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”.
Cobalt Optimizes Batteries And Leading Technologies Act of 2022
A BILL
To acquire cobalt refining capacity in the United States, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
The National Defense Stockpile lacks sufficient cobalt reserves, falling from 13,000 tons during the Cold War to only 333 tons today.
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.
China is the world’s cobalt lynchpin, supplying 72 percent of global refined cobalt.
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.
Cobalt supply chains often face an untraceable mine-to-refinery chain of custody, risking inadvertent financing of slave and forced child labor.
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—
the United States lack of cobalt refining capacity is a serious vulnerability to America’s critical mineral supply chains;
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
the Department of Defense should—
make purchases and purchase commitments with new refineries in the United States to encourage them to scale up production;
stockpile an increased amount of domestically refined cobalt to decrease the vulnerability of the United States to supply chain interruptions;
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
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—
support critical mineral refineries in the United States through purchases and purchase commitments;
increase the amount of domestically refined critical minerals in the National Defense Stockpile;
decrease the dependence of the United States on critical minerals refined in foreign countries, including China;
combat slave and forced child labor in critical mineral mining and refining; and
protect the environment from harmful industrial practices related to critical mineral refining.
Sec. 5 Purchase program for domestically refined cobalt
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.
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:
Eligible entity— The term eligible entity means a refinery—
that is owned by United States persons and operating in the United States;
whose primary business activity, or that of its parent company, is refining critical minerals;
that refines critical minerals through chemical vapor metallurgy; and
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.
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.
Cobalt nanopowder— The term cobalt nanopowder means cobalt powders, including pure cobalt and cobalt salts, refined to the nanopowder scale.
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).
Domestically refined— The term domestically refined means cobalt refined exclusively in the United States.
Environmentally neutral— The term environmentally neutral means having minimal impact on the air, water, and soil.