[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4866 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4866

 To reestablish a competitive domestic rare earths minerals production 
industry; a domestic rare earth processing, refining, purification, and 
   metals production industry; a domestic rare earth metals alloying 
 industry; and a domestic rare earth based magnet production industry 
                 and supply chain in the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 2010

   Mr. Coffman of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 
Committees on Ways and Means and Financial Services, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reestablish a competitive domestic rare earths minerals production 
industry; a domestic rare earth processing, refining, purification, and 
   metals production industry; a domestic rare earth metals alloying 
 industry; and a domestic rare earth based magnet production industry 
                 and supply chain in the United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rare Earths Supply-Chain Technology 
and Resources Transformation Act of 2010'' or the ``RESTART Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that:
            (1) Many modern defense technologies such as radar and 
        sonar systems, precision-guided weapons, cruise missiles, and 
        lasers cannot be built, as designed and specified, without the 
        use of rare earth elements (``REEs'') and materials produced 
        from them.
            (2) Significant quantities of REE are used in the 
        production of renewable energy technologies, including advanced 
        automotive propulsion batteries, electric motors, high-
        efficiency light bulbs, solar panels, and wind turbines. These 
        technologies are used to advance the United States energy 
        policy of reducing dependence on foreign oil and decreasing 
        greenhouse gas emissions through expansion of renewable sources 
        of energy.
            (3) Though the United States owns at least 15 percent of 
        the world's REEs reserves, it now depends nearly 100 percent 
        upon imports for rare earth elements, oxides, and alloys 
        because there are virtually no active REE producers in the 
        United States. More than 97 percent of all REEs for world 
        consumption are produced in China.
            (4) China's ability--and willingness--to export REEs is 
        eroding due to its growing domestic demand, its enforcement of 
        environmental law on current producers, and its mandate to 
        consolidate the industry by decreasing its number of mining 
        permits. The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information 
        Technology draft rare earths plan for 2009 to 2015 proposes an 
        immediate ban on the export of dysprosium, terbium, thulium, 
        lutetium and yttrium, the ``heavy'' REE and a restriction on 
        the exports of all the other, light, rare earth metals to a 
        level well below that of Japan's 2008 demand alone.
            (5) Furthermore, the United States has no active heavy 
        group rare earth production capabilities or refining 
        capabilities for heavy rare earth elements. Thus, should the 
        United States begin to mine its heavy rare earth oxides, it 
        would still be dependent on overseas refineries for further 
        elemental and alloy processing. Nor does the United States 
        currently maintain a ``strategic reserve'' of rare earth 
        compounds, metals or alloys.
            (6) REEs should qualify as materials either strategic or 
        critical to national security. The United States Government 
        should take measures to reintroduce a globally competitive 
        domestic strategic materials industry that is self-sufficient 
        in the United States domestic market with multiple sources of 
        mining, processing, alloying and manufacturing.
            (7) This self-sufficiency requires an uninterrupted supply 
        of strategic materials critical to national security and 
        innovative commercial product development, including rare earth 
        materials, to support the defense supply chain.
            (8) The United States currently cannot reclaim valuable 
        rare earth resources and permanent magnets from scrapped 
        military or consumer products, industrial materials or 
        equipment, which allows entities in overseas nations to 
        identify and recover such materials for resale to United States 
        manufacturers at considerable cost.
            (9) There is an urgent need to identify the current global 
        market situation regarding rare earth materials, the strategic 
        value placed on them by foreign nations including China, and 
        the Department of Defense's and domestic manufacturing 
        industry's supply-chain vulnerability related to rare earths 
        and end items containing rare earths such as neodymium iron 
        boron and other specialty magnets, and rare earth ``doped'' 
        lasers.
            (10) It is the policy of the United States to take any and 
        all actions necessary to ensure the reintroduction of a 
        competitive domestic rare earth supply chain, to include the 
        reintroduction of the capacity to conduct mining, refining/
        processing, alloying and manufacturing operations using 
        domestic suppliers to provide a secure source of rare earth 
        materials as a vital component of national security and 
        economic policy.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH EXECUTIVE AGENTS FOR RARE EARTH 
              RELATED MATTERS.

