I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5751 

To increase deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in lowincome communities and communities of color, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2020 

Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Ms. MOORE, Mr. SOTO, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Ms. JAYAPAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To increase deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in low-income communities and communities 

of color, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electric Vehicles for 

5 Underserved Communities Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The transportation sector is the largest sin2 gle source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United 

3 States. 

4 (2) The transportation sector is also a major 

5 source of air pollution in the United States, includ6 ing over 55 percent of total nitrogen oxide emissions, 

7 leading to poor air quality and negative health im8 pacts, particularly in urban areas. 

9 (3) Increasing the deployment of electric vehi10 cles and electric vehicle charging infrastructure is an 

11 essential component of combating climate change, 

12 decarbonizing the economy, and reducing greenhouse 

13 gas emissions and health-harming air pollution in 

14 the United States. 

15 (4) Industries relating to electric vehicles, elec16 tric vehicle charging infrastructure, and the larger 

17 clean energy economy are substantial and diverse 

18 sources of good jobs and significant contributors to 

19 economic growth. 

20 (5) A substantial increase in electric vehicle 

21 charging infrastructure within urban areas will en22 sure that our cities are ready to meet the demands 

23 of expected electric vehicle deployment in the short24 term and long-term. 


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1 (6) Low-income communities and communities 

2 of color bear disproportionate climate change and 

3 pollution burdens, and therefore, these communities 

4 must be among the first to receive investment relat5 ing to new technologies and infrastructure that ad6 dress the climate crisis and mitigate localized envi7 ronmental pollution. 

8 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING IN9 FRASTRUCTURE IN URBAN AREAS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

11 (1) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall conduct 

12 an assessment of the state of, challenges to, and op13 portunities for the deployment of electric vehicle 

14 charging infrastructure in urban areas, particularly 

15 in underserved or disadvantaged communities. 

16 (2) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

18 shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Com19 merce of the House of Representatives and the Com20 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen21 ate a report on the results of the assessment con22 ducted under paragraph (1), which shall— 

23 (A) describe the state of deployment with 

24 respect to electric vehicle charging infrastruc25 ture in major urban areas throughout the 


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1 United States, particularly in underserved or 

2 disadvantaged communities, including— 

3 (i) with respect to Level 2 charging 

4 stations and DC Fast charging stations— 

5 (I) the number of existing and 

6 planned stations per capita for charg7 ing individually owned light-duty and 

8 medium-duty vehicles; 

9 (II) the number of existing and 

10 planned stations for charging public 

11 and private fleet vehicles, rideshare 

12 vehicles, and medium-duty and heavy13 duty equipment and vehicles; and 

14 (III) the number of stations in15 stalled in multi-unit dwellings or 

16 available to occupants of multi-unit 

17 dwellings; 

18 (IV) ownership models for sta19 tions located in publicly owned and 

20 privately owned residential multi-unit 

21 dwellings, commercial buildings, pub22 lic and private parking areas, and 

23 curbside locations; 

24 (V) how such stations are fi25 nanced; and 


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1 (VI) the rates charged at such 

2 stations; and 

3 (ii) policies, plans, and programs that 

4 cities, States, utilities, and private entities 

5 are using to encourage greater deployment 

6 of electric vehicles and associated electric 

7 vehicle charging infrastructure; 

8 (B) identify the current barriers to ex9 panding deployment of electric vehicle charging 

10 infrastructure in urban areas, particularly in 

11 underserved or disadvantaged communities, in12 cluding any challenges relating to charging in13 frastructure deployment in publicly owned and 

14 privately owned multi-unit dwellings; 

15 (C) identify and analyze the policies and 

16 procedures used by State and local governments 

17 and private entities to increase deployment of 

18 electric vehicle charging infrastructure in urban 

19 areas, particularly in underserved or disadvan20 taged communities, including with respect to— 

21 (i) public outreach and engagement 

22 strategy; and 

23 (ii) increasing deployment of charging 

24 infrastructure in publicly owned and pri25 vately owned multi-unit dwellings; 


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1 (D) identify the number of electric vehicle 

2 charging stations per capita at locations within 

3 each major urban area in the United States 

4 with detail at the level of zip codes and census 

5 tracts; and 

6 (E) describe the methodology used to ob7 tain the information in the report. 

8 (3) METHODOLOGY.—Not later than 90 days 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall report to the Committee on Energy and 

11 Commerce in the House of Representatives and the 

12 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in the 

13 Senate on the methodology that will be used to con14 duct the assessment under paragraph (1) and 

15 produce the report under paragraph (2). 

16 (b) FIVE-YEAR UPDATE ASSESSMENT.—Not later 

17 than five years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

18 the Secretary shall— 

19 (1) update the assessment conducted under 

20 subsection (a)(1); and 

21 (2) make public and submit to the Committee 

22 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep23 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat24 ural Resources of the Senate a report, which shall— 


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1 (A) update the information described in 

2 subsection (a)(2); and 

3 (B) include a description of case studies 

4 and key lessons learned after the report under 

5 subsection (a)(2) was submitted with respect to 

6 expanding the deployment of electric vehicle 

7 charging infrastructure in urban areas, particu8 larly in underserved or disadvantaged commu9 nities. 

10 SEC. 4. ENSURING PROGRAM BENEFITS FOR UNDER11 SERVED AND DISADVANTAGED COMMU12 NITIES. 

13 In administering a relevant program, the Secretary 

14 shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that such program 

15 provides access to electric vehicle infrastructure, addresses 

16 clean transportation needs, and provides improved air 

17 quality in underserved or disadvantaged communities. 

18 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING INFRA21 STRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘electric vehicle charging 

22 infrastructure’’ means electric vehicle supply equip23 ment, including any conductors, electric vehicle con24 nectors, attachment plugs, and all other fittings, de25 vices, power outlets, or apparatuses installed specifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Feb 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5751.IH H5751

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1 cally for the purposes of delivering energy to an elec2 tric vehicle. 

3 (2) MAJOR URBAN AREA.—The term ‘‘major 

4 urban area’’ means a metropolitan statistical area 

5 within the United States with an estimated popu6 lation that is greater than or equal to 1,500,000. 

7 (3) RELEVANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘relevant 

8 program’’ means a program of the Department of 

9 Energy, including— 

10 (A) the State energy program under part 

11 D of title III the Energy Policy and Conserva12 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.); 

13 (B) the Clean Cities program; 

14 (C) the Energy Efficiency and Conserva15 tion Block Grant Program established under 

16 section 542 of the Energy Independence and 

17 Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17152); 

18 (D) loan guarantees made pursuant to title 

19 XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

20 U.S.C. 16511 et seq.); and 

21 (E) such other programs as the Secretary 

22 determines appropriate. 

23 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of Energy. 


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1 (5) UNDERSERVED OR DISADVANTAGED COM2 MUNITY.—The term ‘‘underserved or disadvantaged 

3 community’’ means a community located in a zip 

4 code within a census tract that is identified as— 

5 (A) a low-income urban community; 

6 (B) an urban community of color; 

7 (C) having a significantly low number of 

8 electric vehicle charging stations per capita; or 

9 (D) any other urban community that the 

10 Secretary determines is disproportionately vul11 nerable to, or bears a disproportionate burden 

12 of, any combination of economic, social, and en13 vironmental stressors. 

Æ 


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