October 7, 2010

The Promoting Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles Act of 2010 (S.3815) has been placed on the Senate calendar. The bill, introduced by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), will amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce oil consumption and improve energy security.

Section 2023 of the Act calls on the Secretary of the Interior should conduct a study that:

• (1) identifies the raw materials needed for the manufacture of plug-in electric drive vehicles, batteries, and other components for plug-in electric drive vehicles, and for the infrastructure needed to support plug-in electric drive vehicles;
• (2) describes the primary or original sources and known reserves and resources of those raw materials;
• (3) assesses, in consultation with the National Academy of Sciences, the degree of risk to the manufacture, maintenance, deployment, and use of plug-in electric drive vehicles associated with the supply of those raw materials; and
• (4) identifies pathways to securing reliable and resilient supplies of those raw materials.