Land of Enchantment Clean Cities Coalition
Transportation options that affect energy & environmental security
Vehicle Technologies Office
July 9, 2024
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $14 Million to Increase Domestic Battery Recycling
Funding from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda Encourages Consumers to Safely Dispose of Used Batteries, Creating a Recycling Ecosystem that Boosts the Domestic Battery Supply Chain
As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $14 million to increase consumer battery recycling and create a more sustainable domestic battery supply chain. Supported by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and managed by DOE’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains Office (MESC), the selected projects will provide over 1,000 collection points across the country for spent batteries from consumer products, allowing consumers easy and free access to turn in old batteries and battery-containing devices and reduce e-waste. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is building domestic supply chains from research, to manufacturing, and building a domestic recycling network to provide a diverse and robust material source for batteries.
“Did you know that President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is helping consumers play a pivotal role in our national security?” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “With hundreds of drop-off points across the country, we’re making it easier to recycle batteries from old cellphones and laptops — in-turn allowing us to reuse the critical minerals we would normally source from China for new clean energy manufacturing. At DOE we’re excited to help create a circular, sustainable domestic supply chain.”
Recycling spent batteries provides our domestic industry with additional sources of necessary materials to make new batteries or other products, and retailers can play a vital role in making recycling accessible and easy for consumers. Consumer products including rechargeable batteries, cell phones, laptops, vacuums, and smartwatches contain critical minerals and materials such as nickel, lithium, and graphite that can be reused across the clean energy sector. Once batteries are no longer usable, consumers need places to deposit their spent batteries. Retailer store fronts visited by consumers are prime locations for battery collection points and in turn can promote more business for retailers.
Staples U.S. Retail, and battery retailer, Batteries Plus, were selected to receive over $7 million each to install portable consumer battery recycling drop-offs at their stores. The two companies will create over 1,000 new drop-off locations across the nation, many that will be located in disadvantaged communities. This program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of Federal climate, clean energy, and other covered investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by under-investment and overburdened by pollution.
Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.
Learn more about the MESC mission to catalyze investments in America’s energy future in support of the re-shoring, skilling, and scaling of U.S. manufacturing across energy supply chains.
OPEN MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT:
Clean Transportation Fuel Standard (CTFS)
Advisory Committee
New Mexico Environment Department (NMED)
Climate Change Bureau (CCB)
Announcement Date: July 15, 2024
Meeting Purpose: CTFS Advisory Committee Meeting
Meeting Date: July 26, 2024
Meeting Time: 9:00 AM
Meeting Invitation:
CCB invites the general public to attend this open meeting. See below for information on how to attend and participate.
Physical location:
None; this meeting is entirely virtual.
Virtual information:
When available, the virtual meeting link will be posted at: https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/.
How the public may participate:
Any member of the public may attend this open meeting virtually and listen to the deliberations and proceedings of the Advisory Committee. At the discretion of the Advisory Committee, the public may be permitted to provide public comments on issues discussed at the meetings. During this meeting, the Advisory Committee will allow oral public comments for up to 45 minutes in total. Individual members of the public will have a few minutes each, based on the number of commenters expected.
In March 2024, the State of New Mexico became the first state in the Intermountain West to adopt a Clean Transportation Fuel Standard (CTFS) (House Bill 41).
The Clean Transporation Fuel Standard utilizes a market mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fuels used for transportation – while also supporting economic innovation and investment in infrastructure. It is technology-neutral, which means it does not limit or favor any technology for accomplishing the purpose of the program. Instead, the purpose of the program is to encourage the development of fuels that have low carbon intensity (CI).
House Bill 41 created the authorization and framework for the Clean Transporation Fuel Standard, and planning is underway at NMED to create the regulations that will inform how the Clean Transporation Fuel Program operates. House Bill 41 requires the Environmental Improvement Board to promulgate regulations to initiate the program no later than July 1, 2026.
The general public may provide public comments on the forthcoming, proposed CTFS rule by emailing comments to cleanfuel.standard@env.nm.gov or attending the future hearing on the proposed rule and commenting during the “public comment” portion of the hearing per the hearing officer’s guidance.
For more information, visit https://www.env.nm.gov/climate-change-bureau/clean-fuel-standard/
LOECC MISSION
Land of Enchantment Clean Cities Coalition (LOECC) is a New Mexico not-for-profit, funded entirely by an annual grant from US Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE Clean Cities program advances the nation’s economic, environmental, and energy security by supporting local actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cut petroleum use, and improve efficiency in transportation. The non-petroleum fuels defined by DOE are natural gas, propane, hydrogen, ethanol, and electricity. Other Coalition goals are discussed below.
Incorporated in 1994, LOECC consists of a nine-member board as required by its bylaws. LOECC serves the entire State of NM; with nearly 100 Coalitions nationally, many states have numerous Coalitions. LOECC has the largest territory of all.
DOE Clean Cities Mission
To advance the nation’s environment, energy security and economic prosperity through collaboration with communities by building
partnerships with public and private stakeholders that create equitable deployment of clean transportation solutions for all.
Vision
Clean Cities coalitions employ the following strategies to advance affordable, efficient, and clean transportation fuels and technologies:
Evaluate transportation needs and energy choices to determine the most impactful and cost-effective vehicle options, fuels, technologies, and best practices that make sense for specific stakeholder applications;
De-carbonize the transportation sector by shifting to vehicles, fuels, and technologies that reduce transportation greenhouse gas emissions;
Reduce transportation emissions that contribute to air pollution and harm public health;
Shift to efficient and clean energy sources through the use of alternative and renewable fuels;
Improve fuel efficiency through state-of-the-art technologies and strategies including idle reduction;
Demonstrate and assess new mobility choices that maximize the return on investment for mobility systems in terms of time, cost, energy, and opportunity’
Advance energy and environmental justice priorities by maximizing project benefits that flow to underserved communities and minimize project burdens that affect under-served communities; and
Increase equitable access to clean, affordable transportation.
