle contain vehicle-specific information on—
fighting high-voltage lithium-ion battery fires;
mitigating—
thermal runaway; and
the risk of high-voltage lithium-ion battery reignition;
mitigating the risks associated with stranded energy in high-voltage lithium-ion batteries—
during the initial emergency response; and
before moving a damaged electric vehicle from the scene of an emergency; and
safely storing an electric vehicle that has a damaged high-voltage lithium-ion battery.
Availability and use of emergency response instructions—
In general— To the maximum extent practicable, the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration (referred to in this subsection as the “Administrator”) shall make the emergency response instructions for each vehicle scored under the program widely available, including through the United States Fire Administration website and National Fire Academy and State training academy courses, to—
all fire departments, emergency medical services departments, police departments, and salvage yards;
each public or private entity that employs tow operators, bus drivers, or truck drivers;
national organizations representing law enforcement, fire service, and emergency medical services leadership and personnel;
each professional association or other organization representing tow operators, bus drivers, or truck drivers; and
each Federal agency that provides training under this Act.
Use in training— The emergency response instructions made available by the Administrator under paragraph (1) may be used for any training to which the emergency response instructions are relevant, including off-road applications of electric vehicles, such as material handling equipment, mining or agricultural vehicles, and maritime, rail, and aviation applications, including any training carried out under this Act, as the provider of the training determines to be appropriate.