[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 133 (Saturday, August 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4326-S4327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 5367. Mr. CRAMER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 5194 proposed by Mr. Schumer to the bill H.R. 5376, to 
provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 14; 
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

        At the end of subtitle C of title V, add the following:

     SEC. 5030_. PERMITTING AND REVIEW PROCESSES FOR DOMESTIC 
                   HARDROCK MINERAL PRODUCTION.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) the United States is not only reliant on foreign 
     sources for many of the raw materials needed for the economic 
     and national

[[Page S4327]]

     security of the United States, but is also attracting a 
     decreasing share of global investment in the raw materials 
     sector, a sector important to the economic and national 
     security of the United States; and
       (2) that trends of increased reliance on foreign sources 
     for raw materials and decreasing global investment in the 
     domestic raw materials sector have serious and negative 
     implications for the domestic mineral supply chains necessary 
     for technological innovation, modern infrastructure, and 
     national security.
       (b) Permitting.--The Secretary of the Interior, the 
     Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the 
     Chief of the Forest Service shall work collaboratively to 
     reverse the trends described in subsection (a)(2) by--
       (1) streamlining permitting and review processes to ensure 
     that all necessary use authorizations for domestic hardrock 
     mineral production are completed not later than 2 years after 
     receipt of the applicable request or application; and
       (2) enhancing access to all hardrock mineral resources in 
     order to increase discovery, production, and domestic 
     refining of critical minerals by--
       (A) evaluating and, where appropriate, reversing prior 
     withdrawals from location, entry, and patent under the mining 
     laws; and
       (B) ensuring that future withdrawals from location, entry, 
     and patent under the mining laws can only occur if--
       (i) updated geological assessments have been completed;
       (ii) the Governors of relevant States have been consulted; 
     and
       (iii) the acreage of any single withdrawal does not exceed 
     5,000 acres.
       (c) Rulemaking.--The Chief of the Forest Service shall 
     revise all relevant regulations of the Forest Service 
     governing hardrock mineral production on Federal land in 
     order to ensure that those regulations are consistent with--
       (1) the requirements of this section; and
       (2) relevant regulations of the Bureau of Land Management.
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