PRBA’s Transportation Committee met on June 21, 2022 to consider a lengthy list of domestic and international regulatory challenges impacting the transport of lithium batteries. On the international front, the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods is meeting this week in Geneva, Switzerland to address a litany of lithium battery proposals, including several papers filed by PRBA, that would amend the UN’s Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods Model Regulations. In addition, the International Civil Aviation Organization Dangerous Goods Panel’s Energy Storage Device Working Group recently released an update on its work to consider limiting the state of charge of lithium ion battery-powered products shipped by air.
Other issues PRBA’s Transportation Committee considered during their June 21st meeting included:
- U.S. DOT’s enforcement efforts and investigation of recent lithium battery incidents
- U.S. Postal Service’s Interim Final Rule prohibiting shipments by air of “pre-owned” lithium battery-powered devices
- The ongoing work of the UN’s Informal Working Group to adopt a new dangerous goods hazard-based classification system for lithium batteries
- SAE’s G27 lithium battery packaging standard
- The U.S. Lithium Battery Air Safety Advisory Committee May 4th meeting
For more information on these regulatory challenges and how PRBA and its members are working to address them, please contact George Kerchner at 202.719.4109 or [email protected].