USA Batteries Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The USA Batteries Act removes lead oxide, antimony, and sulfuric acid from the list of taxable chemicals subject to Superfund excise taxes under section 4661(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. The bill is aimed at chemicals used in domestic lead-battery production.
Who Benefits and How
Domestic lead-battery manufacturers benefit because three raw materials used in battery production would no longer be subject to the Superfund chemical excise tax. Battery supply-chain workers in the 38 states with lead-battery industry jobs may benefit if lower input taxes improve domestic competitiveness. Defense, transportation, logistics, telecommunications, and energy-generation users of lead batteries may benefit indirectly if domestic battery costs fall or supply remains more competitive. Battery recyclers may benefit because the findings emphasize the industry's 99 percent recycling rate.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal Superfund revenue collections bear the direct burden because the tax base would shrink. IRS excise-tax administrators must update the taxable-chemical table and related guidance. Imported battery producers may face less relative advantage because the bill removes a domestic-input tax that the findings say imported batteries do not pay.
Key Provisions
- Creates congressional findings that the Superfund fee taxes chemicals used in domestic battery production but not imported batteries.
- Establishes congressional findings that the U.S. lead-battery industry has more than 165 GWh of manufacturing capacity, $23.6 billion in annual domestic economic impact, and more than 25,000 direct jobs.
- Uses congressional findings to identify a 99 percent lead-battery recycling rate and lead-battery uses in defense, transportation, logistics, telecommunications, and energy generation.
- Amends section 4661(b) of the Internal Revenue Code by striking the rows for lead oxide, antimony, and sulfuric acid from the taxable-chemical table.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Removes lead oxide, antimony, and sulfuric acid from the Internal Revenue Code Superfund excise-tax table to lower taxes on key domestic lead-battery inputs.
Key Policy Areas
Tax, Manufacturing, Energy Storage
Primary Purpose
Removes lead oxide, antimony, and sulfuric acid from the Internal Revenue Code Superfund excise-tax table to lower taxes on key domestic lead-battery inputs.
Policy Domains
Removal of lead-battery inputs from Superfund chemical tax
Identified Gains
- Domestic lead-battery manufacturers
- Lead-battery supply-chain workers
- Battery recycling companies
- Defense users of lead batteries
Identified Costs
- Federal Superfund excise-tax revenue
- IRS excise-tax administrators
- Imported battery producers competing with domestic manufacturers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Meuser (for himself, Mr. Moolenaar, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Fitzpatrick, …
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "irs"
- → Internal Revenue Service
- "lead_battery_industry"
- → Domestic lead battery manufacturers
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Lead oxide, antimony, and sulfuric acid, which the bill removes from the section 4661(b) Superfund excise-tax table.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology