Securing Energy Critical Elements and American Jobs Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4481 To authorize an energy critical elements program, to amend the National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 Mr. SWALWELL of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To authorize an energy critical elements program, to amend the National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Energy Crit- 4 ical Elements and American Jobs Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 8 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate Congressional com- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4481 IH mittees’’ means the Committee on Science, Space, 1 and Technology of the House of Representatives and 2 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans- 3 portation and the Committee on Energy and Natural 4 Resources of the Senate. 5 (2) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the 6 Critical Materials Information Center established 7 under section 101(d). 8 (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 9 means the Department of Energy. 10 (4) ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENT.—The term 11 ‘‘energy critical element’’ means any of a class of 12 chemical elements that have a high risk of a supply 13 disruption and are critical to one or more new, en- 14 ergy-related technologies such that a shortage of 15 such element would significantly inhibit large-scale 16 deployment of technologies that produce, transmit, 17 store, or conserve energy. 18 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 19 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 20 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 21 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 22 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 23 the program authorized in section 101(a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4481 IH (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Energy. 2 TITLE I—ENERGY CRITICAL 3 ELEMENTS 4 SEC. 101. ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS PROGRAM. 5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 7 out a program of research, development, demonstra- 8 tion, and commercial application to assure the long- 9 term, secure, and sustainable supply of energy crit- 10 ical elements sufficient to satisfy the national secu- 11 rity, economic well-being, and industrial production 12 needs of the United States. This program may be 13 carried out primarily by an Energy Innovation Hub 14 established under section 206 of the Department of 15 Energy Research Coordination Act (42 U.S.C. 16 18632). 17 (2) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The program shall 18 focus on areas that the private sector by itself is not 19 likely to undertake because of technical and financial 20 uncertainty and support activities to— 21 (A) improve methods for the extraction, 22 processing, use, recovery, and recycling of en- 23 ergy critical elements; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4481 IH (B) improve the understanding of the per- 1 formance, processing, and adaptability in engi- 2 neering designs using energy critical elements; 3 (C) improve the understanding of energy 4 critical element supply chains, risks from supply 5 disruption, supply restriction, volatility in de- 6 mand, and difficulty to substitute; 7 (D) identify and test alternative materials 8 that can be substituted for energy critical ele- 9 ments and maintain or exceed current perform- 10 ance; and 11 (E) engineer and test applications that— 12 (i) use recycled energy critical ele- 13 ments; 14 (ii) use alternative materials; or 15 (iii) seek to minimize energy critical 16 element content. 17 (3) EXPANDING PARTICIPATION.—In carrying 18 out the program, the Secretary shall encourage mul- 19 tidisciplinary collaborations of participants, including 20 opportunities for students and post-doctoral staff at 21 institutions of higher education. 22 (4) CONSISTENCY.—The program shall be con- 23 sistent with the policies and programs in the Na- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4481 IH tional Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and 1 Development Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 2 (5) INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION.—In car- 3 rying out the program, the Secretary shall collabo- 4 rate, to the extent practicable, on activities of mu- 5 tual interest with the relevant agencies of foreign 6 countries with interests relating to energy critical 7 elements. 8 (b) PLAN.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the 10 date of enactment of this Act and biennially there- 11 after, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the 12 appropriate Congressional committees a plan to 13 carry out the program. 14 (2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—The plan re- 15 quired under paragraph (1) shall include a descrip- 16 tion of— 17 (A) the research and development activities 18 to be carried out by the program during the 19 subsequent 2 years; 20 (B) the expected contributions of the pro- 21 gram to the creation of innovative methods and 22 technologies for the efficient and sustainable 23 provision of energy critical elements to the do- 24 mestic economy; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4481 IH (C) how the program is promoting the 1 broadest possible participation by academic, in- 2 dustrial, and other contributors. 3 (3) CONSULTATION.—In preparing each plan 4 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult 5 with appropriate representatives of industry, institu- 6 tions of higher education, Department of Energy na- 7 tional laboratories, professional and technical soci- 8 eties, other Federal agencies, and other entities, as 9 determined by the Secretary. 10 (c) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—To the 11 maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure 12 that the activities carried out under this title are coordi- 13 nated with, and do not unnecessarily duplicate the efforts 14 of, other programs within the Federal Government. 15 (d) CRITICAL MATERIALS INFORMATION CENTER.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 17 established under section 101, the Secretary shall es- 18 tablish and maintain a Critical Materials Informa- 19 tion Center to collect, catalogue, disseminate, and 20 archive information on energy critical elements in 21 coordination with the Office of Scientific and Tech- 22 nical Information of the Department of Energy. 