119th (2025–2027)
H.R. 8444
This bill directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to conduct a comprehensive study on flammability hazards in motor vehicles. The study must identify safety risks to vehicle occupants and first responders from flammable materials used in vehicle interiors, catalog the chemicals and materials manufacturers currently use to meet federal flammability standards, and assess potential health and environmental hazards from exposure to these materials, with special attention to vulnerable populations like children, pregnant women, and elderly people. The bill also requires the agency to analyze methods for reducing identified risks and examine alternative ways manufacturers could comply with existing federal flammability standards. The study must include coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency and Consumer Product Safety Commission, allow for public comment, and be completed within 30 months of the bill's enactment, with results published on the NHTSA website and submitted to Congress. The legislation does not specify dedicated funding for the study.