II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4626 

To standardize and improve safety training specific to electric vehicles for 

firefighters and other emergency response providers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 20, 2024 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To standardize and improve safety training specific to electric 

vehicles for firefighters and other emergency response 

providers, 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 ‘‘Supporting America’s 

5 Firefighters and Emergency Responders to Electric Vehi6 cles Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘SAFER EVs Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ELECTRIC VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘electric 

2 vehicle’’ means a vehicle that draws propulsion en3 ergy from a rechargeable energy storage system. 

4 (2) EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROVIDERS.—The 

5 term ‘‘emergency response providers’’ has the mean6 ing given that term in section 2 of the Homeland 

7 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101). 

8 (3) SECOND RESPONDER.—The term ‘‘second 

9 responder’’— 

10 (A) means personnel who support the work 

11 of emergency response providers; and 

12 (B) includes tow truck operators and sal13 vage yard personnel. 

14 SEC. 3. COORDINATION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE SAFETY 

15 STANDARDS AND TRAINING. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall co17 ordinate with the Secretary of Transportation and the Ad18 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agen19 cy, acting through the United States Fire Administrator, 

20 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘agency heads’’)— 

21 (1) to aggregate cross-agency research relating 

22 to electric vehicles; 

23 (2) to align future research and development ef24 forts with respect to electric vehicles; and 


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1 (3) to plan to effectively deploy electric vehicle 

2 training across the United States. 

3 (b) EFFORTS.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 

4 agency heads shall align and coordinate efforts relating 

5 to— 

6 (1) the research and coordination of safety and 

7 testing standards for electric vehicles and the com8 ponents and infrastructure relating to those vehicles, 

9 including— 

10 (A) electric vehicles; 

11 (B) hybrid vehicles; 

12 (C) electric buses; 

13 (D) hybrid buses; and 

14 (E) components and infrastructure relating 

15 to replenishing the on-board sources of power of 

16 the vehicles described in subparagraphs (A) 

17 through (D), including batteries, vehicle charg18 ing stations, vehicle battery swap stations, and 

19 vehicle-related energy storage units; 

20 (2) research and development on emergency re21 sponse provider safety and corresponding best prac22 tices; and 

23 (3) the delivery of safety training course mate24 rials to emergency response providers and second re25 sponders. 


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1 (c) TECHNICAL REPORT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy 

3 shall produce a technical report on electric vehicles, 

4 and batteries, power storage, and power replenish5 ment infrastructure relating to those vehicles, that— 

6 (A) documents best practices for con7 sumers, emergency response providers, and sec8 ond responders in the event of an emergency; 

9 (B) identifies gaps in current best prac10 tices described in subparagraph (A); and 

11 (C) recommends regions of the United 

12 States to target for training deployment due to 

13 observed increases in the use of electric vehi14 cles. 

15 (2) UPDATES.—The technical report described 

16 in paragraph (1) shall be updated every 3 years. 

17 (3) COORDINATION AND CONSULTATION.—In 

18 producing the technical report, the Secretary of En19 ergy shall— 

20 (A) coordinate with the Secretary of 

21 Transportation; 

22 (B) ensure consultation among, at a min23 imum, the Vehicle Technologies Office in the 

24 Department of Energy, the National Highway 

25 Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal 


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1 Transit Administration, the Pipeline and Haz2 ardous Materials Safety Administration, and 

3 the United States Fire Administration; and 

4 (C) solicit input from interested parties, 

5 including the UL Fire Safety Research Insti6 tute, the National Fire Protection Association, 

7 the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the 

8 International Association of Fire Fighters, the 

9 National Volunteer Fire Council, the North 

10 American Fire Training Directors, and the 

11 International Society of Fire Service Instruc12 tors, for the purpose of incorporating important 

13 issues from the emergency responder commu14 nity that may help shape strategies for devel15 oping safety standards, best practices, and ef16 fective training materials. 

17 (4) FACA EXEMPTION.—Chapter 10 of title 5, 

18 United States Code, shall not apply to the coordina19 tion or consultation under paragraph (3). 

20 (5) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—The most recent 

21 version of the technical report produced under this 

22 subsection shall be— 

23 (A) publicly available on the website of the 

24 Department of Energy and the Department of 

25 Transportation; and 


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1 (B) linked to on the website of the United 

2 States Fire Administration. 

3 SEC. 4. UPDATING SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAMS AND MA4 TERIALS. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

8 States Fire Administration. 

9 (2) FIREFIGHTING PERSONNEL.—The term 

10 ‘‘firefighting personnel’’ has the meaning given that 

11 term in section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention 

12 and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229). 

13 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean14 ing given the term in section 2 of the Homeland Se15 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101). 

16 (4) STATE FIRE TRAINING GRANT.—The term 

17 ‘‘State Fire Training Grant’’ means a State Fire 

18 Training Grant issued by the National Fire Acad19 emy, as authorized under section 7(f) of the Federal 

20 Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 

21 2206(f)). 

22 (b) UPDATING OF SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAMS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con24 sultation and coordination with the Secretary of 

25 Transportation, and in consultation with the NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Aug 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4626.IS S4626

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1 tional Fire Protection Association, the International 

2 Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Asso3 ciation of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire 

4 Council, the National Association of State Fire Mar5 shals, and other stakeholders, shall update safety 

6 training programs regarding electric vehicles, includ7 ing related external components used for recharging, 

8 refueling, or replacing the power supply of electric 

9 vehicles, for firefighting personnel, other emergency 

10 response providers, and second responders based on 

11 the reports under section 3(c). 

12 (2) FACA EXEMPTION.—Chapter 10 of title 5, 

13 United States Code, shall not apply to the consulta14 tion under paragraph (1). 

15 (c) DISTRIBUTING THE TRAINING.—The Adminis16 trator, acting through the National Fire Academy, and in 

17 coordination with State fire academies, and other stake18 holder organizations shall develop and implement a plan 

19 to— 

20 (1) accelerate the availability of the safety 

21 training programs updated under subsection (b), in22 cluding through the use of State Fire Training 

23 Grants, with an emphasis on train-the-trainer pro24 grams; and 


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1 (2) provide recurring training to ensure fire2 fighting personnel, emergency medical services per3 sonnel, other emergency response providers, and sec4 ond responders receive the training, including re5 sponders in both urban and rural geographic re6 gions. 

7 (d) STATE FIRE ACADEMIES.—A State fire academy 

8 that receives a State Fire Training Grant shall— 

9 (1) contact fire departments in the State to 

10 provide information about available safety training 

11 regarding electric vehicles when 1 or more commer12 cial vehicle charging stations are installed within the 

13 jurisdiction of the fire department; and 

14 (2) collect and submit to the Administrator 

15 data and annual statistics about the level of partici16 pation in safety training regarding electric vehicles 

17 in the State, including the percentage of career and 

18 volunteer firefighters and career and volunteer emer19 gency medical services personnel in the State who 

20 completed electric vehicle safety training each year. 

21 (e) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator, in 

23 addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be appro24 priated (such as amounts authorized to be appropriated 

25 for State and local fire service training grants under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Aug 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4626.IS S4626

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1 tion 7(f) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act 

2 of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(f))), $10,000,000 for grants to 

3 State fire academies under the State Fire Training Grants 

4 program for training and education purposes to provide 

5 safety training and reporting related to electric vehicles. 

6 SEC. 5. EMERGENCY RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) EMERGENCY RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS.— 

9 The term ‘‘emergency response instructions’’ means 

10 the emergency response information for a vehicle 

11 prepared by the manufacturer of that vehicle. 

12 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

13 the New Car Assessment Program of the National 

14 Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

15 (b) CONSIDERATION OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE IN16 STRUCTIONS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In determining the score of 

18 a vehicle under the program, the Administrator of 

19 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

20 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Adminis21 trator’’) shall consider— 

22 (A) the completeness of the emergency re23 sponse instructions for the vehicle; and 

24 (B) whether and the extent to which those 

25 emergency response instructions adhere to— 


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1 (i) International Organization for 

2 Standardization standard 17840; and 

3 (ii) any other relevant standards. 

4 (2) ELECTRIC VEHICLES.—In determining the 

5 score of an electric vehicle under the program, the 

6 Administrator shall consider whether the emergency 

7 response instructions for the electric vehicle contain 

8 vehicle-specific information on— 

9 (A) fighting high-voltage lithium-ion bat10 tery fires; 

11 (B) mitigating— 

12 (i) thermal runaway; and 

13 (ii) the risk of high-voltage lithium-ion 

14 battery reignition; 

15 (C) mitigating the risks associated with 

16 stranded energy in high-voltage lithium-ion bat17 teries— 

18 (i) during the initial emergency re19 sponse; and 

20 (ii) before moving a damaged electric 

21 vehicle from the scene of an emergency; 

22 and 

23 (D) safely storing an electric vehicle that 

24 has a damaged high-voltage lithium-ion battery. 


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1 (c) AVAILABILITY AND USE OF EMERGENCY RE2 SPONSE INSTRUCTIONS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 

4 practicable, the Administrator of the United States 

5 Fire Administration (referred to in this subsection 

6 as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall make the emergency 

7 response instructions for each vehicle scored under 

8 the program widely available, including through the 

9 United States Fire Administration website and Na10 tional Fire Academy and State training academy 

11 courses, to— 

12 (A) all fire departments, emergency med13 ical services departments, police departments, 

14 and salvage yards; 

15 (B) each public or private entity that em16 ploys tow operators, bus drivers, or truck driv17 ers; 

18 (C) national organizations representing law 

19 enforcement, fire service, and emergency med20 ical services leadership and personnel; 

21 (D) each professional association or other 

22 organization representing tow operators, bus 

23 drivers, or truck drivers; and 

24 (E) each Federal agency that provides 

25 training under this Act. 


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1 (2) USE IN TRAINING.—The emergency re2 sponse instructions made available by the Adminis3 trator under paragraph (1) may be used for any 

4 training to which the emergency response instruc5 tions are relevant, including off-road applications of 

6 electric vehicles, such as material handling equip7 ment, mining or agricultural vehicles, and maritime, 

8 rail, and aviation applications, including any train9 ing carried out under this Act, as the provider of the 

10 training determines to be appropriate. 

Æ 


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