23 (2) CENTER ACTIVITIES.—The Center shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4481 IH (A) serve as the repository for scientific 1 and technical data generated by the research 2 and development activities funded under this 3 section; 4 (B) assist scientists and engineers in mak- 5 ing the fullest possible use of the Center’s data 6 holdings; 7 (C) seek and incorporate other information 8 on energy critical elements to enhance the Cen- 9 ter’s utility for program participants and other 10 users; and 11 (D) provide advice to the Secretary con- 12 cerning the program. 13 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 15 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this Act 16 the following sums: 17 (A) For fiscal year 2020, $30,000,000. 18 (B) For fiscal year 2021, $31,500,000. 19 (C) For fiscal year 2022, $33,075,000. 20 (D) For fiscal year 2023, $34,728,750. 21 (E) For fiscal year 2024, $36,465,188. 22 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Such sums shall remain 23 available until expended. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4481 IH SEC. 102. SUPPLY OF ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS. 1 The President, acting through the Critical Material 2 Supply Chain Subcommittee of the Committee on Envi- 3 ronment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability of the Na- 4 tional Science and Technology Council, shall— 5 (1) coordinate the actions of applicable Federal 6 agencies to promote an adequate and stable supply 7 of energy critical elements necessary to maintain na- 8 tional security, economic well-being, and industrial 9 production with appropriate attention to a long-term 10 balance between resource production, energy use, a 11 healthy environment, natural resources conservation, 12 and social needs; 13 (2) identify energy critical elements and estab- 14 lish scenario modeling systems for supply problems 15 of energy critical elements; 16 (3) establish a mechanism for the coordination 17 and evaluation of Federal programs with energy crit- 18 ical element needs, including Federal programs in- 19 volving research and development, in a manner that 20 complements related efforts carried out by the pri- 21 vate sector and other domestic and international 22 agencies and organizations; 23 (4) promote and encourage private enterprise in 24 the development of an economically sound and stable 25 domestic energy critical elements supply chain; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4481 IH (5) promote and encourage the recycling of en- 1 ergy critical elements, taking into account the logis- 2 tics, economic viability, environmental sustainability, 3 and research and development needs for completing 4 the recycling process; 5 (6) promote and encourage the development of 6 substitute materials and processes that lower the de- 7 pendence of the United States on energy critical ele- 8 ments; 9 (7) assess the need for, and make recommenda- 10 tions concerning, the availability and adequacy of 11 the supply of technically trained personnel necessary 12 for energy critical elements research, development, 13 extraction, and industrial production, with a par- 14 ticular focus on the problem of attracting and main- 15 taining high-quality professionals for maintaining an 16 adequate supply of energy critical elements; and 17 (8) report to the appropriate Congressional 18 committees on activities and findings under this sec- 19 tion. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4481 IH TITLE II—NATIONAL MATERIALS 1 AND MINERALS POLICY, RE- 2 SEARCH, AND DEVELOPMENT 3 SEC. 201. AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL MATERIALS AND 4 MINERALS POLICY, RESEARCH AND DEVEL- 5 OPMENT ACT OF 1980. 6 (a) PROGRAM PLAN.—Section 5 of the National Ma- 7 terials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development 8 Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1604) is amended— 9 (1) by striking ‘‘date of enactment of this Act’’ 10 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘date of enact- 11 ment of the Securing Energy Critical Elements and 12 American Jobs Act of 2019’’; 13 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘Federal 14 Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and 15 Technology’’ and inserting ‘‘National Science and 16 Technology Council’’; 17 (3) in subsection (c)— 18 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 19 (1)— 20 (i) by striking ‘‘the Federal Emer- 21 gency’’ and all that follows through ‘‘Agen- 22 cy, and’’; and 23 (ii) by striking ‘‘appropriate shall’’ 24 and inserting ‘‘appropriate, shall’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4481 IH (B) by striking paragraph (1); 1 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘in the 2 case’’ and all that follows through ‘‘sub- 3 section,’’; 4 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 5 (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and 6 (E) by amending paragraph (2), as so re- 7 designated, to read as follows: 8 ‘‘(2) assess the adequacy and stability of the 9 supply of materials necessary to maintain national 10 security, economic well-being, and industrial produc- 11 tion.’’; 12 (4) by striking subsection (d); and 13 (5) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 14 subsections (d) and (e), respectively. 15 (b) POLICY.—Section 3 of the National Materials and 16 Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980 17 (30 U.S.C. 1602) is amended— 18 (1) by striking ‘‘The Congress declares that it’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘It’’; and 20 (2) by striking ‘‘The Congress further declares 21 that implementation’’ and inserting ‘‘Implementa- 22 tion’’. 23 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Section 4 of the National 24 Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4481 IH Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1603) is amended, in the matter 1 preceding paragraph (1)— 2 (1) by striking ‘‘For the purpose’’ and all that 3 follows through ‘‘declares that the’’ and inserting 4 ‘‘The’’; and 5 (2) by striking ‘‘departments and agencies,’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘departments and agencies to imple- 7 ment the policy specified in section 3’’. 8 SEC. 202. CONFORMING REPEAL. 9 The National Critical Materials Act of 1984 (30 10 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is repealed. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS