Responsibilities of the Director

(a) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the Director should consider utilizing authorities to make grants and enter into cooperative agreements with countries and entities participating in the program that are designated by the Secretary as eligible to receive assistance under this paragraph to increase the administrative and technical capacity of those countries and entities to facilitate the development and implementation of the partnerships. (b) Responsibilities The Director shall be responsible for— (1) establishing dialogue with the representatives of countries and entities participating in the program— (A) to evaluate proposals submitted through national coordinators; and (B) to recommend joint funding, coordinated procurement, or other joint efforts, as appropriate; (2) in consultation with the Office of International Affairs of the Department of Energy, developing and maintaining multinational strategy and roadmaps identifying vulnerabilities, capacity gaps, and priority investment areas across emerging technologies for critical mineral supply chains; (3) directing the program, which may include coordinating with the International Centers of Excellence for Innovative Critical Minerals Supply Chain Technologies established under section 201, in consultation with Federal departments and agencies, as the Secretary determines relevant, to issue joint or coordinated solicitations, including calls for proposals, grant challenge programs, and co-funded initiatives, to address cross-cutting challenges, which may include— (A) identifying high-impact priorities, providing technical assistance, and identifying priority innovation, research, and development needs, in consultation with, as the Director determines appropriate— (i) the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and (ii) with respect to the development of National Laboratory partnerships and identification of priority critical minerals innovation activities, the Secretary of Energy; (B) aligning with the capabilities, constraints, and priorities of United States financing agencies, in consultation with, as the Director determines appropriate— (i) with respect to development finance support including feasibility funding, technical assistance, debt, equity, and political risk assurance for eligible projects, the United States International Development Finance Corporation; (ii) with respect to export credit and related financing for resulting United States export opportunities, the Export-Import Bank of the United States; and (iii) with respect to project preparation, feasibility studies, pilot projects and technical assistance, the United States Trade and Development Agency; and (C) consulting with any other Federal agency that the Secretary determines is appropriate, including— (i) the Department of Agriculture; (ii) the Department of Commerce; (iii) the Department of Defense; (iv) the Department of Energy; (v) the Department of the Interior; (vi) the Department of Transportation; (vii) the Department of the Treasury; (viii) the Environmental Protection Agency; (ix) the National Security Council; (x) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and (xi) the National Science Foundation; (4) convening and coordinating with the governments of countries participating in the program, international institutions, development agencies, and trusted industry partners to align technical standards to enable interoperable technology ecosystems consistent with shared security and economic interests; (5) establishing mechanisms to aggregate and coordinate demand for critical minerals and associated technologies among domestic agencies, allied governments, and private sector entities to enhance market certainty, enable long-term offtake arrangements, and support investment in diversified and secure supply chains; (6) articulating and recommending priority project areas for execution by other relevant Federal departments and agencies; (7) serving as the recipient for unsolicited proposals for projects to be considered for inclusion in any partnership, by national, regional, and local governments and private companies; (8) coordinating safeguards and trust mechanisms, including— (A) eligibility criteria for countries and entities participating in the program; (B) data governance and security protocols; (C) supply chain transparency requirements; (D) protections for sensitive technologies; and (E) monitoring, reporting and verification approaches; and (9) monitoring outcomes and reporting on progress, including metrics related to— (A) supply chain resilience; and (B) deployment timelines. (c) Country Teams The Director may establish at United States overseas posts working groups, to be known as Country Teams, with a designated lead to implement the partnerships with countries and entities participating in the program.