Sec. 101. Policy
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Congress finds the following: The assured supply of critical minerals and the resiliency of their supply chains are essential to the economic prosperity and national defense of the United States. The United States is heavily dependent on foreign sources of critical minerals and on foreign supply chains resulting in the potential for strategic vulnerabilities to both the economy and the military. As deployment of clean energy technologies and emissions control devices increase, the demand for critical minerals will grow significantly.
The United States is import-reliant for 31 of the 35 minerals designated as critical by the Department of the Interior and relies completely on imports to supply its demand for 14 of these minerals. Over the past two decades China has produced more than 80 percent of the world’s production of rare-earth elements and processed chemicals. It is the sense of Congress that to break from China’s control on the mineral supply chain, the United States should support significant research and development activities to drive innovation in domestic critical minerals production, promote responsible development of critical minerals, and encourage international collaboration to limit the impact of mineral supply disruptions.
Section 3 of the National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980 ( 30 U.S.C. 1602 ) is amended— by amending paragraph
(3)to read as follows: establish an analytical and forecasting capability for identifying critical mineral demand, supply, and other factors to allow informed actions to be taken to avoid supply shortages, mitigate price volatility, and prepare for demand growth and other market shifts; ; in paragraph (6), by striking and at the end; and by striking paragraph
(7)and inserting the following: facilitate the availability, development, and environmentally responsible production of domestic resources to meet national material or critical mineral needs; avoid duplication of effort, prevent unnecessary paperwork, and minimize delays in the administration of applicable laws (including regulations) and the issuance of permits and authorizations necessary to explore for, develop, and produce critical minerals and to construct critical mineral manufacturing facilities in accordance with applicable environmental and land management laws; strengthen— educational and research capabilities at not lower than the secondary school level; and workforce training for exploration and development of critical minerals and critical mineral manufacturing; bolster international cooperation through technology transfer, information sharing, and other means; promote the efficient production, use, and recycling of critical minerals; develop alternatives to critical minerals; and establish contingencies for the production of, or access to, critical minerals for which viable sources do not exist within the United States. . Section 2(b) of the National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980 ( 30 U.S.C. 1601(b) ) is amended to read as follows: In this Act: The term critical mineral has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the American Critical Mineral Exploration and Innovation Act of 2020 . The term materials means substances, including minerals, of current or potential use that will be needed to supply the industrial, military, and essential civilian needs of the United States in the production of goods or services, including those which are primarily imported or for which there is a prospect of shortages or uncertain supply, or which present opportunities in terms of new physical properties, use, recycling, disposal or substitution, with the exclusion of food and of energy fuels used as such. . The Critical Minerals Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council (referred to in this section as Subcommittee ) shall coordinate Federal science and technology efforts to ensure secure and reliable supplies of critical minerals to the United States. The purposes of the Subcommittee shall be— to advise and assist the Committee on Homeland and National Security and the National Science and Technology Council on United States policies, procedures, and plans as it relates to critical minerals, including— Federal research, development, and deployment efforts to optimize methods for extractions, concentration, separation and purification of conventional, secondary, and unconventional sources of critical minerals; efficient use and reuse of critical minerals; the critical minerals workforce of the United States; and United States private industry investments in innovation and technology transfer from federally funded science and technology; to identify emerging opportunities, stimulate international cooperation, and foster the development of secure and reliable supply chains of critical minerals; to ensure the transparency of information and data related to critical minerals; and to provide recommendations on coordination and collaboration among the research, development, and deployment programs and activities of Federal agencies to promote a secure and reliable supply of critical minerals necessary to maintain national security, economic well-being, and industrial production. In carrying out paragraphs
(1)and (2), the Subcommittee may, taking into account the findings and recommendations of relevant advisory committees— provide recommendations on how Federal agencies may improve the topographic, geologic, and geophysical mapping of the United States and improve the discoverability, accessibility, and usability of the resulting and existing data, to the extent permitted by law and subject to appropriate limitation for purposes of privacy and security; assess the progress towards developing critical minerals recycling and reprocessing technologies, and technological alternatives to critical minerals; examine options for accessing and developing critical minerals through investment and trade with our allies and partners and provide recommendations; evaluate and provide recommendations to incentivize the development and use of advances in science and technology in the private industry; assess the need for and make recommendations to address the challenges the United States critical minerals supply chain workforce faces, including aging and retiring personnel and faculty; public perceptions about the nature of mining and mineral processing; and foreign competition for United States talent; develop, and update as necessary, a strategic plan to guide Federal programs and activities to enhance scientific and technical capabilities across critical mineral supply chains, including a roadmap that identifies key research and development needs and coordinates ongoing activities for source diversification, more efficient use, recycling, and substitution for critical minerals; as well as cross-cutting mining science, data science techniques, materials science, manufacturing science and engineering, computational modeling, and environmental health and safety research and development; and report to the appropriate committees of Congress on activities and findings under this section.
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