SAN DIEGO EXPLORING LAWS FOR BATTERY SAFETY

Fire incidents with lithium-ion units have occurred

Concerns about explosions, fires and toxic gas have prompted San Diego officials to begin crafting proposed laws to regulate the storage and disposal of lithium-ion batteries, which power electric cars, scooters, laptops, smartphones and other devices.

The legislation would also impose new limits on where large-scale lithium battery storage facilities can be located.

City leaders praise the increasingly popular batteries for being energy-efficient and helping to fight climate change, but they say new regulations are essential because a rash of recent incidents has raised concerns about public safety.

“We’re not trying to eliminate them — we’re trying to make sure they are safer for consumers and our first responders,” said Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who is spearheading efforts to craft a new city law.

San Diego would be the first city in the county to regulate the batteries, which pose higher risk than ordinary batteries because they contain more energy and can ignite or emit dangerous gas when damaged or exposed to high heat.

The city has lost four trash trucks this year to lithium-ion battery fires and suffered more than $2 million in total damage. Officials say they’re concerned improper disposal could lead to battery fires in trash cans or at the Miramar landfill.

Battalion Chief Rob Rezende said there haven’t been any local deaths, but there have been many injuries, burns and cases of smoke inhalation.

City firefighters recently adopted a new set of procedures for dealing with lithium-ion battery fires, which has required new training guidelines. They are also exploring new tools they could use to put out battery fires.

“There’s no way for us to extinguish a battery fire once it’s happening inside the battery,” Rezende told the City Council’s Public Safety Committee last month. “There’s no amount of water that will stop it.”

Von Wilpert is proposing new zoning regulations to limit where lithium-ion bat

ers and settlers.

“Whole tribal nations were annihilated. This was a Holocaust over here,” said Rodriguez, who is a professor and the director of Kumeyaay Community College.

Celebrated on the second Monday of October, Indigenous Peoples Day has grown in popularity in recent years as a replacement for Columbus Day. Instead of celebrating the legacy of Christopher Columbus, known for his cruel treatment of Indigenous people, the day honors

the history and culture of Indigenous communities.

In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a proclamation that in part reads “Instead of commemorating conquest today, we recognize resilience” to establish Indigenous Peoples Day as a state holiday.

In 2021, President Joe Biden formally recognized the holiday nationwide through his own proclamation.

For Hellyaachwehay Quisquis — who served as the event’s emcee — the most important aspect of spending Indigenous Peoples Day at Safari Park is continuing to write the history of the Indigenous community. As a member of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, Quisquis said the day is all about the ipai, the Kumeyaay word for “the people,” and ensuring the community’s history continues to be passed down from one generation to the next.

“It takes people that are willing to listen to our story, and not only willing to listen to it, but to become part of it,” he said. “Our story isn’t talking only about the past, it’s talking about today, and it’s talking about moving forward in the future.”