REMARKS
Council Member Gale A. Brewer on Enhancing Lithium-ion Battery Safety and Supporting Legislation
0:03:52
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3 min
Council Member Gale A. Brewer advocates for stronger measures and legislation to improve lithium-ion battery safety in response to a fatal Harlem fire and other incidents.
- Brewer highlights a recent fire in Harlem, marking it as the 31st incident caused by lithium-ion batteries this year, resulting in numerous injuries and deaths.
- She emphasizes the need for public awareness on battery safety and proposes Bills 19a for public information dissemination and 21a to hold repair and retail shops to higher safety standards.
- Brewer acknowledges efforts by federal representatives to mandate safety standards but notes their lack of progress, underscoring the necessity for local legislation.
- The proposed legislation aims to enhance the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection's enforcement capabilities and establish stricter regulations for businesses involved with lithium-ion batteries.
- Brewer calls for increased cooperation between city departments, the fire department, and federal partners to tackle the safety risks posed by lithium-ion batteries.
Gale A. Brewer
0:03:52
Thank you very much, madam Cher, and I wanna reiterate that last Friday, the battery of fire that was in Harlem injured 22 people, as you indicated, it's a 31st the belays caused by lithium ion batteries this year, and, of course, one person was killed in the fire in problem, and 18 people died last year from battery fires.
0:04:18
We have to do something about this.
0:04:21
One way I hope that 19 a will address this.
0:04:23
It's more public information about the best practices for battery safety, particularly lithium ion.
0:04:29
That's why it's an important bill.
0:04:31
I really wanna thank the agency department of consumer and worker protection to partner with us and the fire department on the legislation.
0:04:39
Consumers should be informed even though it's in the press every single day.
0:04:45
A about the hazards of lithium ion batteries and how to mitigate those hazards as soon as possible in the processing process.
0:04:54
Critically, this information could alert consumers to the dangers of using non original equipment or using batteries other than those recommended by the manufacturer.
0:05:05
Requiring this information online could also alert consumers as to the New York City requirements for the certification of micro mobility devices to relevant safety standards.
0:05:16
We do need help from our federal partner Otherwise, we're never gonna solve this problem.
0:05:20
And I know that majority leader Schumer and senator Krishnan and representative Torres introduced legislation to give the consumer product safety commission an an explicit directive to great federal mandatory standards for how to safely build and import those batteries.
0:05:41
Despite enjoying bipartisan support, which is also rare, these bills have not been taken up for a vote either in the house or the senate.
0:05:50
So we need local legislation.
0:05:52
21a, as you've heard from the chair, what it does is basically, we need to have Ebay repair shops to be as safe as any auto repair shop.
0:06:03
And this bill strengthens the Department of Consumer And Worker Protection enforcement capabilities, including ceiling authority to close repeat violators.
0:06:12
And I think it's great that the fire department and consumer will be working together.
0:06:17
They should have concurrent enforcement authority because we never have enough people to do the inspections, and we're we're as we heard earlier, it would require sales of devices display the certification on the Accredited testing laboratory, and it would increase penalties for violations, and it would establish record keeping requirement for any person who distributes cells, Leases rents office to sell lease or rent a powered a bicycle, powered mobility device or storage battery for a powered bicycle or power mobility device, and it would authorize both agencies to seal any premises where any person is found that have violated this section at at least three occasions within a 3 year period, and I do wanna thank both agencies because I know they're trying really hard to address this issue.
0:07:06
Thank you very very much.
