[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1052 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 176
116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1052

                          [Report No. 116-74]

To authorize the Office of Fossil Energy to develop advanced separation 
technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and 
    minerals from coal and coal byproducts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 4, 2019

 Mr. Manchin (for himself, Mrs. Capito, and Ms. Murkowski) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                    on Energy and Natural Resources

                            August 16, 2019

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of August 1, 2019, 
                  by Ms. Murkowski, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Office of Fossil Energy to develop advanced separation 
technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and 
    minerals from coal and coal byproducts, and for other purposes.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Rare Earth Element Advanced 
Coal Technologies Act''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Congress finds that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) the United States is largely dependent on 
        foreign imports for the domestic supply of rare earth elements 
        and critical minerals in the United States;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) as of the date of enactment of this Act, the 
        United States does not have domestic production capability for, 
        or a guaranteed supply chain of, rare earth elements and 
        critical minerals;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) access to certain rare earth elements and 
        minerals is critical for the national security of the United 
        States;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) China maintains a near monopoly of the global 
        supply chain of rare earth elements and critical 
        minerals;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) the successful development of commercially 
        viable refining methods of rare earth elements from coal 
        byproducts could lead to new economic development opportunities 
        in parts of the United States most affected by the downturn of 
        the coal industry;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) rare earth elements--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) comprise elements on the periodic 
                table, including--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) the lanthanides, which are 
                        lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), 
                        neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), 
                        gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), 
                        holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), 
                        ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu); 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) transition elements, which 
                        are scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y); 
                        and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) can be divided into--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) light rare earth elements, 
                        which are lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), 
                        praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium 
                        (Pm), and samarium (Sm); and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) heavy rare earth elements, 
                        which are scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), 
                        gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), 
                        holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), 
                        ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu); 
                        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) it is in the interest of the Federal 
        Government--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) to guide responsible domestic 
                production methods of rare earth elements and minerals 
                to ensure industry and consumers in the United States 
                have access to a reliable domestic supply of valuable 
                rare earth elements and minerals; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B)(i) to identify the areas of highest 
                potential interruption in the global supply chain of 
                rare earth elements and minerals; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (ii) to strengthen the position of the 
                United States in that supply chain by mitigating 
                potential interruptions through the development of 
                advanced separation technologies for coal and coal 
                byproducts.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. PROGRAM FOR EXTRACTION AND RECOVERY OF RARE EARTH 
              ELEMENTS AND MINERALS FROM COAL AND COAL 
              BYPRODUCTS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy, acting through 
the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (referred to in this Act as 
the ``Secretary''), shall carry out a program under which the Secretary 
shall develop advanced separation technologies for the extraction and 
recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and coal 
byproducts.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program described 
in subsection (a) $23,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 
2027.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT AND REPORT.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Interior, shall carry 
out, and submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) an assessment--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) identifying and ranking the rare earth 
                elements that--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) are most important to 
                        consumers in the United States;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) are most jeopardized in the 
                        global supply chain; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) will have the greatest 
                        impact to consumers in the United States in the 
                        event of a disruption in the global supply 
                        chain;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) evaluating the development of advanced 
                separation technologies for the extraction and recovery 
                of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and coal 
                byproducts (referred to in this subsection as the 
                ``technologies'');</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) identifying and evaluating the results 
                of the development of the technologies, including the 
                results with respect to the extraction and recovery of 
                each rare earth element;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) determining what the technologies are 
                capable of producing;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (E) evaluating the performance of the 
                technologies, including what the technologies--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) succeed and fail at 
                        accomplishing; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) can and cannot do cost-
                        effectively; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (F)(i) evaluating the market impact on 
                each rare earth mineral of the penetration of 
                commercially viable technologies; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (ii) how the penetration of commercially 
                viable coal-based technology will impact the global 
                supply chain; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) a report analyzing--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) the additional resources required for 
                the development of commercial-ready deployment of 
                technologies that are second generation and 
                transformational; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) the market impact of processes to 
                treat and recover rare earth elements and minerals from 
                acid mine drainage from coal mines.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Requirement.--In carrying out the assessment and 
report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall focus on the rare 
earth elements determined by the Secretary to be most critical to the 
national security of the United States.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rare Earth Element Advanced Coal 
Technologies Act''.

SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR EXTRACTION AND RECOVERY OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS AND 
              MINERALS FROM COAL AND COAL BYPRODUCTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy, acting through the 
Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (referred to in this Act as the 
``Secretary''), shall carry out a program under which the Secretary 
shall develop advanced separation technologies for the extraction and 
recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and coal 
byproducts.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program described in 
subsection (a) $23,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2027.

SEC. 3. REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives a report evaluating the development of advanced 
separation technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth 
elements and minerals from coal and coal byproducts, including acid 
mine drainage from coal mines.
                                                       Calendar No. 176

116th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                S. 1052

                          [Report No. 116-74]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To authorize the Office of Fossil Energy to develop advanced separation 
technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and 
    minerals from coal and coal byproducts, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            August 16, 2019

                       Reported with an amendment