[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3631 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3631

To require reports on critical mineral and rare earth element resources 
around the world and a strategy for the development of advanced mining, 
           refining, separation, and processing technologies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 18, 2024

Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Young, Mr. King, Mr. Lankford, 
  and Mr. Hickenlooper) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require reports on critical mineral and rare earth element resources 
around the world and a strategy for the development of advanced mining, 
           refining, separation, and processing technologies.

    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 ``Critical Minerals Security Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Covered nation.--The term ``covered nation'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 4872 of title 10, United 
        States Code.
            (2) Critical mineral.--The term ``critical mineral'' has 
        the meaning given that term in section 7002(a) of the Energy 
        Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)).
            (3) Foreign entity of concern.--The term ``foreign entity 
        of concern'' has the meaning given that term in section 40207 
        of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 
        18741).
            (4) Rare earth elements.--The term ``rare earth elements'' 
        means cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, 
        holmium, lanthanum, lutetium, neodymium, praseodymium, 
        promethium, samarium, scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium, 
        and yttrium.
            (5) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

SEC. 3. REPORTS ON CRITICAL MINERAL AND RARE EARTH ELEMENT RESOURCES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary of 
the Interior, in consultation with the heads of relevant Federal 
agencies, shall submit to Congress a report on all critical mineral and 
rare earth element resources around the world that includes--
            (1) an assessment of--
                    (A) which of such resources are under the control 
                of a foreign entity of concern, including through 
                ownership, contract, or economic or political 
                influence;
                    (B) which of such resources are owned by, 
                controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or 
                direction of the United States or a country that is an 
                ally or partner of the United States;
                    (C) which of such resources are not owned by, 
                controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or 
                direction of a foreign entity of concern or a country 
                described in subparagraph (B); and
                    (D) in the case of such resources not undergoing 
                commercial mining, the reasons for the lack of 
                commercial mining;
            (2) for each mine from which significant quantities of 
        critical minerals or rare earth elements are being extracted, 
        as of the date that is one year before the date of the report--
                    (A) an estimate of the annual volume of output of 
                the mine as of that date;
                    (B) an estimate of the total volume of mineral or 
                elements that remain in the mine as of that date;
                    (C)(i) an identification of the country and entity 
                operating the mine; or
                    (ii) if the mine is operated by more than one 
                country or entity, an estimate of the output of each 
                mineral or element from the mine to which each such 
                country or entity has access; and
                    (D) an identification of the ultimate beneficial 
                owners of the mine and the percentage of ownership held 
                by each such owner;
            (3) for each mine not described in paragraph (2), to the 
        extent practicable--
                    (A) an estimate of the aggregate annual volume of 
                output of the mines as of the date that is one year 
                before the date of the report;
                    (B) an estimate of the aggregate total volume of 
                mineral or elements that remain in the mines as of that 
                date;
                    (C) an estimate of the aggregate total output of 
                each mineral or element from the mine to which a 
                foreign entity of concern has access;
            (4)(A) a list of key foreign entities of concern involved 
        in mining critical minerals and rare earth elements;
            (B) a list of key entities in the United States and 
        countries that are allies or partners of the United States 
        involved in mining critical minerals and rare earth elements; 
        and
            (C) an assessment of the technical feasibility of entities 
        listed under subparagraphs (A) and (B) mining and processing 
        resources identified under paragraph (1)(C) using existing 
        advanced technology;
            (5) an assessment, prepared in consultation with the 
        Secretary of State, of ways to collaborate with countries in 
        which mines or mineral processing operations (or both) are 
        located that are operated by other countries, or are operated 
        by entities from other countries, to ensure ongoing access by 
        the United States and countries that are allies and partners of 
        the United States to those mines and processing operations;
            (6) a list, prepared in consultation with the Secretary of 
        Commerce, identifying, to the maximum extent practicable, all 
        cases in which entities were forced to divest stock in mining 
        or processing operations for critical minerals and rare earth 
        elements based on--
                    (A) regulatory rulings of the government of a 
                covered nation;
                    (B) joint regulatory rulings of such a government 
                and the government of another country; or
                    (C) rulings of a relevant tribunal or other entity 
                authorized to render binding decisions on divestiture;
            (7) a list of all cases in which the government of a 
        covered nation purchased an entity that was forced to divest 
        stock as described in paragraph (6); and
            (8) a list of all cases in which mining or processing 
        operations (or both) for critical minerals and rare earth 
        elements that were not subject to a ruling described in 
        paragraph (6) were taken over by--
                    (A) the government of a covered nation; or
                    (B) an entity located in, or influenced or 
                controlled by, such a government.
    (b) Form of Report.--Each report required by subsection (a) shall 
be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex 
if necessary.

SEC. 4. PROCESS FOR NOTIFYING UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT OF DIVESTMENT.

    Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary 
of State, shall establish a process under which--
            (1) a United States person seeking to divest stock in 
        mining or mineral processing operations for critical minerals 
        and rare earth elements in a foreign country may notify the 
        Secretary of the intention of the person to divest such stock; 
        and
            (2) the Secretary may provide assistance to the person to 
        find a purchaser that is not under the control of the 
        government of a covered nation.

SEC. 5. STRATEGY ON DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED MINING, REFINING, 
              SEPARATION, AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 
with the heads of relevant Federal agencies, shall develop--
            (1) a strategy to collaborate with the governments of 
        countries that are allies and partners of the United States to 
        develop advanced mining, refining, separation, and processing 
        technologies; and
            (2) a method for sharing the intellectual property 
        resulting from the development of such technologies with those 
        countries to enable those countries to license such 
        technologies and mine, refine, separate, and process the 
        resources of such countries.
    (b) Reports Required.--Not later than one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress a report on the progress made in developing the 
strategy and method described in subsection (a).
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