FLARE Act

119 HR 7929 IH: Firefighter Lithium-ion Awareness and Readiness Enhancement Act U.S. House of Representatives 2026-03-12 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7929 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 12, 2026 Ms. Titus introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue certain regulations with respect to the safe transportation of lithium-ion cells or batteries, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Firefighter Lithium-ion Awareness and Readiness Enhancement Act or the FLARE Act . 2. Increasing access to thermal runaway suppression tools Section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 ( 15 U.S.C. 2229 ) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) by redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (11); (B) by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively; (C) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following: (7) Lithium-ion cell or battery The term lithium-ion cell or battery — (A) means a rechargeable electrochemical cell or battery in which the positive and negative electrodes are both intercalation compounds constructed with no metallic lithium in either electrode; but (B) does not include a cell or battery described in subsections (c) and (g)(2) of section 173.185 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. ; and (D) by inserting after paragraph (9) (as so redesignated) the following: (10) Thermal runaway The term thermal runaway means an uncontrolled increase of cell temperature caused by exothermic reactions inside cells and batteries, including lithium-ion cells or batteries. ; (2) in subsection (c)(3)(A)— (A) in clause (iv) by striking or at the end; (B) in clause (v) by striking the period at the end and inserting , including lithium-ion cells or batteries; or ; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (vi) suppressing fires resulting from thermal runaway. ; and (3) in subsection (d)(3)— (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) as subparagraph (F); and (B) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following: (E) To fund programs to suppress fires resulting from thermal runaway. .