Critical materials demonstration

Subsection (d) of section 40210 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18743) is amended to read as follows: (d) Grant program for pilot projects To expand domestic capacity of critical materials (1) Establishment The Secretary shall establish a grant program to finance pilot projects to promote domestic capacity, reduce reliance on supply chains subject to disruptions, and support innovation in the critical material supply chain. (2) Use of funds Pilot projects under paragraph (1) may include any of the following to increase the domestic capabilities of the United States to manufacture critical materials across the entire cycle of the critical material supply chain: (A) Innovative technologies, including applications for manufacturing equipment and industrial decarbonization. (B) Innovative and emerging materials for improved or new uses with the supply chain, including qualified substitutes, byproducts, or recycled or reclaimed critical materials. (C) Innovative and emerging downstream applications to reduce reliance on critical materials subject to supply chain disruptions. (D) Any other technology, material, or technique to promote circularity and sustainability, including through environmentally benign processes, within the critical material supply chain. (3) Limitations (A) Limitation on grant awards A grant awarded under paragraph (1) may not exceed $25,000,000. (B) Economic viability In awarding grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to projects that the Secretary determines are likely to be economically viable over the long term. (C) Priority In awarding grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall seek to award not less than 40 percent of the total amount of grants awarded during the fiscal year for projects relating to the following: (i) Qualified substitute. (ii) Secondary recovery. (iii) Recycling. (D) Prohibition on awards to foreign countries of concern In awarding grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that pilot projects do not export for any manufacturing process of a critical material to a foreign country of concern. (4) Collaboration In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall collaborate with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, including facilities such as the National Laboratories, Manufacturing USA institutes, and other federally funded research and development centers, academia, industry, nonprofit organizations, labor organizations, and international partners, as appropriate, to carry out the purposes described in paragraph (1). (5) Existing programs The Secretary shall ensure awards made under paragraph (1) are complementary and not duplicative of existing programs across the Department of Energy and the Federal Government. (6) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this subsection $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. (7) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Conversion The term conversion means the process to alter a refined or purified critical material to a secondary compound that is subject to supply chain disruptions relevant to the national, energy, and economic security of the United States, including the manufacturing of magnets, alloys, or multicompound chemistries, including such chemistries at solid, liquid, or gaseous states. (B) Critical material supply chain The term critical material supply chain means the lifecycle of a critical material, including the extraction, processing or refining, conversion, and recycling of a critical material. (C) Foreign country of concern The term foreign country of concern has the meaning given such term in section 9901 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651). (D) Qualified substitute The term qualified substitute means any verifiable alternative to a critical material, including converted critical material compounds, able to carry out an essential function (as such term is used in section 7002(a)(2)(ii) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(2)(ii))) of a critical material. (E) Refined or purified critical material The term refined or purified critical material means a critical material that has undergone any relevant manufacturing process to remove impurities and to meet industry standards of purity or concentration for downstream use cases post-extraction or recycling..