[House Report 104-673]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
104th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 104-673
_______________________________________________________________________
MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES INSTITUTES ACT
_______
July 12, 1996.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3249]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 3249) to authorize appropriations for a mining institute
to develop domestic technological capabilities for the recovery
of minerals from the nation's seabed, and for other purposes,
having considered the same, report favorably thereon with
amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
SECTION 1. SEABED MINERALS.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 2(a) of the Mining
and Mineral Resources Research Institute Act of 1984 (30 U.S.C.
1222(a)) is amended by adding the following at the end thereof:
``There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more than
$1,800,000 for each of the fiscal years after fiscal year 1996 to be
made available by the Secretary to an institute or institutes
experienced in investigating the continental shelf regions of the
United States, the deep seabed and near shore environments of islands,
and the Arctic and cold water regions as a source for nonfuel minerals.
Such funds are to be used by the institute or institutes to assist in
developing domestic technological capabilities required for the
location of, and the efficient and environmentally sound recovery of,
minerals (other than oil and gas) from the Nation's shallow and deep
seabed.''.
(b) Short Title.--Section 11 of such Act (30 U.S.C. 1201 note) is
amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 11. SHORT TITLE.
``This Act may be cited as the `Mining and Mineral Resources
Institutes Act'.''.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to authorize appropriations for a mining institute or
institutes to develop domestic technological capabilities for the
recovery of minerals from the Nation's seabed, and for other purposes.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 3249 is to authorize appropriations for
a mining institute or institutes to develop domestic
technological capabilities for the recovery of nonfuel minerals
from the Nation's seabed.
Background and Need for Legislation
Title III of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
of 1977 (SMCRA, 30 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) created a Mining and
Mineral Resources Research Institutes program in cooperation
with universities and the Department of the Interior. The
program was reauthorized in 1984 and again in 1988 with some
seven ``generic centers'' specializing in certain subject
matter areas and thirty schools qualifying for allotment grants
to promote graduate student education in mineral sciences and
allied fields.
The Marine Minerals Generic Technology Centers of the
Minerals Institute program were first established in 1984
(Public Law 98-409), located at the University of Hawaii and
the University of Mississippi, specialize in deep ocean basins
and continental shelf minerals research, respectively. The U.S.
Bureau of Mines, before its termination in fiscal year 1996
under the Balanced Budget Downpayment Act (Public Law 104-99),
oversaw the cumulative budget of the minerals institute
program, amounting to about $4.5 million in allotment grants in
the last year of authorization, fiscal year 1994.
Although SMCRA did not originally contemplate establishment
of the marine minerals technology centers, they were added on
to the institutes program by a Congress interested in funding
research efforts to maintain a U.S. lead in deep ocean mining
technology after President Reagan established a 200-mile wide
exclusive economic zone beyond our seaward territorial
boundaries. Furthermore, awareness of the Law of the Sea
Treaty, albeit unsigned by the U.S., and its provisions for
future deep seabed mining, kept Congressional interest in
marine minerals issues alive.
Much of our domestic industry's interest in mining
manganese nodules for their base metals content from the
abyssal depths of the Pacific Ocean has waned since the 1980s.
However, interest in characterizing other metal-bearing oxide
and sulfide crusts from the deep ocean floor, identifying
unexploded ordnance from military activities and locating
mineral materials for beach replenishment projects has grown.
The dormancy, or outright disbanding, of industry consortia
established to share the risks of the development of deep ocean
sea floor mining exploration and production means that
corporate sponsorship of marine minerals technology research is
less likely than over the last decade. Yet, other nations view
marine mining technology as a strategic necessity because they
lack onshore sources of these metals.
Increasingly, state and local governments are seeking
coastal protection solutions via beach replenishment projects
using sand, gravel and shell resources mined from the Outer
Continental Shelf. The Minerals Management Service, tapped by
Secretary Babbitt to manage the marine minerals technology
center program funding which was obligated prior to the closure
of the Bureau of Mines, is heavily involved in identifying this
resource in Federal waters.
Committee Action
H.R. 3249 was introduced on April 16, 1996, by Congressmen
Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) and Roger Wicker (R-MS). The bill was
referred to the Committee on Resources, and within the
Committee to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
On May 9, 1996, the Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R.
3249. Dr. Tom Kitsos, then Program Director of the Office of
International Activities and Marine Minerals of the Minerals
Management Service, testified for the Administration in general
support of the goals of the legislation. Dr. Michael J.
Cruickshank, Director of the Ocean Basins Division (Hawaii),
and Dr. J. Robert Woolsey, Director of the Continental Shelf
Division (Mississippi), both of the Marine Minerals Technology
Center, testified in support of the bill with detailed addenda
outlining former research efforts and its benefits.
On June 19, 1996, the Full Resources Committee discharged
H.R. 3249 from further consideration by the Subcommittee on
Energy and Mineral Resources for consideration by the full
Committee on Resources. Congressman Abercrombie offered an
amendment in the nature of a substitute. The amendment
clarified his original intent to authorize more than one
institute to assist in developing domestic technological
capabilities required for the location of, and efficient and
environmentally sound recovery of, nonfuel minerals from the
continental shelf regions of the U.S., the deep seabed and near
shore environment of islands, and Arctic and cold water
regions. The amendment was adopted and the bill, as amended,
ordered reported favorably to the House of Representatives by
voice vote.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
With respect to the requirements of clause 2(l)(3) of rule
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and clause
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
the Committee on Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
Inflationary Impact Statement
Pursuant to clause 2(l)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee estimates that the
enactment of H.R. 3249 will have no significant inflationary
impact on prices and costs in the operation of the national
economy.
Cost of the Legislation
Clause 7(a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the
Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out
H.R. 3249. However, clause 7(d) of that Rule provides that this
requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in
its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
under section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
Compliance With House Rule XI
1. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(B) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, H.R.
3249 does not contain any new budget authority, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax
expenditures. The bill authorizes increased discretionary
spending of $7 million over the 1997-2002 time period, assuming
appropriation of the amounts authorized.
2. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(D) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee has received no report of oversight findings and
recommendations from the Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight on the subject of H.R. 3249.
3. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(C) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the
Committee has received the following cost estimate for H.R.
3249 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, June 28, 1996.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources, House of Representatives, Washington,
DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
reviewed H.R. 3249, the Mining and Mineral Resources Institutes
Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Resources on
June 19, 1996.
H.R. 3249 would authorize to be appropriated to the
Secretary of the Interior not more than $1.8 million for each
of the fiscal years after fiscal year 1996. These funds are to
be made available for a mining institute or institutes to
develop technologies for the recovery of minerals from the
nation's seabed. CBO estimates that enacting this bill would
increase discretionary spending by $1.8 million a year
beginning in fiscal year 1997 and by about $7 million over the
1997-2000 period, assuming appropriation of the specified
amounts. Because H.R. 3249 would not affect direct spending or
receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply to the bill.
H.R. 3249 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in Public Law 104-4 and would impose no
costs on state, local, or tribal governments. CBO expects that
the appropriations authorized by this bill would be used to
fund institutes located at state universities.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The staff contacts are Victoria Heid
(for federal costs), and Marjorie Miller (for the state and
local government impact).
Sincerely,
June E. O'Neill, Director.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
H.R. 3249 contains no unfunded mandates.
Departmental Reports
The Committee has received no departmental reports on H.R.
3249.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE ACT OF 1984
* * * * * * *
research funds to institutes
Sec. 2 (a) There is authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary not more than $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal
years ending September 30, 1990, through September 30, 1994,
which shall remain available until expended. Such funds when
appropriated shall be made available to an institute or to
institutes participating in a generic mineral technology center
to meet the necessary expenses for purposes of--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not
more than $1,200,000 for each of the fiscal years after fiscal
year 1996 to be made available by the Secretary to an institute
experienced in investigating the shallow and deep seabed as a
source for nonfuel minerals to be used by the institute to
assist in developing domestic technological capabilities
required for the location of, and the efficient and
environmentally sound recovery of, minerals (other than oil and
gas) from the nation's shallow and deep seabed.
* * * * * * *
[SEC. 11. SHORT TITLE OF ACT.
[This Act may be cited as the Mining and Mineral Resources
Research Institute Act of 1984.]
SEC. 11. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Mining and Mineral Resources
Institutes Act''.