Industrials Regulatory News and Trends - August 23, 2024

Welcome to Industrials Regulatory News and Trends. In this regular bulletin, DLA Piper lawyers provide concise updates on key developments in the industrials sector to help you navigate the ever-changing business, legal, and regulatory landscape.

US government plans to propose ban on use of Chinese software in autonomous vehicles. In the coming weeks, the Department of Commerce is expected to propose a ban on the use of China-made software in autonomous and connected vehicles. A Commerce Department spokesperson stated that the proposed rule is driven by concerns " about the national security risks associated with connected technologies in connected vehicles." The proposal is expected to bar Chinese automated driving software in vehicles in the United States with SAE Level 3 automation and higher. Automakers and suppliers would be required to verify that none of the software used in their connected or autonomous vehicles was developed by a "foreign entity of concern," a term that includes entities owned or controlled by the PRC and many other businesses organized or operating in China.

While California approves WeRide testing of AVs, with passengers. Meanwhile, on August 14, the Chinese autonomous driving technology manufacturer WeRide announced that the California Public Utilities Commission has granted the company a permit to test its driverless vehicles with passengers in California. A WeRide representative said the permit allows it only to “conduct demo rides for guests who are not WeRide's employees. It is only for tests and demos, not open to the general public."

UL opens battery testing lab. With the goal of improving the safety and reliability of energy storage systems, UL Solutions, formerly known as Underwriters Laboratory, has opened a North American battery testing laboratory in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The global safety science company describes the 90,000 SF facility as the “biggest single lab investment” in its 130-year history and as North America’s most extensive battery-testing lab. The lab is providing testing capabilities not just for automakers but for a range of industrial manufacturers and suppliers, including automakers, to address such concerns as thermal fire propagation, electrical stress, and mechanical and environmental durability. Interestingly, Underwriters Laboratories was founded in 1894 to address consumers’ concerns about a then-new technology – electric power. Its original name was Underwriters' Electrical Bureau.

US policy shift on global plastics treaty. Amid ongoing negotiations toward a legally binding international treaty to address the growing issue of plastic pollution, the United States has pivoted in its stance on the global management of plastic production and pollution. The change, which aligns the US with a coalition of “high ambition” countries, has significant potential impacts for industry. See our alert.

UK will mandate use of sustainable aviation fuel. The new UK government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer intends to mandate use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the country’s jet fuel mix, UK Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh told Parliament in late July. The Starmer government will also introduce a bill to support SAF production in the UK via a revenue certainty mechanism. The prior UK government proposed the SAF mandate early this year as part of its Jet Zero strategy, aiming for net zero emissions in the aviation sector by 2050. SAF, produced from such sustainable resources as agricultural residues and waste oils, is regarded as an important part of the aviation industry’s decarbonization toolkit. The UK SAF requirement, Haigh said, would start at 2 percent in 2025 and rise to 22 percent by 2040. Parliament has yet to approve the mandate.

Tightening emissions standards for landfills. The EPA is reviewing its 2016 standards for landfill emissions and says it intends to issue a draft rule in 2025 covering both new and existing municipal solid waste sites. The review was quietly rolled into announcements during the July White House summit on heat-trapping super pollutants – the GHGs, like methane, that trap atmospheric heat far more effectively than carbon dioxide. Slashing such emissions, EPA says, is “the fastest way to tackle climate change” and bring down atmospheric CO2 levels. Waste Today magazine notes that many landfill operators have already begun investing in new technologies that address emissions by capturing biogas to generate electricity or produce renewable natural gas through anaerobic digestion.

Proposed bill aims to advance US manufacturing of renewable biochemicals. A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate on August 13 aims to expand US manufacturing of renewable biochemicals from domestic biomass through a new tax credit. The Renewable Chemicals Act, authored by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE), would allow producers of renewable chemicals, bioplastics, biopolymers, and biomaterials the choice of either a short-term production tax credit of 15 percent of the sale price of each pound of renewable chemical or a 30 percent investment tax credit for qualified investments in new renewable chemical production facilities. Download the text of the bill here. 

NHTSA opens probe into Hyundai SUV seat belt mechanisms. On August 9, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it has opened a preliminary evaluation of more than 330,000 Hyundai Palisade crossovers, model years 2020 – 2023, to evaluate concerns about a potentially faulty seat belt mechanism. NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation has received 37 consumer complaints alleging that seat belts in Palisade vehicles had unlatched without warning.

Pilot vehicle-to-home power program in Baltimore. With a modest pilot program, Baltimore Gas and Electric has become the first utility in the world to pay customers who own Ford electric F-150s Lightnings to run their homes from their truck batteries during peak hours. The electric F-150 features a bidirectional “backup power mode” that allows owners to power their homes directly from the vehicle battery. In the program, F-150 owners plug their trucks into a home battery (provided by program partner Sunrun). The trucks automatically discharge between 5 and 9 PM on weeknights, the period of highest demand. Then, overnight, when grid demand falls, the same home battery recharges the truck. The BGE x Sunrun program is small – Sunrun describes it as a “proof of concept.” In California, Pacific Gas & Electric is seeking up to 1,000 residential customers, as well as commercial customers, for a similar pilot program, Vehicle-to-Everything.