BATTERY Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8232 To amend the United States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 2007 to establish a research, development, and demonstration program for the recycling and reuse of energy critical materials used in energy storage systems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 Mr. TONKO (for himself and Mr. CURTIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To amend the United States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 2007 to establish a research, development, and demonstration program for the recycling and reuse of energy critical materials used in energy storage systems, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bolster American 4 Technology Through Expanding Recycling Yield Act of 5 2020’’ or the ‘‘BATTERY Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8232.IH H8232 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8232 IH SEC. 2. ENERGY CRITICAL MATERIAL RECYCLING AND 1 REUSE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEM- 2 ONSTRATION PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States Energy Stor- 4 age Competitiveness Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17231) is 5 amended by inserting after subsection (p) the following: 6 ‘‘(q) ENERGY CRITICAL MATERIAL RECYCLING AND 7 REUSE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRA- 8 TION PROGRAM.— 9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 10 ‘‘(A) ELECTRIC MOTOR VEHICLE.—The 11 term ‘electric motor vehicle’ means a vehicle 12 that derives all or part of its power for loco- 13 motion from electricity and is able to exceed a 14 maximum speed of 25 miles per hour without 15 any external assistance, including gravity, as 16 determined by the Secretary. 17 ‘‘(B) ELECTRONIC SCRAP.—The term 18 ‘electronic scrap’ means personal electronic 19 products near or at the end of their useful life, 20 containing embedded energy storage systems, as 21 determined by the Secretary. 22 ‘‘(C) ENERGY CRITICAL MATERIAL.—The 23 term ‘energy critical material’ means any of a 24 class of chemical materials that have a high 25 risk of a supply disruption and are critical to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8232.IH H8232 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8232 IH one or more existing or new, energy-related 1 technologies such that a substantial supply dis- 2 ruption of such material would significantly in- 3 hibit large-scale deployment of technologies that 4 produce, transmit, store, or conserve energy. 5 ‘‘(D) ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM.—The 6 term ‘energy storage system’ means a system, 7 equipment, facility, or technology that— 8 ‘‘(i) is capable of absorbing energy, 9 storing such energy for a period of time, 10 and dispatching such energy after storage; 11 and 12 ‘‘(ii) uses a mechanical, electrical, 13 chemical, electrochemical, or thermal proc- 14 ess to store such energy, or any other proc- 15 ess that the Secretary determines relevant. 16 ‘‘(E) LOW-SPEED ELECTRIC VEHICLE.— 17 The term ‘low-speed electric vehicle’ means a 18 vehicle with fewer than four wheels that derives 19 all or part of its power for locomotion from 20 electricity and is unable to exceed a maximum 21 speed of 25 miles per hour without any external 22 assistance, including gravity, as determined by 23 the Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8232.IH H8232 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8232 IH ‘‘(F) RECYCLING.—The term ‘recycling’ 1 means the separation of energy critical mate- 2 rials embedded within an energy storage system 3 through physical or chemical means and reuse 4 of those separated energy critical materials in 5 other technologies. 6 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one 7 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 8 the Secretary shall establish a research, develop- 9 ment, and demonstration program of recycling of en- 10 ergy storage systems containing energy critical ma- 11 terials. 12 ‘‘(3) RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEM- 13 ONSTRATION.—In carrying out the program, the 14 Secretary shall focus research, development, and 15 demonstration activities on— 16 ‘‘(A) technologies, process improvements, 17 design optimizations, and methods that improve 18 collection, sorting, storage, and transportation 19 of energy storage systems for the purposes of 20 recycling, including— 21 ‘‘(i) removal of electronic scrap and 22 low-speed electric vehicles from landfill and 23 general recycling waste streams; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8232.IH H8232 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8232 IH ‘‘(ii) extraction of energy storage sys- 1 tems from electronic scrap and low-speed 2 electric vehicles; 3 ‘‘(iii) extraction, recovery, and reuse 4 of energy critical materials from energy 5 storage systems; 6 ‘‘(iv) extraction, recovery, and reuse 7 of energy storage systems, and energy crit- 8 ical materials from energy storage systems, 9 within electric motor vehicles; 10 ‘‘(v) improving the recyclability of en- 11 ergy storage systems and products con- 12 taining energy storage systems; and 13 ‘‘(vi) safe disposal of energy storage 14 systems, including waste materials and 15 components recovered during the recycling 16 process; and 17 ‘‘(B) research on and analysis of non-tech- 18 nical barriers to improve the collection and re- 19 cycling of energy storage systems containing en- 20 ergy critical materials, including strategies to 21 improve consumer education of, acceptance of, 22 and participation in, the recycling of energy 23 storage systems; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8232.IH H8232 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8232 IH ‘‘(C) research on and analysis of tech- 1 nologies and methods to mitigate environmental 2 impacts that arise from recycling energy stor- 3 age systems, including disposal of toxic re- 4 agents and byproducts related to recycling proc- 5 esses. 6 ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP.—The 7 Secretary shall seek to ensure that any activity re- 8 ceiving funding under this program— 9 ‘‘(A) does not release toxic byproducts into 10 the environment; 11 ‘‘(B) sufficiently minimizes potential fire 12 risk— 13 ‘‘(i) in facilities where energy storage 14 systems are stored; and 15 ‘‘(ii) in the transportation of energy 16 storage systems; and 17 ‘‘(C) protects the health and safety of all 18 persons involved in or in proximity to such ac- 19 tivity. 20 ‘‘(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 21 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, 22 and every 3 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 23 submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 24 Technology of the House of Representatives and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8232.IH H8232 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8232 IH Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 1 Senate a report summarizing the activities, findings, 2 and progress of the program.’’. 3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—The 4 United States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 5 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17231) is amended in subsection (p)— 6 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 7 end; 8 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 9 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(7) the research, development, and demonstra- 12 tion program under subsection (q) $22,000,000 for 13 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8232.IH H8232 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS