# 2026-15823: Feds Boost Battery Limits for Mowers and Construction Tools

2026-15823, Hazardous Materials: Reducing Burdens on Domestic Companies Using Battery-Powered Equipment in Trades, is a Federal Register rule from Transportation Department, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration published 2026-08-04, effective 2026-09-03; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15823
- As of: 2026-08-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2026-15823
- Title: Hazardous Materials: Reducing Burdens on Domestic Companies Using Battery-Powered Equipment in Trades
- Type: Rule
- Agencies: Transportation Department; Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- Citation: 91 FR 49345
- Published: 2026-08-04
- Effective: 2026-09-03
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: yes
- Regulation identifier numbers: 2137-AG05
- Last updated: 2026-08-11

## In one line

Feds Boost Battery Limits for Mowers and Construction Tools

## Summary

This final rule modernizes the Materials of Trade (MOT) exception in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) by increasing the maximum allowable quantities of lithium batteries that can be transported as MOTs. This increase removes an undue regulatory burden which constrains the ability of construction, landscaping, mowing, tree service, food service, and entertainment companies to perform their trade.

## Effects PRIA read

- Bigger Battery Limits for Work Vehicles: benefit, medium. Starting September 3, 2026, companies may transport larger lithium batteries as Materials of Trade (MOT). Each cell or battery may weigh up to 30 kg (66 pounds) and a motor vehicle may carry up to 500 kg (1,102 pounds) aggregate net weight of batteries under the MOT exception.
- No Aggregate Cap for Batteries Built Into Equipment: benefit, medium. The rule allows batteries that are installed in equipment to be transported without the 30 kg per-battery or 500 kg vehicle aggregate net weight limits that apply to loose batteries. Batteries installed in equipment must still meet applicable UN 38.3 testing criteria.
- Outer Packaging No Longer Required If Secured: benefit, medium. The rule explicitly allows lithium batteries (and other receptacles/articles) to be transported without outer packaging if they are secured against shifting in cages, carts, bins, boxes, compartments, or by other means. This change aligns batteries with other materials of trade and can reduce packa…
- New Securing, Labeling, and Notification Rules: cost, low. Batteries (including those in equipment) must be packaged or secured to prevent short circuits, shifting damage, and accidental activation. Packages exceeding 30 kg (66 pounds) of batteries must carry a Class 9 label and applicable four-digit UN identification number, and vehicle operators must be…
- Estimated Annualized Cost Savings to Businesses: benefit, medium. PHMSA estimates the rule will produce annualized cost savings of $14.4 million (2024 dollars) for American businesses over a 10-year analysis period. PHMSA used both 3% and 7% discount rates and reports the same annualized savings under each rate.
- Sodium‑Ion and Large Portable Generators Not Included: cost, low. PHMSA declined requests to extend the MOT lithium-battery allowance to sodium‑ion batteries and declined to increase the 30 kg/500 kg limits to accommodate portable power stations (battery 'generators'). Those requests were not adopted in this final rule and PHMSA may consider them in a future rule…

## Related documents

- [2026-13805](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-13805): Pipeline Safety: Repair Criteria for Hazardous Liquid and Gas Transmission Pipelines, 2026-07-08
- [2026-10969](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-10969): Pipeline Safety: Breakout Tank Inspection Rule, 2026-06-02
- [2026-10782](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-10782): Pipeline Safety: Class Location Change Requirements; Correction, 2026-05-29
- [2026-08144](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-08144): Administrative Rulemaking, Guidance, and Enforcement Procedures, 2026-04-27
- [2026-08058](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-08058): Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines: MAOP Reconfirmation, Expansion of Assessment Requirements, and Other Related Amendme…, 2026-04-24
- [2026-06323](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-06323): Pipeline Safety: Class Location Change Requirements; Response to Petition for Reconsideration, 2026-04-01

## Sources
- [2026-15823 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/04/2026-15823/hazardous-materials-reducing-burdens-on-domestic-companies-using-battery-powered-equipment-in-trades)
- [2026-15823 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15823.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2026-15820, Hazardous Materials: Adoption of Department of Transportation Special Permit 21…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15820)
- [Next: 2026-15825, Airworthiness Directives; Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. Airplanes](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15825)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15823 (as of 2026-08-11).