WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday it would distribute more than $3.1 billion in matching grants for electric vehicle battery manufacturing and processing. The funding, appropriated through the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year, could go to a wide variety of domestic battery projects such as revamping factories to build batteries or mineral processing for use in batteries. The agency is also announcing a separate $60 million grant program for battery recycling projects. “This will help to underwrite the private investment we need in the U.S. to build relia…