[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4481 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Securing Energy Critical Elements 
and American Jobs Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate Congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 
        and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and 
        the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
            (2) Center.--The term ``Center'' means the Critical 
        Materials Information Center established under section 101(d).
            (3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Energy.
            (4) Energy critical element.--The term ``energy critical 
        element'' means any of a class of chemical elements that have a 
        high risk of a supply disruption and are critical to one or 
        more new, energy-related technologies such that a shortage of 
        such element would significantly inhibit large-scale deployment 
        of technologies that produce, transmit, store, or conserve 
        energy.
            (5) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            (6) Program.--The term ``program'' means the program 
        authorized in section 101(a).
            (7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.

                   TITLE I--ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS

SEC. 101. ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS PROGRAM.

    (a) Authorization of Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out a program of 
        research, development, demonstration, and commercial 
        application to assure the long-term, secure, and sustainable 
        supply of energy critical elements sufficient to satisfy the 
        national security, economic well-being, and industrial 
        production needs of the United States. This program may be 
        carried out primarily by an Energy Innovation Hub established 
        under section 206 of the Department of Energy Research 
        Coordination Act (42 U.S.C. 18632).
            (2) Program activities.--The program shall focus on areas 
        that the private sector by itself is not likely to undertake 
        because of technical and financial uncertainty and support 
        activities to--
                    (A) improve methods for the extraction, processing, 
                use, recovery, and recycling of energy critical 
                elements;
                    (B) improve the understanding of the performance, 
                processing, and adaptability in engineering designs 
                using energy critical elements;
                    (C) improve the understanding of energy critical 
                element supply chains, risks from supply disruption, 
                supply restriction, volatility in demand, and 
                difficulty to substitute;
                    (D) identify and test alternative materials that 
                can be substituted for energy critical elements and 
                maintain or exceed current performance; and
                    (E) engineer and test applications that--
                            (i) use recycled energy critical elements;
                            (ii) use alternative materials; or
                            (iii) seek to minimize energy critical 
                        element content.
            (3) Expanding participation.--In carrying out the program, 
        the Secretary shall encourage multidisciplinary collaborations 
        of participants, including opportunities for students and post-
        doctoral staff at institutions of higher education.
            (4) Consistency.--The program shall be consistent with the 
        policies and programs in the National Materials and Minerals 
        Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1601 et 
        seq.).
            (5) International collaboration.--In carrying out the 
        program, the Secretary shall collaborate, to the extent 
        practicable, on activities of mutual interest with the relevant 
        agencies of foreign countries with interests relating to energy 
        critical elements.
    (b) Plan.--
            (1) In general.--Within 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, the Secretary 
        shall prepare and submit to the appropriate Congressional 
        committees a plan to carry out the program.
            (2) Specific requirements.--The plan required under 
        paragraph (1) shall include a description of--
                    (A) the research and development activities to be 
                carried out by the program during the subsequent 2 
                years;
                    (B) the expected contributions of the program to 
                the creation of innovative methods and technologies for 
                the efficient and sustainable provision of energy 
                critical elements to the domestic economy; and
                    (C) how the program is promoting the broadest 
                possible participation by academic, industrial, and 
                other contributors.
            (3) Consultation.--In preparing each plan under paragraph 
        (1), the Secretary shall consult with appropriate 
        representatives of industry, institutions of higher education, 
        Department of Energy national laboratories, professional and 
        technical societies, other Federal agencies, and other 
        entities, as determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Coordination and Nonduplication.--To the maximum extent 
practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that the activities carried out 
under this title are coordinated with, and do not unnecessarily 
duplicate the efforts of, other programs within the Federal Government.
    (d) Critical Materials Information Center.--
            (1) In general.--In carrying out the program established 
        under section 101, the Secretary shall establish and maintain a 
        Critical Materials Information Center to collect, catalogue, 
        disseminate, and archive information on energy critical 
        elements in coordination with the Office of Scientific and 
        Technical Information of the Department of Energy.
            (2) Center activities.--The Center shall--
                    (A) serve as the repository for scientific and 
                technical data generated by the research and 
                development activities funded under this section;
                    (B) assist scientists and engineers in making the 
                fullest possible use of the Center's data holdings;
                    (C) seek and incorporate other information on 
                energy critical elements to enhance the Center's 
                utility for program participants and other users; and
                    (D) provide advice to the Secretary concerning the 
                program.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Secretary to carry out this Act the following sums:
                    (A) For fiscal year 2020, $30,000,000.
                    (B) For fiscal year 2021, $31,500,000.
                    (C) For fiscal year 2022, $33,075,000.
                    (D) For fiscal year 2023, $34,728,750.
                    (E) For fiscal year 2024, $36,465,188.
            (2) Availability.--Such sums shall remain available until 
        expended.

SEC. 102. SUPPLY OF ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS.

    The President, acting through the Critical Material Supply Chain 
Subcommittee of the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and 
Sustainability of the National Science and Technology Council, shall--
            (1) coordinate the actions of applicable Federal agencies 
        to promote an adequate and stable supply of energy critical 
        elements necessary to maintain national security, economic 
        well-being, and industrial production with appropriate 
        attention to a long-term balance between resource production, 
        energy use, a healthy environment, natural resources 
        conservation, and social needs;
            (2) identify energy critical elements and establish 
        scenario modeling systems for supply problems of energy 
        critical elements;
            (3) establish a mechanism for the coordination and 
        evaluation of Federal programs with energy critical element 
        needs, including Federal programs involving research and 
        development, in a manner that complements related efforts 
        carried out by the private sector and other domestic and 
        international agencies and organizations;
            (4) promote and encourage private enterprise in the 
        development of an economically sound and stable domestic energy 
        critical elements supply chain;
            (5) promote and encourage the recycling of energy critical 
        elements, taking into account the logistics, economic 
        viability, environmental sustainability, and research and 
        development needs for completing the recycling process;
            (6) promote and encourage the development of substitute 
        materials and processes that lower the dependence of the United 
        States on energy critical elements;
            (7) assess the need for, and make recommendations 
        concerning, the availability and adequacy of the supply of 
        technically trained personnel necessary for energy critical 
        elements research, development, extraction, and industrial 
        production, with a particular focus on the problem of 
        attracting and maintaining high-quality professionals for 
        maintaining an adequate supply of energy critical elements; and
            (8) report to the appropriate Congressional committees on 
        activities and findings under this section.

    TITLE II--NATIONAL MATERIALS AND MINERALS POLICY, RESEARCH, AND 
                              DEVELOPMENT

SEC. 201. AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL MATERIALS AND MINERALS POLICY, 
              RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1980.

    (a) Program Plan.--Section 5 of the National Materials and Minerals 
Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1604) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``date of enactment of this Act'' each 
        place it appears and inserting ``date of enactment of the 
        Securing Energy Critical Elements and American Jobs Act of 
        2019'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``Federal 
        Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology'' 
        and inserting ``National Science and Technology Council'';
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``the Federal Emergency'' 
                        and all that follows through ``Agency, and''; 
                        and
                            (ii) by striking ``appropriate shall'' and 
                        inserting ``appropriate, shall'';
                    (B) by striking paragraph (1);
                    (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ``in the case'' 
                and all that follows through ``subsection,'';
                    (D) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 
                paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and
                    (E) by amending paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 
                to read as follows:
            ``(2) assess the adequacy and stability of the supply of 
        materials necessary to maintain national security, economic 
        well-being, and industrial production.'';
            (4) by striking subsection (d); and
            (5) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections 
        (d) and (e), respectively.
    (b) Policy.--Section 3 of the National Materials and Minerals 
Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1602) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Congress declares that it'' and 
        inserting ``It''; and
            (2) by striking ``The Congress further declares that 
        implementation'' and inserting ``Implementation''.
    (c) Implementation.--Section 4 of the National Materials and 
Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1603) 
is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
            (1) by striking ``For the purpose'' and all that follows 
        through ``declares that the'' and inserting ``The''; and
            (2) by striking ``departments and agencies,'' and inserting 
        ``departments and agencies to implement the policy specified in 
        section 3''.

SEC. 202. CONFORMING REPEAL.

    The National Critical Materials Act of 1984 (30 U.S.C. 1801 et 
seq.) is repealed.
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