II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 508 

To establish a working group on electric vehicles. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2021 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. MERKLEY, 

Ms. ROSEN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HEINRICH, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a working group on electric vehicles. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ELECTRIC VEHICLE WORKING GROUP. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 240 days 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Transportation and the Secretary of En8 ergy (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secre9 taries’’) shall jointly establish a working group (re10 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘working group’’) to 

11 make recommendations on the development, adopVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508

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1 tion, and integration of light and heavy duty electric 

2 vehicles into the transportation and energy systems 

3 of the United States. 

4 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The working group 

6 shall be composed of— 

7 (i) the Secretaries (or designees), who 

8 shall be co-chairs of the working group; 

9 and 

10 (ii) not more than 25 members to be 

11 appointed by the Secretaries, of whom— 

12 (I) not more than 6 shall be Fed13 eral stakeholders as described in sub14 paragraph (B); and 

15 (II) not more than 19 shall be 

16 non-Federal stakeholders as described 

17 in subparagraph (C). 

18 (B) FEDERAL STAKEHOLDERS.—The 

19 working group— 

20 (i) shall include not less than 1 rep21 resentative of each of— 

22 (I) the Department of Transpor23 tation; 

24 (II) the Department of Energy; 


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1 (III) the Environmental Protec2 tion Agency; 

3 (IV) the Council on Environ4 mental Quality; and 

5 (V) the General Services Admin6 istration; and 

7 (ii) may include a representative of 

8 any other Federal agency the Secretaries 

9 consider to be appropriate. 

10 (C) NON-FEDERAL STAKEHOLDERS.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—The working 

12 group— 

13 (I) shall include not less than 1 

14 representative of each of— 

15 (aa) a manufacturer of elec16 tric vehicles or the relevant com17 ponents of electric vehicles; 

18 (bb) an owner, operator, or 

19 manufacturer of electric vehicle 

20 charging equipment; 

21 (cc) the public utility indus22 try; 

23 (dd) a public utility regu24 lator or association of public util25 ity regulators; 


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1 (ee) the transportation fuel2 ing distribution and retailer in3 dustry; 

4 (ff) the energy provider in5 dustry; 

6 (gg) the automotive dealing 

7 industry; 

8 (hh) the passenger transpor9 tation industry; 

10 (ii) an organization rep11 resenting a unit of local govern12 ment; 

13 (jj) a regional transportation 

14 or planning agency; 

15 (kk) an organization rep16 resenting State departments of 

17 transportation; 

18 (ll) an organization rep19 resenting State departments of 

20 energy or State energy planners; 

21 (mm) an expert in intel22 ligent transportation systems and 

23 technologies; 

24 (nn) organized labor; 

25 (oo) the trucking industry; 


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1 (pp) Tribal governments; 

2 and 

3 (qq) the property develop4 ment industry; and 

5 (II) may include a representative 

6 of any other non-Federal stakeholder 

7 that the Secretaries consider to be ap8 propriate. 

9 (ii) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretaries 

10 shall ensure that the members of the work11 ing group selected under clause (i) shall in12 clude— 

13 (I) individuals with a balance of 

14 backgrounds, experiences, and view15 points; and 

16 (II) individuals that represent 

17 geographically diverse regions of the 

18 United States, including from rural, 

19 urban, and suburban areas. 

20 (3) MEETINGS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The working group 

22 shall meet not less frequently than once every 

23 120 days. 

24 (B) REMOTE PARTICIPATION.—A member 

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1 ing of the working group via teleconference or 

2 similar means. 

3 (4) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the duties 

4 of the working group, the working group shall co5 ordinate and consult with any existing Federal inter6 agency working groups on fleet conversion or other 

7 similar matters related to electric vehicles. 

8 (b) JOINT REPORT AND STRATEGY ON ELECTRIC

9 VEHICLE ADOPTION, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHAL10 LENGES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries, in consulta12 tion with the working group, shall submit to Con13 gress by each of the deadlines described in para14 graph (2)— 

15 (A) a report on the status of electric vehi16 cle adoption and opportunities for and chal17 lenges to expanding adoption of electric vehi18 cles, including— 

19 (i) a description of the barriers and 

20 opportunities to scaling up electric vehicle 

21 adoption nationwide, with recommenda22 tions for issues relating to— 

23 (I) consumer behavior; 


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1 (II) charging infrastructure 

2 needs, including standardization and 

3 smart charging; 

4 (III) manufacturing and battery 

5 costs, including the raw material 

6 shortages for batteries and electric 

7 motor magnets; 

8 (IV) the adoption of electric vehi9 cles for low- and moderate-income in10 dividuals and underserved commu11 nities, including charging infrastruc12 ture access and vehicle purchase fi13 nancing; 

14 (V) business models for charging 

15 electric vehicles outside the home, in16 cluding wired and wireless charging; 

17 (VI) charging infrastructure per18 mitting and regulatory issues; 

19 (VII) the connections between 

20 housing and transportation costs and 

21 emissions; 

22 (VIII) freight transportation, in23 cluding local, port and drayage, re24 gional, and long-haul trucking; 

25 (IX) intercity passenger travel; 


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1 (X) the need or potential for 

2 model building codes for charging in3 frastructure; 

4 (XI) the process by which gov5 ernments collect a user fee for the 

6 contribution of electric vehicles to 

7 funding roadway improvements and 

8 potential investments in charging in9 frastructure; 

10 (XII) State and local level poli11 cies, incentives, and zoning efforts; 

12 (XIII) the installation of highway 

13 corridor signage; 

14 (XIV) cybersecurity of charging 

15 infrastructure; 

16 (XV) secondary markets and re17 cycling for batteries, including battery 

18 collection initiatives; 

19 (XVI) grid integration; 

20 (XVII) energy storage; and 

21 (XVIII) specific regional or local 

22 issues that— 

23 (aa) are associated with— 


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1 (AA) the issues de2 scribed in subclauses (I) 

3 through (XVII); or 

4 (BB) urban or rural en5 vironments; and 

6 (bb) may not appear nation7 wide, but hamper a nationwide 

8 adoption or coordination of elec9 tric vehicles; 

10 (ii) examples of successful public and 

11 private models and demonstration projects 

12 that encourage electric vehicle adoption; 

13 and 

14 (iii) an analysis of current efforts to 

15 overcome the barriers described in clause 

16 (i); and 

17 (B) a strategy that describes how the Fed18 eral Government, States, units of local govern19 ment, and industry can— 

20 (i) set quantitative targets for trans21 portation electrification; 

22 (ii) overcome the barriers described in 

23 subparagraph (A)(i); 

24 (iii) identify areas of opportunity in 

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1 tery manufacturing, mineral mining, recy2 cling costs and battery collection, material 

3 recovery, and battery performance for elec4 tric vehicles; 

5 (iv) enhance Federal interagency co6 ordination to promote electric vehicle adop7 tion; 

8 (v) promote electric vehicle knowledge 

9 and expertise within State and local gov10 ernments; 

11 (vi) prepare the workforce for the 

12 adoption of electric vehicles, including 

13 through collaboration with labor unions, 

14 colleges and other educational institutions, 

15 and relevant manufacturers; 

16 (vii) expand electric vehicle and charg17 ing infrastructure— 

18 (I) knowledge and use among 

19 Federal, State, and local governments, 

20 school districts, and private entities; 

21 and 

22 (II) adoption among the fleets of 

23 the entities described in subclause (I); 


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1 (viii) expand knowledge of the benefits 

2 of electric vehicles among the general pub3 lic; 

4 (ix) maintain the global competitive5 ness of the United States in the electric ve6 hicle and charging infrastructure markets; 

7 (x) provide clarity in regulations to 

8 improve national uniformity with respect to 

9 electric vehicles; and 

10 (xi) ensure the sustainable integration 

11 of electric vehicles into the national electric 

12 grid. 

13 (2) DEADLINES.—A joint report and strategy 

14 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted by— 

15 (A) for the first report, not later than 18 

16 months after the date on which the working 

17 group is established under subsection (a)(1); 

18 (B) for the second report, not later than 2 

19 years after the date on which the first report is 

20 required to be submitted under subparagraph 

21 (A); and 

22 (C) for the third report, not later than 2 

23 years after the date on which the second report 

24 is required to be submitted under subparagraph 

25 (B). 


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1 (3) INFORMATION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries may 

3 enter into an agreement with the Transpor4 tation Research Board of the National Acad5 emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to 

6 provide, track, or report data, information, or 

7 research to assist the Secretaries in carrying 

8 out paragraph (1). 

9 (B) USE OF EXISTING INFORMATION.—In 

10 developing the report and strategy under para11 graph (1), the Secretaries and the working 

12 group shall consider existing Federal, State, 

13 local, private sector, and academic data and in14 formation relating to electric vehicles and, to 

15 the maximum extent practicable, coordinate 

16 with the entities that publish that informa17 tion— 

18 (i) to prevent duplication of efforts by 

19 the Federal Government; and 

20 (ii) to leverage existing information 

21 and complementary efforts. 

22 (c) ELECTRIC VEHICLE RESOURCE GUIDE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall elec24 tronically publish and update a resource guide to 

25 provide information to increase knowledge about 


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1 electric vehicles and necessary charging infrastruc2 ture for consumers, State, local, and Tribal govern3 ments (including transit agencies or authorities, 

4 public tolling authorities, metropolitan planning or5 ganizations, public utility commissions, and public 

6 service companies), and businesses that sell motor 

7 vehicles. 

8 (2) INCLUSIONS.—A resource guide under para9 graph (1) shall include— 

10 (A) information on— 

11 (i) the general characteristics of elec12 tric vehicles (including passenger vehicles, 

13 electric vehicles for public transportation, 

14 school buses, and electric vehicles for com15 mercial use); and 

16 (ii) the types of charging solutions 

17 available to consumers, including, to the 

18 maximum extent practicable, a digitally ac19 cessible compilation of existing mapping of 

20 publicly available charging stations in the 

21 United States; 

22 (B) information on electrifying business 

23 and government vehicle fleets; 

24 (C) information on Federal grant pro25 grams available to State and local governments 


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1 for the purchase of electric vehicles for public 

2 transportation; 

3 (D) a description of current financial and 

4 nonfinancial incentives for electric vehicles; and 

5 (E) any other information that— 

6 (i) a representative of industry or 

7 State or local government requests to be 

8 included; and 

9 (ii) the working group recommends 

10 and determines to be appropriate. 

11 (3) USE OF EXISTING GUIDES.—In publishing 

12 and maintaining the resource guide under paragraph 

13 (1), the Secretaries and the working group shall con14 sider existing Federal, State, local, private sector, 

15 and academic guides relating to electric vehicles and, 

16 to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate with 

17 the entities publishing those guides— 

18 (A) to prevent duplication of efforts by the 

19 Federal Government; and 

20 (B) to leverage existing information and 

21 complementary efforts. 

22 (4) RESOURCE GUIDE OUTREACH.—The Secre23 taries, in consultation with the working group, shall 

24 conduct outreach to consumers, State, local, and 

25 Tribal governments (including transit agencies or 


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1 authorities, public tolling authorities, metropolitan 

2 planning organizations, public utility commissions, 

3 and public service companies), and businesses that 

4 sell motor vehicles through the websites of the De5 partment of Transportation and the Department of 

6 Energy, social media, and other methods— 

7 (A) to provide the resource guide under 

8 paragraph (1) to interested stakeholders, in9 cluding relevant consumer groups and transpor10 tation-related organizations; 

11 (B) to promote the use of electric vehicles 

12 in both government and industry fleets; and 

13 (C) to educate individuals involved in the 

14 sale of motor vehicles about the benefits of elec15 tric vehicles. 

16 (5) SUBSEQUENT RESOURCE GUIDES.—Not less 

17 frequently than every 2 years for the duration of the 

18 working group, the working group shall publish an 

19 update to the resource guide under paragraph (1), 

20 as appropriate based on technological innovation and 

21 subsequent information. 

22 (6) ACCESSIBILITY.—The Secretaries shall each 

23 maintain the resource guide under paragraph (1) on 

24 a designated website, which may be an existing 


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1 website, of each Secretary relating to electric vehi2 cles. 

3 (d) COORDINATION.—To the maximum extent prac4 ticable, the Secretaries and the working group shall carry 

5 out this section using all available existing resources, 

6 websites, and databases of Federal agencies, such as the 

7 Alternative Fuels Data Center, the Energy Efficient Mo8 bility Systems program, and the Clean Cities Coalition 

9 Network. 

10 (e) FUNDING.—The Secretaries shall carry out this 

11 section using existing funds made available to the Secre12 taries and not otherwise obligated, of which— 

13 (1) 50 percent shall be from funds made avail14 able to the Secretary of Transportation; and 

15 (2) 50 percent shall be from funds made avail16 able to the Secretary of Energy. 

17 (f) TERMINATION.—The working group shall termi18 nate on the date on which the third report under sub19 section (b) is submitted. 

Æ 


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