[House Report 112-590]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


112th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     112-590

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  PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 4402) TO REQUIRE THE 
  SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR AND THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE TO MORE 
   EFFICIENTLY DEVELOP DOMESTIC SOURCES OF THE MINERALS AND MINERAL 
    MATERIALS OF STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL IMPORTANCE TO UNITED STATES 
    ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY AND MANUFACTURING COMPETITIVENESS

                                _______
                                

   July 10, 2012.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

           Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Rules, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 726]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 726, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to 
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be 
adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4402, the 
National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 
2012, under a structured rule. The resolution provides one hour 
of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chair 
and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural 
Resources. The resolution waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill. The resolution makes in order as 
original text for purpose of amendment the amendment in the 
nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules 
Committee Print 112-26 and provides that it shall be considered 
as read. The resolution waives all points of order against the 
amendment in the nature of a substitute made in order as 
original text. The resolution makes in order only those 
amendments printed in this report. Each such amendment may be 
offered only in the order printed in this report, may be 
offered only by a Member designated in this report, shall be 
considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified 
in this report equally divided and controlled by the proponent 
and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall 
not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the 
House or in the Committee of the Whole. The resolution waives 
all points of order against the amendments printed in this 
report. Finally, the resolution provides one motion to recommit 
with or without instructions.

                         EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill, the Committee is not aware of any 
points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
the amendment in the nature of a substitute made in order as 
original text, the Committee is not aware of any points of 
order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
the amendments printed in this report, the Committee is not 
aware of any points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in 
nature.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion 
to report, together with the names of those voting for and 
against, are printed below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 330

    Motion by Mr. McGovern to report an open rule. Defeated: 4-
8

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Sessions....................................          Nay   Ms. Slaughter.....................          Yea
Ms. Foxx........................................          Nay   Mr. McGovern......................          Yea
Mr. Bishop of Utah..............................          Nay   Mr. Hastings of Florida...........          Yea
Mr. Woodall.....................................          Nay   Mr. Polis.........................          Yea
Mr. Nugent......................................          Nay
Mr. Scott of South Carolina.....................          Nay
Mr. Webster.....................................          Nay
Mr. Dreier, Chairman............................          Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 331

    Motion by Mr. McGovern to make in order and provide the 
appropriate waivers for amendment #8, offered by Rep. Bonamici 
(OR), Rep. Waters (CA), Rep. Berman (CA) and Rep. Moran (VA), 
which would prohibit issuance of mineral exploration or mine 
permit under the Act to a person found to be in violation of 
Sections 13(p) or 13(q) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 
1934, regarding trafficking in conflict minerals. Defeated: 4-8

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Sessions....................................          Nay   Ms. Slaughter.....................          Yea
Ms. Foxx........................................          Nay   Mr. McGovern......................          Yea
Mr. Bishop of Utah..............................          Nay   Mr. Hastings of Florida...........          Yea
Mr. Woodall.....................................          Nay   Mr. Polis.........................          Yea
Mr. Nugent......................................          Nay
Mr. Scott of South Carolina.....................          Nay
Mr. Webster.....................................          Nay
Mr. Dreier, Chairman............................          Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER

    1. Tonko (NY): Would narrow the scope of the underlying 
bill to include strategic and critical minerals only. (10 
minutes)
    2. Hastings, Alcee (FL): Would give the lead agency, in the 
event of new or unforeseen information, the authority to extend 
by two six-month periods the arbitrary 30 month time limit the 
bill imposes on permit approval. (10 minutes)
    3. Markey, Edward (MA): Would require a royalty payment of 
12.5% of the value of hardrock minerals mined on federal lands. 
Revenue generated by the royalty payment would be dedicated to 
cleaning up abandoned hardrock mines. (10 minutes)
    4. Young, Don (AK): Would allow the lead agency, as 
established under this bill, to exempt existing Mineral 
Prescriptions for strategic and critical materials within 
federally administered national forests from the procedures 
detailed at and all rules promulgated under part 294 of title 
36 of the Code of Federal Regulations. In addition, the 
amendment would extend this exemption to areas integral to 
access of the Mineral Prescriptions, and the construction, 
operation, maintenance, and restoration of any existing Mineral 
Prescriptions. (10 minutes)
    5. Cravaack (MN): Would allow projects that have already 
applied for a permit access to the new expedited process under 
the bill. (10 minutes)
    6. Hastings, Alcee (FL): Would create an exception for non-
profit entities and individuals from the outright elimination 
(found in Section 205 of H.R. 4402) of the shifting of 
attorneys' fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act. 
(10 minutes)
    7. Grijalva, Raul (AZ): Would exempt from the bill any 
mineral exploration or mining permit a lead agency determines 
would diminish opportunities for hunting, fishing, grazing, or 
recreation on public lands. By protecting the status of 
hunting, fishing, grazing and other recreational uses on 
federal lands, the amendment will guarantee that the multiple 
use mandate for federal lands is not compromised by the 
underlying bill. (10 minutes)

                    TEXT OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER

 1. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Tonko of New York or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 3, beginning at line 7, strike paragraph (1) and insert 
the following:
          (1) Strategic and critical minerals.--The term 
        ``strategic and critical minerals''--
                  (A) means--
                          (i) minerals and mineral groups 
                        identified as critical by the National 
                        Research Council in the report entitled 
                        ``Minerals, Critical Minerals, and the 
                        U.S. Economy'', dated 2008; and
                          (ii) additional minerals identified 
                        by the Secretary of the Interior based 
                        on the National Research Council 
                        criteria in such report; and
                  (B) shall not include sand, gravel, or clay.
  Page 4, strike lines 1 through 6 and insert the following:
          (1) Mineral exploration or mine permit.--The term 
        ``mineral exploration or mine permit''--
                  (A) means a mineral exploration or mine 
                permit for strategic and critical minerals; and
                  (B) includes any plan of operation for 
                strategic and critical minerals that is issued 
                by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest 
                Service.
                              ----------                              


2. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Hastings of Florida or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 7, strike lines 8 through 10 and insert the following:
  (e)(1) In no case should the total review process described 
in subsection (d) exceed 30 months unless--
          (A) agreed to by the signatories of the agreement, or
          (B) the lead agency has determined that an adequate 
        review has not been completed due to issues arising not 
        contained in the permit application or otherwise 
        unforeseen by the signatories at the time of submittal 
        of the permit application.
  (2) In a case described in paragraph (1)(B)--
          (A) the lead agency may extend the total review 
        process by 6 months;
          (B) if, at the end of that 6-month period, the issues 
        referred to in paragraph (1)(B) have not been 
        adequately addressed, the lead agency may extend the 
        total review process by an additional 6 months;
          (C) if at the end of that additional 6-month period 
        the issues referred to in paragraph (1)(B) have not 
        been adequately addressed, the lead agency shall issue 
        its final determination on the permit application.
                              ----------                              


3. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Markey of Massachusetts 
               or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 7, after line 22, insert the following new subsection:
  (h) The lead agency with responsibility for issuing a mineral 
exploration or mine permit for hardrock minerals on Federal 
land after the date of enactment of this Act shall require a 
royalty payment of 12.5 percent of the value of the minerals 
produced pursuant to the permit. Amounts received by the United 
States as such royalties shall be available to the Secretary of 
the Interior, subject to the availability of appropriations and 
in addition to amounts otherwise available, for abandoned 
hardrock mine lands reclamation.
                              ----------                              


4. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Young of Alaska or His 
                   Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 7, after line 22, insert the following:
  (h) With respect to strategic and critical materials within a 
federally administered unit of the National Forest System, the 
lead agency shall--
          (1) exempt all areas of identified mineral resources 
        in Land Use Designations, other than Non-Development 
        Land Use Designations, in existence as of the date of 
        the enactment of this Act from the procedures detailed 
        at and all rules promulgated under part 294 of title 
        36, Code of Federal Regulations;
          (2) apply such exemption to all additional routes and 
        areas that the lead agency finds necessary to 
        facilitate the construction, operation, maintenance, 
        and restoration of the areas of identified mineral 
        resources described in paragraph (1); and
          (3) continue to apply such exemptions after approval 
        of the Minerals Plan of Operations for the unit of the 
        National Forest System.
                              ----------                              


 5. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Cravaack of Minnesota 
               or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 7, after line 22, insert the following:
  (h) This section shall apply with respect to a mineral 
exploration or mine permit for which an application was 
submitted before the date of the enactment of this Act if the 
applicant for the permit submits a written request to the lead 
agency for the permit. The lead agency shall begin implementing 
this section with respect to such application within 30 days 
after receiving such written request.
                              ----------                              


6. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Hastings of Florida or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 10, line 4, before ``Sections'' insert ``(a) In 
General.--''.
  Page 10, after line 9, add the following:
  (b) Limitation on Application.--Subsection (a) does not apply 
to a covered civil action filed by--
          (1) a not-for-profit organization described in 
        section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code; 
        or
          (2) an individual.
                              ----------                              


7. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Grijalva of Arizona or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Add at the end the following:

                  TITLE III--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS


SEC. 301. PROTECTION OF HUNTING, FISHING, GRAZING, AND RECREATION.

  This Act shall not apply with respect to any mineral 
exploration or mining permit a lead agency determines would 
diminish opportunities for hunting, fishing, grazing, or 
recreation on public lands.

                                  
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