SIA Joins Coalition Activity Related to Safe Transport of Lithium Ion Batteries

Group coordinates efforts of manufacturers, cargo shippers, retail leaders and more in support of bill’s passage without amendment.

The Security Industry Association, as a member of The Safe Battery/Products Transportation Coalition which represents companies and associations of companies that manufacture, use, and transport lithium cells and batteries and products containing them, has advocated for the enactment of H.R. 4, as reported from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, without amendment to Section 509.

The coalition sent a letter (available for download below) on April 23, 2018, to Representative Bill Shuster, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, explaining the group’s position on H.R. 4 and Section 509.

The Coalition is supporting enactment of H.R. 4 without amendment of Section 509. That section addresses the safe transportation of lithium cells and batteries.

Section 509 of H.R. 4 contains several essential provisions:

• Section 509(e) will assure industry participation in all panels and working groups of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Dangerous Goods Panel and any other international test or standard setting organization in which the United States participates, which is essential to providing those organizations with technical information and expertise, notwithstanding recent efforts by some ICAO staff to limit such participation.
• Consistent with Section 828 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, and to avoid burdensome, patchwork regulations, Section 509(f) requires U.S. regulations be harmonized with ICAO standards.
• Section 509(b) creates a Lithium Battery Air Safety Advisory Committee to ensure, among other things, transparency in the development of the U.S. position before ICAO meetings.
• Section 509(c) provides the Secretary of Transportation with authority to authorize the shipment on passenger aircraft of batteries used to power medical devices in circumstances where a destination cannot be reached by commercial cargo aircraft and a patient needs life-critical batteries.

The Coalition encouraged the House to reject any effort to amend Section 509 as it moves forward to consider and pass H.R. 4.

The members of the Safe Battery/Products Coalition include: AdvaMed, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), Boston Scientific, Cargo Airline Association (CAA), Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), Intel, Medical Device Battery Transport Council (MDBTC), Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA), National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), National Electrical Manufacturers Association, (NEMA), Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), PRBA – The Rechargeable Battery Association, Power Tool Institute, Inc. (PTI), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), Security Industry Association (SIA), and Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).

Products produced by the coalition include: laptops, cellular phones, portable music/video devices, navigation/GPS systems, cameras, smoke/security alarms, home appliances, hybrid electric and all-electric vehicles, power tools, pacemakers, defibrillators, spinal cord stimulators, portable oxygen concentrators and blood glucose monitors. The coalition notes that the lithium cells and batteries industry provides tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic contribution to the U.S. economy.