COBALT Act of 2022
Bill: H.R.8808 | Sponsor: Rep. Donalds, Byron (R-FL)
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Cobalt Optimizes Batteries And Leading Technologies Act of 2022 or the COBALT Act of 2022
This bill provides funding through the Defense Production Act Fund to increase stocks of domestically refined cobalt in the National Defense Stockpile. (The Defense Production Act of 1950 confers on the President a broad set of authorities to influence domestic industry in order to provide essential materials and goods needed for the national defense.)

To acquire cobalt refining capacity in the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cobalt Optimizes Batteries And 
Leading Technologies Act of 2022'' or the ``COBALT Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The National Defense Stockpile lacks sufficient cobalt 
        reserves, falling from 13,000 tons during the Cold War to only 
        333 tons today.
            (2) The United States currently produces zero newly refined 
        cobalt, making the United States dependent on foreign imports 
        and secondary scrap materials for nearly 100 percent of its 
        cobalt consumption.
            (3) China is the world's cobalt lynchpin, supplying 72 
        percent of global refined cobalt.
            (4) The International Energy Agency forecasts a cobalt 
        supply deficit by 2030, ultimately projecting cobalt demand in 
        2040 to range from 6 to 30 times higher than today's levels.
            (5) Cobalt supply chains often face an untraceable mine-to-
        refinery chain of custody, risking inadvertent financing of 
        slave and forced child labor.
            (6) Cobalt refineries generally use the process of 
        hydrometallurgy (e.g., acid leaching) and pyrometallurgy (e.g., 
        smelting), jeopardizing the environment.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

     It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States lack of cobalt refining capacity is a 
        serious vulnerability to America's critical mineral supply 
        chains;
            (2) the People's Republic of China's dominant share of the 
        refined cobalt market and the unprecedented global demand 
        growth for refined cobalt are threats to the national security, 
        economic stability, and competitiveness of key industries in 
        the United States; and
            (3) the Department of Defense should--
                    (A) make purchases and purchase commitments with 
                new refineries in the United States to encourage them 
                to scale up production;
                    (B) stockpile an increased amount of domestically 
                refined cobalt to decrease the vulnerability of the 
                United States to supply chain interruptions;
                    (C) require cobalt refineries in the United States 
                to present a transparent mine-to-refinery chain of 
                custody to curb accidental financing of slave and 
                forced child labor; and
                    (D) prioritize purchasing cobalt refined through 
                the environmentally neutral process of chemical vapor 
                metallurgy to prevent harm to the air, water, and soil.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States to--
            (1) support critical mineral refineries in the United 
        States through purchases and purchase commitments;
            (2) increase the amount of domestically refined critical 
        minerals in the National Defense Stockpile;
            (3) decrease the dependence of the United States on 
        critical minerals refined in foreign countries, including 
        China;
            (4) combat slave and forced child labor in critical mineral 
        mining and refining; and
            (5) protect the environment from harmful industrial 
        practices related to critical mineral refining.

SEC. 5. PURCHASE PROGRAM FOR DOMESTICALLY REFINED COBALT.

    (a) In General.--The President, acting through Secretary of Defense 
and the Defense Logistics Agency, and in consultation with the 
Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of 
the Interior, shall use the authorities provided under title III of the 
Defense Production Act of 1950 to increase the amount of domestically 
refined cobalt in the National Defense Stockpile by awarding eligible 
entities with purchases and purchase commitments of cobalt nanopowder 
and sub-nanopowder refined in the United States through the 
environmentally neutral process of chemical vapor metallurgy.
    (b) Amount.--To carry out subsection (a), the President shall use 
$800,000,000 during fiscal year 2024 through fiscal year 2028 from the 
Defense Production Act Fund.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        refinery--
                    (A) that is owned by United States persons and 
                operating in the United States;
                    (B) whose primary business activity, or that of its 
                parent company, is refining critical minerals;
                    (C) that refines critical minerals through chemical 
                vapor metallurgy; and
                    (D) that provides the Secretary of Defense with a 
                mine-to-refinery chain of custody, including proof that 
                the cobalt ore is free of slave and forced child labor.
            (2) Chemical vapor metallurgy.--The term ``chemical vapor 
        metallurgy'' means the process of producing cobalt nanopowder 
        by chemically vaporizing cobalt ore concentrates near 
        atmospheric pressure at relatively low temperatures.
            (3) Cobalt nanopowder.--The term ``cobalt nanopowder'' 
        means cobalt powders, including pure cobalt and cobalt salts, 
        refined to the nanopowder scale.
            (4) Critical mineral.--The term ``critical mineral'' means 
        a mineral contained on the list published by the U.S. 
        Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior titled 
        ``2022 Final List of Critical Minerals'' (87 Fed. Reg. 10381; 
        published February 24, 2022).
            (5) Domestically refined.--The term ``domestically 
        refined'' means cobalt refined exclusively in the United 
        States.
            (6) Environmentally neutral.--The term ``environmentally 
        neutral'' means having minimal impact on the air, water, and 
        soil.
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