Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Debate about permitting for semiconductor projects and advanced nuclear legislation is likely to return as lawmakers start on this year's defense bill.
Why it matters: The NDAA will be fertile ground for riders as one of the few remaining must-pass bills. It could also carry provisions worth watching for the battery and mining industries.
- The House plans to vote this week on its version, while the Senate starts closed-door committee markups.
Here's what we're watching …
💻 1. CHIPS fight returns: Legislation to create NEPA exclusions for CHIPS Act-funded projects will again be in the mix. Proponents have worried that permitting might hold up financing key to President Biden's energy, tech and national security ambitions.
- Rep. Jen Kiggans and others proposed it as an amendment in the House (the Rules Committee is still determining which ones will make it to the floor).
- Sen. Mark Kelly told Axios he and Ted Cruz may take another crack at it: "Certainly there is an intersection between the CHIPS NEPA reform and our national security, so that's something we'll be looking at."
🚲 2. More riders: If the Senate can't move the ADVANCE Act by unanimous consent, expect it to show up in the NDAA.
- We may also see an attempt to reauthorize CFATS, the chemical safety program that's been lapsed for nearly a year. A bipartisan House group has proposed that as an amendment.
🔋 3. Battery focus: Watch for measures to bolster U.S. domestic production of batteries and their component minerals.
- The House base text would require the Defense Department to start sourcing lithium-ion batteries from the U.S. and allied nations — with minimal materials and without technology licensed from so-called foreign entities of concern.
- The committee report, meanwhile, asks for "a plan for onshoring" the graphite supplies needed for those batteries.
- Altogether, it's an attempt to shut dominant Chinese battery suppliers out of Pentagon supply chains and bolster the Biden administration's efforts to onshore them via the Defense Production Act.
🌎 4. Climate disclosure rehash: The House bill would revive a running fight about climate emissions disclosures.
- It would extend for five years a provision from last year's bill blocking emissions disclosure requirements for DOD contractors.
- Dems are hoping to get it struck from the bill, though they're unlikely to succeed on the floor.
What we're watching: Other items are in the mix, like a GOP attempt to block the LNG export permits pause and dozens of proposed amendments on advanced nuclear tech.
- T&I Committee leaders are also trying to attach the Coast Guard authorization, which contains a controversial offshore energy crewing provision.
