A BILL proposing to regulate electric vehicles (EV) hurdled three House committees on Wednesday.
The House Committee on Energy, jointly with the Committees on Ecology and Transportation, approved the draft substitute bill that will consolidate House Bills 444, 738, 1432, 2020, 4075, 4179, 4356, 4366, 4391, 4962, 6604, 7298, 7299, 7317 and 7607, which if passed will become the Electric Vehicles Act.
House Transportation Panel Chairman Edgar Mary S. Sarmiento said the substitute bill and the committee follow five meetings with the bill’s technical working group.
If enacted, the bill will create a National Energy Policy and Regulatory Framework for the use of electric vehicles. The proposed law will apply to “to the manufacture, assembly, installation, research and development, maintenance, trade and utilization of electric vehicles, parts and components, charging stations, and related support infrastructures.”
An Electric Vehicles Board will also be established, consisting of the Secretaries of the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Science and Technology, Environment and Natural Resources, Trade and Industry, Public Works and Highways, Budget and Management, as well as the National Economic and Development Authority.
The Comprehensive Roadmap on Electric Vehicles (CREV) will become the national plan to help boost the electric vehicle industry. The CREV will be integrated with the Philippine Energy Plan and the National Transport Policy.
The substitute bill will be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Appropriations. — Gillian M. Cortez