CS/HB 291 amends Florida’s battery safety law to add a new defined category of “personal mobility device,” covering small, one-person electric devices such as e-bikes, electric scooters, and electric skateboards that use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The bill prohibits commercial sellers from selling these devices if the battery is not certified by a recognized certification organization as meeting an internationally accepted ingress protection standard for electrical enclosures, specifically a standard that protects against temporary submersion in liquid up to one meter. The bill states that an IPX6-certified battery under IEC Standard 60529 satisfies the requirement.
The measure also establishes an enforcement framework for violations. Sellers who violate the prohibition would face administrative fines of up to $1,000 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second, and $10,000 for a third or subsequent violation. Collected fines would be deposited into the General Revenue Fund, and the department is authorized to suspend fines if compliance conditions are met. The act would take effect July 1, 2025.
Impact
The bill expands section 403.7192, Florida Statutes, by adding a statutory definition of personal mobility device and by imposing new product-safety requirements on commercial sellers of those devices. It creates a new compliance obligation tied to battery certification and ingress protection standards, which would affect retailers, distributors, and other commercial sellers of e-bikes, scooters, skateboards, and similar lithium-ion battery-powered devices. The Department of Environmental Protection would be responsible for assessing administrative fines under the new provision.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests strong support for the bill at the committee level, with the House Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee approving it 12-0. No committee transcript is available, but the unanimous vote indicates little visible opposition in the recorded action. Overall, the bill appears to have been received as a consumer and fire-safety measure aimed at reducing battery-related risks.
Contention
The main policy issue is the burden placed on commercial sellers to ensure batteries are certified to a specified ingress protection standard before sale. Supporters are likely to view this as a necessary safety safeguard for lithium-ion devices, while potential critics could focus on compliance costs, certification availability, and whether the standard is sufficiently tailored to different device types. Another possible point of contention is the size of the administrative fines and whether they are proportionate to the violation.