    No later than 30 days after the enactment of this Act--
            (1) the Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, 
        and State shall appoint an Executive Agent, at the Assistant 
        Secretary level of each affected agency, to serve as a 
        representative on an interagency working group for the purposes 
        of reestablishing a competitive domestic rare earth supply 
        chain; and
            (2) the United States Trade Representative and the Office 
        of Science and Technology Policy shall appoint representation 
        to the interagency working group in paragraph (1) above.

SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH A BASELINE FOR RARE EARTH MATERIAL 
              SUPPLY-CHAIN VULNERABILITY.

    No later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, and State shall 
undertake an assessment of the rare earth supply chain and determine 
which rare earth elements are critical to national and economic 
security and submit the findings of the review to Congress. Such 
assessment shall be in coordination with the United States Trade 
Representative and the Executive Office of the President's Office of 
Science and Technology Policy.

SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL STOCKPILE FOR RARE EARTH 
              MATERIALS.

    (a) In accordance with 50 U.S.C. 98 et seq., the Secretary of 
Defense shall commence the procurement of rare earth materials 
designated as ``critical'' in section 4 of this Act and place such rare 
earth materials in the national stockpile within one year after 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) The Defense Logistics Agency, Defense National Stockpile 
Center, shall serve as Administrator of the rare earth stockpile and 
shall issue an annual report to Congress describing which rare earth 
materials shall be added to or subtracted from the stockpile.
    (c) In accordance with section 98h-6 of title 50, United States 
Code, the Administrator shall purchase, or make a commitment to 
purchase, rare earth materials or for the processing or refining of 
rare earth materials, to support national defense and the economic 
needs of the United States.
    (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for a period of 
five years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
shall be authorized to purchase necessary rare earth materials from the 
People's Republic of China, if required to meet national security and 
economic needs of the United States.
    (e) Upon the joint determination of the Secretaries of Commerce, 
Defense, Energy, Interior, and State, in coordination with the United 
States Trade Representative and the Executive Office of the President's 
Office of Science and Technology Policy, that rare earth materials are 
no longer critical to supporting national defense or the economic well-
being of the United States, the requirement to stockpile rare earth 
materials shall terminate by issuing a report of such determination to 
Congress. Such report shall be submitted to Congress no earlier than 
April 1, 2015.

SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF FAIR MARKET CONDITIONS FOR THE REESTABLISHMENT 
              OF A DOMESTIC RARE EARTH SUPPLY CHAIN.

    (a) Not later than 30 days after the enactment of the Act, the 
United States Trade Representative shall initiate a comprehensive 
review of international trade practices in the rare earth materials 
market. Such review shall include actions by foreign producers of rare 
earth elements, rare earth metals, rare earth alloys and components 
used in the defense or energy markets containing rare earth elements, 
as it relates to dumping, export quotas and other relevant mechanisms 
used to manipulate the rare earth market.
    (b) Upon completion of the review, the United States Trade 
Representative shall--
            (1) initiate an action before the World Trade Organization; 
        or
            (2) issue a report to Congress describing the results of 
        the comprehensive review and why it was determined that 
        international markets are free from market manipulation such as 
        dumping or export quotas.

SEC. 7. CONSIDERATION OF LOAN GUARANTEES FOR RARE EARTH SUPPLY-CHAIN 
              DEVELOPMENT.

    Not later than 90 days after the enactment of the Act--
            (1) the Secretaries of Commerce, Interior, and State shall 
        issue a report to industry describing mechanisms for obtaining 
        current and future year government loan guarantees to 
        reestablish a domestic rare earth supply chain;
            (2) the Secretary of Defense shall issue guidance for the 
        rare earth industry related to obtaining loan guarantees under 
        50 U.S.C. 98 and any other available mechanism for obtaining 
        loan guarantees to support the reestablishment of mining, 
        refining, alloying and manufacturing operations in the United 
        States that will support the domestic defense supply chain; and
            (3) the Secretary of Energy shall issue guidance for the 
        rare earth industry related to obtaining loan guarantees under 
        the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Energy 
        Efficiency and Renewable Energy sponsored programs and any 
        other available mechanism for obtaining loan guarantees to 
        support the reestablishment of mining, refining, alloying and 
        manufacturing operations in the United States that will support 
        the domestic supply chain.

SEC. 8. DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT PRIORITY FOR RARE EARTH SUPPLY-CHAIN 
              DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) It is the sense of Congress that the urgent need to reintroduce 
a domestic rare earth supply chain warrants a prioritization of such 
Defense Production Act projects. The United States faces a shortage of 
key materials that form the backbone of both the defense and energy 
supply chains.
    (b) Not later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Defense shall issue a report describing past, current and 
future Defense Production Act projects to address the domestic rare 
earth supply chain. If no rare earth supply-chain Defense Production 
Act projects are in process or planned, the report shall justify the 
lack of action to support establishment of domestic rare earth supply-
chain initiatives, particularly those to establish domestic 
manufacturing capability in critical segments of the rare earth market.

SEC. 9. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TO SUPPORT THE DOMESTIC RARE EARTH 
              SUPPLY CHAIN.

    It is the sense of Congress that, in order to reestablish the 
United States as the preeminent supplier of rare earth materials, 
components and associated technologies, there is a pressing need to 
support innovation, training and workforce development of the rare 
earth supply chain. Therefore, base budget funding should be provided 
by the Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, Energy, and Interior to fund 
academic institutions, Government laboratories, corporate research and 
development, not-for-profit research and development, and industry 
associations.

SEC. 10. RESTRICTIONS.

    (a) Limitation on Divestment of Facilities Created.--No recipient 
of United States Government appropriated funds, for the purposes of 
supporting the reestablishment of a domestic rare earth supply chain, 
may divest resources funded, in whole or in part, to any foreign-owned 
or controlled entity without the concurrence of the Secretaries of 
Energy, Commerce, and Defense.
    (b) Enhancing National Security.--Any recipient of United States 
Government appropriated funds obtained in connection with the 
reestablishment of a domestic rare earth supply chain shall be subject 
to the restrictions of 10 U.S.C. 2538. In order to ensure the 
availability of rare earth materials for Department of Defense needs, 
this obligation extends to all materials sold by such recipients in the 
commercial marketplace.

SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Rare earth.--The term ``rare earth'' means the chemical 
        elements, all metals, beginning with lanthanum, atomic number 
        57, and including all of the natural chemical elements in the 
        periodic table following lanthanum up to and including 
        lutetium, element number 71. The definition shall further 
        include the elements yttrium and scandium, which are usually 
        found with the rare earth elements in nature.
            (2) Refine.--The reestablishment of a domestic rare earth 
        element refinery capabilities within the United States whereby 
        rare earths, once extracted from rock, are separated and 
        purified to commercial grades of oxides or other salts such as 
        oxalates or chlorides.
            (3) Process.--The support of heavy rare earth processing 
        and production facilities capable of converting rare earth 
        oxides into usable rare earth metals and specialty alloys and 
        powders for domestic magnet and other manufacturing within the 
        United States.
            (4) Produce.--The advancement of domestic manufacturing 
        efforts of U.S. magnet producers and other domestic innovation 
        industries that rely on rare earth materials.
            (5) Recycle.--The establishment of an initiative to recycle 
        and strip used consumer products, and used or obsolete 
        declassified military products, of rare earth elements and 
        strategic magnets within the United States for eventual reuse 
        by domestic manufacturers.
            (6) Stockpile.--The creation and maintenance of a 
        ``strategic reserve'' of rare earth oxides, and storable forms 
        of rare earth elements, and alloys for national defense 
        purposes.
            (7) Alloy and alloying.--An alloy is a partial or complete 
        solid solution of one or more elements in a metallic matrix. 
        Alloying is the process of melting of metals to create the 
        metallic matrix.
            (8) Sintering.--Sintering is a method for making objects 
        from powder, by heating the material in a sintering furnace 
        below its melting point (solid state sintering) until its 
        particles adhere to each other.
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