S-3199.1
SENATE BILL 5526
State of Washington | 67th Legislature | 2022 Regular Session |
BySenators Fortunato, Padden, and J. Wilson
Prefiled 12/09/21.Read first time 01/10/22.Referred to Committee on Business, Financial Services & Trade.
AN ACT Relating to studying the global availability of lithium and rare earth minerals for battery manufacturing; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that while the state is increasingly encouraging new energy storage technologies such as electric vehicles and electric grid scale battery storage, these technologies are dependent on rare earth minerals and difficult-to-source earth components. Current battery production processes can require cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese, neodymium, iron, copper, aluminum, and phosphate among additional minerals. Thus, by December 31, 2023, the department of commerce shall submit a report to the legislature examining the global availability of lithium and rare earth minerals used in battery manufacturing. The department of commerce may consult the Pacific Northwest national laboratory and the joint center for the deployment and research in earth abundant materials to prepare the report.
(2) The legislature intends to appropriate sufficient moneys to carry out the purposes of this act.
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