Sec. 6. Information, assessment, research, and strategy
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The Helium Act ( 50 U.S.C. 167 et seq. ) is amended— by repealing section 15 ( 50 U.S.C. 167m ); by redesignating section 17 ( 50 U.S.C. 167 note) as section 20; and by inserting after section 14 ( 50 U.S.C. 167l ) the following: The Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Land Management, shall make available on the Internet information relating to the Federal Helium System that includes— continued publication of an open market and in-kind price; aggregated projections of excess refining capacity; ownership of helium held in the Federal Helium Reserve; the volume of helium delivered to persons through the Federal Helium Pipeline; pressure constraints of the Federal Helium Pipeline; an estimate of the projected date when 3,000,000,000 standard cubic feet of crude helium will remain in the Federal Helium Reserve and the final phase described in section 6(c) will begin; the amount of the fees charged under section 5; the scheduling of crude helium deliveries through the Federal Helium Pipeline; and other factors that will increase transparency.
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013, to provide the market with appropriate and timely information affecting the helium resource, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management shall establish a timely and public reporting process to provide data that affects the helium industry, including— annual maintenance schedules and quarterly updates, that shall include— the date and duration of planned shutdowns of the Federal Helium Pipeline; the nature of work to be undertaken on the Federal Helium System, whether routine, extended, or extraordinary; the anticipated impact of the work on the helium supply; the efforts being made to minimize any impact on the supply chain; and any concerns regarding maintenance of the Federal Helium Pipeline, including the pressure of the pipeline or deviation from normal operation of the pipeline; for each unplanned outage, a description of— the beginning of the outage; the expected duration of the outage; the nature of the problem; the estimated impact on helium supply; a plan to correct problems, including an estimate of the potential timeframe for correction and the likelihood of plan success within the timeframe; efforts to minimize negative impacts on the helium supply chain; and updates on repair status and the anticipated online date; monthly summaries of meetings and communications between the Bureau of Land Management and the Cliffside Refiners Limited Partnership, including a list of participants and an indication of any actions taken as a result of the meetings or communications; and current predictions of the lifespan of the Federal Helium System, including how much longer the crude helium supply will be available based on current and forecasted demand and the projected maximum production capacity of the Federal Helium System for the following fiscal year.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013 , the Secretary, acting through the Director of the United States Geological Survey, shall— in coordination with appropriate heads of State geological surveys— complete a national helium gas assessment that identifies and quantifies the quantity of helium, including the isotope helium-3, in each reservoir, including assessments of the constituent gases found in each helium resource, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and natural gas; and make available the modern seismic and geophysical log data for characterization of the Bush Dome Reservoir; in coordination with appropriate international agencies and the global geology community, complete a global helium gas assessment that identifies and quantifies the quantity of the helium, including the isotope helium-3, in each reservoir; in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, complete— an assessment of trends in global demand for helium, including the isotope helium-3; a 10-year forecast of domestic demand for helium across all sectors, including scientific and medical research, commercial, manufacturing, space technologies, cryogenics, and national defense; and an inventory of medical, scientific, industrial, commercial, and other uses of helium in the United States, including Federal uses, that identifies the nature of the helium use, the amounts required, the technical and commercial viability of helium recapture and recycling in that use, and the availability of material substitutes wherever possible; and submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report describing the results of the assessments required under this paragraph.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $1,000,000. The Secretary of Energy shall support programs of research, development, commercial application, and conservation (including the programs described in subsection (b))— to expand the domestic production of low-Btu gas and helium resources; to separate and capture helium from natural gas streams; and to reduce the venting of helium and helium-bearing low-Btu gas during natural gas exploration and production.
The Secretary of Energy, in consultation with other appropriate agencies, shall support a civilian research program to develop advanced membrane technology that is used in the separation of low-Btu gases, including technologies that remove helium and other constituent gases that lower the Btu content of natural gas. The Secretary of Energy shall support a research program to develop technologies for separating, gathering, and processing helium in low concentrations that occur naturally in geological reservoirs or formations, including— low-Btu gas production streams; and technologies that minimize the atmospheric venting of helium gas during natural gas production.
The Secretary of Energy, working through the Advanced Manufacturing Office of the Department of Energy, shall carry out a research program— to develop low-cost technologies and technology systems for recycling, reprocessing, and reusing helium for all medical, scientific, industrial, commercial, aerospace, and other uses of helium in the United States, including Federal uses; and to develop industrial gathering technologies to capture helium from other chemical processing, including ammonia processing.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $3,000,000. The Secretary shall cooperate with the Secretary of Energy, or a designee, on any assessment or research relating to the extraction and refining of the isotope helium-3 from crude helium and other potential sources, including— gas analysis; and infrastructure studies. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, or a designee, may carry out a study to assess the feasibility of— establishing a facility to separate the isotope helium-3 from crude helium; and exploring other potential sources of the isotope helium-3.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013 , the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report that contains a description of the results of the assessments conducted under this section. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $1,000,000. In anticipation of the implementation of Phase D described in section 6(d), and not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013 , the Secretary (in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and other agencies as appropriate) shall submit to Congress a report that provides for Federal users— an assessment of the consumption of, and projected demand for, crude and refined helium; a description of a 20-year Federal strategy for securing access to helium; a determination of a date prior to September 30, 2021, for the implementation of Phase D as described in section 6(d) that minimizes any potential supply disruptions for Federal users; an assessment of the effects of increases in the price of refined helium and methods and policies for mitigating any determined effects; and a description of a process for prioritization of uses that accounts for diminished availability of helium supplies that may occur over time. .
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