[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 138 (Wednesday, October 13, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12556-S12557]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. THOMAS (for himself and Mr. Enzi):
  S. 1722. A bill to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase the 
maximum acreage of Federal leases for sodium that may be held by an 
entity in any 1 State, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.


                  trona market competition act of 1999

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill which 
revises an outdated and constricting statute for the number of federal 
sodium leases which can be held by any single producer within a state. 
This limitation is damaging the economic viability of an environmental 
responsible and critical mining industry for our country. The soda ash 
industry has been operating under the present acreage limitation for 
five decades. This cap for lease holdings is the oldest acreage 
limitation under the Mineral Leasing Act. In fact, sodium is the only 
mineral subject to the Act which has not had an increase since the law 
was amended in 1948. It is out of date with the competitive and 
technological advances in the industry and needs to be changed as we 
move into the next century.
  Specifically this legislation provides the Secretary of the Interior 
with discretion to increase the federally held acreage of individual 
sodium producers; the same additional discretionary authority he has 
had for some time for other mineral categories affected by this law. It 
would increase the current limitation from 15,360 acres per producer, 
to 30,720 acres.
  The Mineral Leasing Act set forth these limits to ensure that no 
single entity can control too much of any single mineral reserve. This 
remains an important objective. A lease limitation ensures that there 
is sufficient competition, while providing an incentive for development 
of these reserves and ensures a reasonable rate of return to the 
Federal Treasury. My bill is consistent with these objectives and seeks 
only to conform the present limitation to current economic and 
international conditions. Indeed I am pleased that this bill has the 
full support of the Wyoming Mining Association, including smaller 
sodium lease holders, who have traditionally been concerned increasing 
acreage.
  Mr President, I offer this bill after carefully reviewing the need 
for it in light of current conditions affecting the soda ash industry 
in my state. In my examination, I have been reminded that U.S. soda ash 
producers, four (of five) of which are in our state, are extremely 
competitive with one another for a relatively flat domestic market. 
And, they are also faced with stiff international competition.
  I believe this legislation is necessary to sustain the global 
competitiveness of the U.S. soda ash industry. Since our state is 
blessed with the largest known deposits of trona in the world, I am 
proud to say that the United States sodium industry is also the world's 
low cost supplier of soda ash. U.S. produced soda ash, critical to 
glass manufacture, is accountable for a $400 million positive 
contribution to our balance of trade. Today, the U.S. soda ash industry 
comprises five active producers--four in my home state--generating some 
12 million tons of soda ash per year, or approximately a third of the 
world's demand.
  But I have learned we cannot take these producers for granted. Like 
so many other industries basic to our economy such as steel, paper, 
aluminum, copper, and so on, the soda ash mines must take the measures 
necessary to stay competitive. I know, as Chairman of the Foreign 
Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, that many 
countries have make it difficult to export U.S. soda ash. They have 
erected tariff and non-tariff barriers to support their own less 
efficient domestic producers.
  For this season, U.S. producers have formed the American Natural Soda 
Ash Corporation (ANSAC), in recognition that the growth of U.S. soda 
ash is dependent on its ability to effectively export. ANSAC is the 
sole authorized exporter of soda ash and is wholly owned by the six 
U.S. sodium producers. It accounts for the employment of some 20,000 
people in the U.S. and exports more than $400 million in soda ash to 45 
different countries.
  This is but one example of how our domestic industry has taken the 
steps necessary to compete effectively abroad. In addition, the 
producers in my state are making major investments in moderizing their 
facilities and sustaining the level of capital investment necessary to 
continue to be competitive both at home and abroad. The start-up cost 
for a new soda ash operation is estimated to be at least $350 million, 
and to develop a world class mine, $150 million. This is largely due to 
the fact that soda ash is mined underground and thus requires a 
sophisticated processing plant to turn raw ore into the finished 
products. This is simply the reality of what is required to stay 
competitive.
  At this cost a new entrant, as well as existing producers, must have 
a predictable ``mine plan.'' A primary component of such a plan is a 
predictable level of reserves that will last several decades. The 
legislation I am introducing today would help provide this 
predictability by giving the Secretary the discretion to raise lease 
limits on a case-by-case basis if the producer can show it is in need 
of additional reserves to maintain its operations.
  Producers need to know of mine expansion is possible in order to 
develop structural design plans which are safe, efficient and maximize 
the large economic outlays. This is the predictability that any 
manufacturer needs when contemplating a major capital investment. And 
in the end, it is the capital required, rather than the acreage 
available, the must be weighed by new entrants.
  I would like to note that despite consolidated in the Wyoming trona 
patch, there is an anticipated new entrant to the soda ash business in 
our neighboring state of Colorado. Moreover, in Wyoming, six other 
leaseholders have substantial holdings that could be translated into 
active production. This bill does not discourage their entry. In fact, 
by raising the current cap on acreage holdings, it creates an incentive 
for additional purchase by these holders, one of whom already exceeds 
the existing limitation.
  Raising the acreage limitation for trona is also consistent with good 
environmental and safety practices followed by this industry. Much of 
the currently mined out acreage is essential to proper ventilation of 
ongoing operations and therefore critical mine safety. In addition, the 
mechanically mined out sections are also available for proper tailings 
disposal, thus avoiding environmental degradation elsewhere. This is a 
practice encouraged by our Wyoming State Department of Environmental 
Quality.
  In summary, Mr. President, the bill I am introducing today provides 
critical changes in existing statutes in order to sustain the economic 
viability of an environmental responsible and critical mining industry 
in our country. The current sodium lease limitation is approximately 
one-third of the per state Federal lease cap for coal potassium, and 
one-sixteenth the lease acreage cap for oil and gas. After passing the 
Mineral Leasing Act in 1948, Congress and the Bureau of Land Management 
have revised acreage limits for other minerals to meet the needs of 
these industries consistent with good mining and environmental 
practices. In light of the conditions I have described, I believe it is 
time we recognize the need to update the lease limitation for the trona 
industry as well.
  I thank you for the time and opportunity to discuss this important 
legislation. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1722

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

     SECTION 1. TITLE.

       This Act shall be entitled the ``Trona Market Competition 
     Act of 1999''.

     SEC. 2. SODIUM MINING ON FEDERAL LAND.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) Federal land contains commercial deposits of trona, the 
     world's largest deposits

[[Page S12557]]

     of trona being located on Federal land in southwestern 
     Wyoming;
       (2) trona is mined on Federal land through Federal sodium 
     leases under the Act of February 25, 1920 (commonly known as 
     the ``Mineral Leasing Act'') (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.);
       (3) the primary product of trona mining is soda ash (sodium 
     carbonate), a basic industrial chemical that is used for 
     glassmaking and a variety of consumer products, including 
     baking soda, detergents, and pharmaceuticals;
       (4) the Mineral Leasing Act sets for each leasable mineral 
     a limitation on the amount of acreage of Federal leases any 1 
     producer may hold in any 1 State or nationally;
       (5)(A) the present acreage limitation for Federal sodium 
     leases has been in place for over 5 decades, since 1948, and 
     is the oldest acreage limitation in the Mineral Leasing Act;
       (B) over that time, Congress or the Bureau of Land 
     Management has revised the acreage limits applicable to other 
     minerals to meet the needs of the respective industries; and
       (C) currently the sodium lease acreage limit of 15,360 
     acres per State is approximately \1/3\ of the per-State 
     Federal lease acreage limit for coal (46,080 acres) and 
     potassium (51,200 acres) and \1/16\ of the per-State Federal 
     lease acreage limit for oil and gas (246,080 acres);
       (6) 3 of the 4 trona producers in Wyoming are operating 
     mines on Federal leaseholds that contain total acreage close 
     to the sodium lease acreage ceiling;
       (7) the same reasons that Congress cited in enacting 
     increases per State lease acreage caps applicable in the case 
     of other minerals--the advent of modern mine technology, 
     changes in industry economics, greater global competition, 
     and the need to conserve Federal resources--apply to trona;
       (8) existing trona mines require additional lease acreage 
     to avoid premature closure, but those mines cannot relinquish 
     mined-out areas to lease new acreage because those areas 
     continue to be used for mine access, ventilation, and 
     tailings disposal and may provide future opportunities for 
     secondary recovery by solution mining;
       (9) to enable them to make long-term business decisions 
     affecting the type and amount of additional infrastructure 
     investments, trona producers need certainty that sufficient 
     acreage of leasable trona will be available for mining in the 
     future; and
       (10) to maintain the vitality of the domestic trona 
     industry and ensure the continued flow of valuable revenues 
     to the Federal and State governments and of products to the 
     American public from trona production on Federal land, the 
     Mineral Leasing Act should be amended to increase the acreage 
     imitation for Federal sodium leases.
       (b) Amendment.--Section 27(b)(2) of the Act of February 25, 
     1920 (30 U.S.C. 184(b)(2)), is amended by striking ``fifteen 
     thousand three hundred and sixty acres'' and inserting 
     ``30,720 acres''.

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, today I join Senator Thomas in the 
introduction of S. 1722, a bill to increase the federal statutory 
acreage limitation for domestic trona producers. This legislation will 
bring the federal statutory acreage limitation for trona more in line 
with acreage limitations for other mineral commodities and will allow 
American trona producers to remain competitive in the international 
marketplace well into the twenty-first century.
  This legislation will make a small but important change in the 
federal Mineral Leasing Act that would allow the Secretary of the 
Interior, at his discretion, to permit a person or corporation to hold 
sodium leases on federal land of up to 30,720 acres in any one State. 
This is a two-fold increase over the current discretionary acreage 
limitation of 15,360 acres. The current limit was established over 50 
years ago while the acreage limitation of other minerals, including 
coal, potassium, and oil and gas, have been increased considerably 
during that same time in order to meet the needs of these industries. 
By increasing the federal acreage limitation for trona, Congress will 
take an important step to ensure future productivity and international 
competitiveness of an industry that has great importance for the State 
of Wyoming and the United States. This legislation will in turn benefit 
the federal government through continued royalties derived from soda 
ash mined on federal land.
  Mr. President, the State of Wyoming has long depended on the mineral 
industry as a vital part of its economy. Since one-half of our state is 
comprised of federal land, private companies must temporarily lease 
portions of this land in order to extract minerals that benefit the 
entire country, and indeed, the entire world. The mining of natural 
soda ash, or trona, is an integral part of the state's economy, 
especially for those who live in southwestern Wyoming. This trona is 
mined and converted to refined soda ash (sodium carbonate) which is 
used in the production of glass, detergents, pharmaceuticals, and other 
sodium chemicals. Currently, three of the four trona producers in 
Wyoming are operating mines on federal leaseholds that contain total 
acreage close to the discretionary sodium lease acreage ceiling. By 
increasing this federal limit, we will give Wyoming producers the 
certainty they need to continue and expand their substantial capital 
investments in the State of Wyoming and allow America to remain 
competitive in this important mineral industry. This acreage increase 
represents a modest, responsible modification to the Mineral Leasing 
Act that takes modern economic realities into account without deterring 
the entry of new companies into the domestic market for mineable trona.
  I urge my colleagues to support the swift passage of this 
modification to the Mineral Leasing Act in order to ensure stability, 
growth, and continued international competitiveness of America's trona 
industry.
                                 ______