Securing America’s Critical Minerals Supply Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1599 To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to secure the supply of critical energy resources, including critical minerals and other mate- rials, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 3, 2021 Mr. UPTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to secure the supply of critical energy resources, including critical minerals and other materials, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing America’s 4 Critical Minerals Supply Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1599 IH SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OR- 1 GANIZATION ACT. 2 The Department of Energy Organization Act (42 3 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended— 4 (1) in section 2, by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(d) As used in sections 102(20) and 203(a)(12), the 7 term ‘critical energy resource’ means any energy resource 8 that— 9 ‘‘(1) is essential to the energy sector and energy 10 systems of the United States; and 11 ‘‘(2) the supply chain of which is vulnerable to 12 disruption.’’; 13 (2) in section 102, by adding at the end the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(20) To ensure there is an adequate and reli- 16 able supply of critical energy resources that are es- 17 sential to the energy security of the United States.’’; 18 and 19 (3) in section 203(a), by adding at the end the 20 following: 21 ‘‘(12) Functions that relate to securing the sup- 22 ply of critical energy resources, including identifying 23 and mitigating the effects of a disruption of such 24 supply on— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1599 IH ‘‘(A) the development and use of energy 1 technologies; and 2 ‘‘(B) the operation of energy systems.’’. 3 SEC. 3. SECURING CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE SUPPLY 4 CHAINS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the requirements 6 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7 7101 et seq.), the Secretary of Energy, in consultation 8 with the appropriate Federal agencies, representatives of 9 the energy sector, States, and other stakeholders, shall— 10 (1) conduct ongoing assessments of— 11 (A) energy resource criticality based on the 12 importance of critical energy resources to the 13 development of energy technologies and the sup- 14 ply of energy; 15 (B) the critical energy resource supply 16 chain of the United States; and 17 (C) the vulnerability of such supply chain; 18 (2) strengthen critical energy resource supply 19 chains in the United States, including by— 20 (A) diversifying the sources of the supply 21 of critical energy resources; and 22 (B) increasing domestic production, sepa- 23 ration, and processing of critical energy re- 24 sources; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1599 IH (3) develop substitutes and alternatives to crit- 1 ical energy resources; 2 (4) improve technology that reuses and recycles 3 critical energy resources; and 4 (5) evaluate how the energy security of the 5 United States is affected by the reliance of the 6 United States on importing critical energy resources. 7 (b) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE DEFINED.—In 8 this section, the term ‘‘critical energy resource’’ has the 9 meaning given such term in section 2 of the Department 10 of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101). 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS