A bill to establish a working group on electric vehicles.

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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. ELECTRIC VEHICLE WORKING GROUP. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 240 days 5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 6 retary of Transportation and the Secretary of En- 7 ergy (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secre- 8 taries’’) shall jointly establish a working group (re- 9 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘working group’’) to 10 make recommendations on the development, adop- 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 508 IS tion, and integration of light and heavy duty electric 1 vehicles into the transportation and energy systems 2 of the United States. 3 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The working group 5 shall be composed of— 6 (i) the Secretaries (or designees), who 7 shall be co-chairs of the working group; 8 and 9 (ii) not more than 25 members to be 10 appointed by the Secretaries, of whom— 11 (I) not more than 6 shall be Fed- 12 eral stakeholders as described in sub- 13 paragraph (B); and 14 (II) not more than 19 shall be 15 non-Federal stakeholders as described 16 in subparagraph (C). 17 (B) FEDERAL STAKEHOLDERS.—The 18 working group— 19 (i) shall include not less than 1 rep- 20 resentative of each of— 21 (I) the Department of Transpor- 22 tation; 23 (II) the Department of Energy; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 508 IS (III) the Environmental Protec- 1 tion Agency; 2 (IV) the Council on Environ- 3 mental Quality; and 4 (V) the General Services Admin- 5 istration; and 6 (ii) may include a representative of 7 any other Federal agency the Secretaries 8 consider to be appropriate. 9 (C) NON-FEDERAL STAKEHOLDERS.— 10 (i) IN GENERAL.—The working 11 group— 12 (I) shall include not less than 1 13 representative of each of— 14 (aa) a manufacturer of elec- 15 tric vehicles or the relevant com- 16 ponents of electric vehicles; 17 (bb) an owner, operator, or 18 manufacturer of electric vehicle 19 charging equipment; 20 (cc) the public utility indus- 21 try; 22 (dd) a public utility regu- 23 lator or association of public util- 24 ity regulators; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 508 IS (ee) the transportation fuel- 1 ing distribution and retailer in- 2 dustry; 3 (ff) the energy provider in- 4 dustry; 5 (gg) the automotive dealing 6 industry; 7 (hh) the passenger transpor- 8 tation industry; 9 (ii) an organization rep- 10 resenting a unit of local govern- 11 ment; 12 (jj) a regional transportation 13 or planning agency; 14 (kk) an organization rep- 15 resenting State departments of 16 transportation; 17 (ll) an organization rep- 18 resenting State departments of 19 energy or State energy planners; 20 (mm) an expert in intel- 21 ligent transportation systems and 22 technologies; 23 (nn) organized labor; 24 (oo) the trucking industry; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 508 IS (pp) Tribal governments; 1 and 2 (qq) the property develop- 3 ment industry; and 4 (II) may include a representative 5 of any other non-Federal stakeholder 6 that the Secretaries consider to be ap- 7 propriate. 8 (ii) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretaries 9 shall ensure that the members of the work- 10 ing group selected under clause (i) shall in- 11 clude— 12 (I) individuals with a balance of 13 backgrounds, experiences, and view- 14 points; and 15 (II) individuals that represent 16 geographically diverse regions of the 17 United States, including from rural, 18 urban, and suburban areas. 19 (3) MEETINGS.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The working group 21 shall meet not less frequently than once every 22 120 days. 23 (B) REMOTE PARTICIPATION.—A member 24 of the working group may participate in a meet- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 508 IS ing of the working group via teleconference or 1 similar means. 2 (4) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the duties 3 of the working group, the working group shall co- 4 ordinate and consult with any existing Federal inter- 5 agency working groups on fleet conversion or other 6 similar matters related to electric vehicles. 7 (b) JOINT REPORT AND STRATEGY ON ELECTRIC 8 VEHICLE ADOPTION, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHAL- 9 LENGES.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries, in consulta- 11 tion with the working group, shall submit to Con- 12 gress by each of the deadlines described in para- 13 graph (2)— 14 (A) a report on the status of electric vehi- 15 cle adoption and opportunities for and chal- 16 lenges to expanding adoption of electric vehi- 17 cles, including— 18 (i) a description of the barriers and 19 opportunities to scaling up electric vehicle 20 adoption nationwide, with recommenda- 21 tions for issues relating to— 22 (I) consumer behavior; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 508 IS (II) charging infrastructure 1 needs, including standardization and 2 smart charging; 3 (III) manufacturing and battery 4 costs, including the raw material 5 shortages for batteries and electric 6 motor magnets; 7 (IV) the adoption of electric vehi- 8 cles for low- and moderate-income in- 9 dividuals and underserved commu- 10 nities, including charging infrastruc- 11 ture access and vehicle purchase fi- 12 nancing; 13 (V) business models for charging 14 electric vehicles outside the home, in- 15 cluding wired and wireless charging; 16 (VI) charging infrastructure per- 17 mitting and regulatory issues; 18 (VII) the connections between 19 housing and transportation costs and 20 emissions; 21 (VIII) freight transportation, in- 22 cluding local, port and drayage, re- 23 gional, and long-haul trucking; 24 (IX) intercity passenger travel; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 508 IS (X) the need or potential for 1 model building codes for charging in- 2 frastructure; 3 (XI) the process by which gov- 4 ernments collect a user fee for the 5 contribution of electric vehicles to 6 funding roadway improvements and 7 potential investments in charging in- 8 frastructure; 9 (XII) State and local level poli- 10 cies, incentives, and zoning efforts; 11 (XIII) the installation of highway 12 corridor signage; 13 (XIV) cybersecurity of charging 14 infrastructure; 15 (XV) secondary markets and re- 16 cycling for batteries, including battery 17 collection initiatives; 18 (XVI) grid integration; 19 (XVII) energy storage; and 20 (XVIII) specific regional or local 21 issues that— 22 (aa) are associated with— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 508 IS (AA) the issues de- 1 scribed in subclauses (I) 2 through (XVII); or 3 (BB) urban or rural en- 4 vironments; and 5 (bb) may not appear nation- 6 wide, but hamper a nationwide 7 adoption or coordination of elec- 8 tric vehicles; 9 (ii) examples of successful public and 10 private models and demonstration projects 11 that encourage electric vehicle adoption; 12 and 13 (iii) an analysis of current efforts to 14 overcome the barriers described in clause 15 (i); and 16 (B) a strategy that describes how the Fed- 17 eral Government, States, units of local govern- 18 ment, and industry can— 19 (i) set quantitative targets for trans- 20 portation electrification; 21 (ii) overcome the barriers described in 22 subparagraph (A)(i); 23 (iii) identify areas of opportunity in 24 research and development to improve bat- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 508 IS tery manufacturing, mineral mining, recy- 1 cling costs and battery collection, material 2 recovery, and battery performance for elec- 3 tric vehicles; 4 (iv) enhance Federal interagency co- 5 ordination to promote electric vehicle adop- 6 tion; 7 (v) promote electric vehicle knowledge 8 and expertise within State and local gov- 9 ernments; 10 (vi) prepare the workforce for the 11 adoption of electric vehicles, including 12 through collaboration with labor unions, 13 colleges and other educational institutions, 14 and relevant manufacturers; 15 (vii) expand electric vehicle and charg- 16 ing infrastructure— 17 (I) knowledge and use among 18 Federal, State, and local governments, 19 school districts, and private entities; 20 and 21 (II) adoption among the fleets of 22 the entities described in subclause (I); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 508 IS (viii) expand knowledge of the benefits 1 of electric vehicles among the general pub- 2 lic; 3 (ix) maintain the global competitive- 4 ness of the United States in the electric ve- 5 hicle and charging infrastructure markets; 6 (x) provide clarity in regulations to 7 improve national uniformity with respect to 8 electric vehicles; and 9 (xi) ensure the sustainable integration 10 of electric vehicles into the national electric 11 grid. 12 (2) DEADLINES.—A joint report and strategy 13 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted by— 14 (A) for the first report, not later than 18 15 months after the date on which the working 16 group is established under subsection (a)(1); 17 (B) for the second report, not later than 2 18 years after the date on which the first report is 19 required to be submitted under subparagraph 20 (A); and 21 (C) for the third report, not later than 2 22 years after the date on which the second report 23 is required to be submitted under subparagraph 24 (B). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 508 IS (3) INFORMATION.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries may 2 enter into an agreement with the Transpor- 3 tation Research Board of the National Acad- 4 emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to 5 provide, track, or report data, information, or 6 research to assist the Secretaries in carrying 7 out paragraph (1). 8 (B) USE OF EXISTING INFORMATION.—In 9 developing the report and strategy under para- 10 graph (1), the Secretaries and the working 11 group shall consider existing Federal, State, 12 local, private sector, and academic data and in- 13 formation relating to electric vehicles and, to 14 the maximum extent practicable, coordinate 15 with the entities that publish that informa- 16 tion— 17 (i) to prevent duplication of efforts by 18 the Federal Government; and 19 (ii) to leverage existing information 20 and complementary efforts. 21 (c) ELECTRIC VEHICLE RESOURCE GUIDE.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall elec- 23 tronically publish and update a resource guide to 24 provide information to increase knowledge about 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 508 IS electric vehicles and necessary charging infrastruc- 1 ture for consumers, State, local, and Tribal govern- 2 ments (including transit agencies or authorities, 3 public tolling authorities, metropolitan planning or- 4 ganizations, public utility commissions, and public 5 service companies), and businesses that sell motor 6 vehicles. 7 (2) INCLUSIONS.—A resource guide under para- 8 graph (1) shall include— 9 (A) information on— 10 (i) the general characteristics of elec- 11 tric vehicles (including passenger vehicles, 12 electric vehicles for public transportation, 13 school buses, and electric vehicles for com- 14 mercial use); and 15 (ii) the types of charging solutions 16 available to consumers, including, to the 17 maximum extent practicable, a digitally ac- 18 cessible compilation of existing mapping of 19 publicly available charging stations in the 20 United States; 21 (B) information on electrifying business 22 and government vehicle fleets; 23 (C) information on Federal grant pro- 24 grams available to State and local governments 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 508 IS for the purchase of electric vehicles for public 1 transportation; 2 (D) a description of current financial and 3 nonfinancial incentives for electric vehicles; and 4 (E) any other information that— 5 (i) a representative of industry or 6 State or local government requests to be 7 included; and 8 (ii) the working group recommends 9 and determines to be appropriate. 10 (3) USE OF EXISTING GUIDES.—In publishing 11 and maintaining the resource guide under paragraph 12 (1), the Secretaries and the working group shall con- 13 sider existing Federal, State, local, private sector, 14 and academic guides relating to electric vehicles and, 15 to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate with 16 the entities publishing those guides— 17 (A) to prevent duplication of efforts by the 18 Federal Government; and 19 (B) to leverage existing information and 20 complementary efforts. 21 (4) RESOURCE GUIDE OUTREACH.—The Secre- 22 taries, in consultation with the working group, shall 23 conduct outreach to consumers, State, local, and 24 Tribal governments (including transit agencies or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S508.IS S508 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 15 •S 508 IS authorities, public tolling authorities, metropolitan 1 planning organizations, public utility commissions, 2 and public service companies), and businesses that 3 sell [Text truncated for display. 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