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What’s in the NDAA For Critical Minerals, Energy & Energy Storage, Climate, and Forestry
By Anne Clawson
August 22, 2023
Although it seems counterintuitive, everyone in the critical minerals, energy, climate and forestry space should always be watching what the Department of Defense (DoD) spends money on.
What we talk about when we talk about defense bills: the NDAA vs. defense appropriations
The NDAA sets policy and can create or modify programs. But any policy that requires funding can’t happen unless money is also appropriated. The annual defense appropriations bill is what dictates how DoD spends its money (with some exceptions).
The NDAA and defense appropriations are on parallel tracks. The committees coordinate, but the two bills are separate and may emphasize different priorities. The House Appropriations Committee approved its defense language in June. The Senate Appropriations Committee is marking up its language today, in late July.
The defense appropriations bill is also much more high level. It won’t include the policy detail you find in the NDAA. So digging into the NDAA is worthwhile – even if it doesn’t have the final say on spending.
FY2024 NDAA for critical minerals and climate: studies and procurement requirements rule the day
General Industrial Base Policy
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A public-private partnership pilot program to accelerate scaling of small and non-traditional businesses for the defense industrial base. Up to 80% loan.*
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Directing procurement to allied nations or the domestic base. This was a major area of unity in the House and Senate. Several provisions either forbid acquisition from certain countries or encourage domestic production and acquisition from allies. China is a major target of these measures, as expected.*
Critical Minerals
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Studies, studies, and more studies. The House leaned into this particularly hard, but the Senate included quite a few studies, as well. The draft bills include studies on aluminum-scandium, boron, graphite, magnesium, niobium oxide, rhodium, titanium, tungsten—and more generally on sourcing critical minerals from the seafloor and studying and metals used in additive manufacturing.
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End-of-life equipment recycling for recovery of rare earth elements and other strategic and critical materials.
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Ability to stockpile rare earth minerals over multiple years in anticipation of potential shortages.
Batteries & Energy Storage
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Development of next-generation lithium-ion batteries.
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Fuel cell R&D for next-generation combat vehicles.
Renewable Energy & Fuels
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Enabling sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) pilots by aligning the DoD definition of SAF with CORSIA and GREET.
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Hydrogen fuel source R&D for next-generation combat vehicles.
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FY24 Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program (ERCIP) projects.
Forest & Wood Products
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One year extension of pilot program on increased use of sustainable building materials in military construction.
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Continuing education curriculum on sustainable building materials for members of military planning, design, and acquisition workforce.
Sustainability & ESG
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Prohibition of use of funds to form ESG or climate reporting and disclosure (or similar) advisory committees.
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Prohibition of requiring any contractor to disclose climate data to receive funds.
When the NDAA and defense appropriations bills will pass – and what happens if they don’t?
I’m taking bets! Just kidding. Jokes aside, it’s unlikely either bill passes by October 1, the start of the 2024 fiscal year. Instead, they’ll probably pass right at the end of the calendar year. A continuing resolution extending existing spending and policy will close the gap.
Timing is everything, and the looming 2024 presidential election will be the main consideration here. Since both parties are in government, neither will want to appear incapable of governing too close to the election. This makes some type of compromise likely.
If the NDAA doesn’t pass in 2023, DoD can do without it for a time. But if a program’s authorization expires, that specific program will be stopped. Emergency funding for DoD Covid relief a few years ago is an example of a new program that would have been stopped if the NDAA hadn’t passed. If an appropriations bill doesn’t pass, it has more dire and overarching immediate consequences.
