A mix of confusing state regulations are barring the US from becoming a major global lithium producer. It is deterring the developers as well as hampering efforts to break China’s control of the critical minerals sector. Mineral-rich states like Texas and Louisiana suffer from unclear regulations about who owns the millions of metric tons of lithium locked in salty brines underneath US soils, how the battery metal should be valued by regulators and who ultimately should pay to process it into a form usable by manufacturers.
These legal ambiguities are the latest impediment – alongside technical challenges and sagging commodity prices – to the country’s plans to produce more of its own lithium and steer it away from foreign supplies, Reuters reported as per interviews with regulators from seven US states, legal experts, politicians, landowners, investors, royalty firms, industry executives and consultants.
Federal officials in the country do not have much power to force states to change regulations, leaving the Biden administration’s aggressive electrification targets beholden to the pace at which local officials update outdated statutes. Meanwhile, the global lithium market is growing as the demand is expected to outpace supply by 500,000 metric tons annually by 2030.
Analysts warn that unless the country boosts its own production, its manufacturers will find themselves reliant on China and others for supply as the end of the decade approaches. The Texas legislature, for example, last year approved a law – supported by Standard Lithium and Chevron that instructed the state’s oilfield regulator to craft regulations for lithium extraction from brines. However, the regulator, known as the Railroad Commission of Texas, told Reuters it has no timeline for when it will finish that task. “I don’t even know where to start in terms of working with the local authorities to get brine mineral rights in Texas. It’s confusing,” Brady Murphy, CEO of Tetra Technologies, said.
The Railroad Commission of Texas plans to release its rules for public comment once they are formulated, and then the three commissioners will vote on them.