Ensuring Access to Domestic Mineral Production Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2176 To provide for the continued and uninterrupted production of domestic minerals in the United States. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2021 Mr. STEWART introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri- culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for the continued and uninterrupted production of domestic minerals in the United States. 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 ‘‘Ensuring Access to 4 Domestic Mineral Production Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (a) WITHDRAWAL.—The term ‘‘withdrawal’’ means 8 withholding an area of Federal public land from the loca- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2176.IH H2176 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2176 IH tion of new mining claim, purchase and from mining ac- 1 tivities such as exploration and mine development in ac- 2 cordance with 43 U.S.C. § 1702(j); 43 C.F.R. § 2300– 3 0–5(h). 4 (b) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means ei- 5 ther the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agri- 6 culture or their designee. 7 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Congress finds that production of 9 domestic minerals is essential to U.S. economic and na- 10 tional security and necessary to provide the essential re- 11 sources needed for the U.S. economy and allied nations, 12 including— 13 (1) for the national defense and national secu- 14 rity requirements; 15 (2) for the energy infrastructure of the United 16 States, including— 17 (A) pipelines; 18 (B) refining capacity; 19 (C) electrical power generation and trans- 20 mission; and 21 (D) renewable energy production; 22 (3) for community resiliency, coastal restora- 23 tion, and ecological sustainability for the coastal 24 United States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2176.IH H2176 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2176 IH (4) to support domestic manufacturing, agri- 1 culture, housing, telecommunications, healthcare, 2 and transportation infrastructure; or 3 (5) for the economic security of, and balance of 4 trade in, the United States. 5 (b) WITHDRAWALS OF LANDS PURSUANT TO SEC- 6 TION 204 OF THE FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGE- 7 MENT ACT (FLPMA).—In enacting FLPMA to govern 8 withdrawals of Federal lands and mineral assessment of 9 lands prior to any withdrawal, Congress expressly in- 10 tended to— 11 (1) limit the Secretary’s authority to withdraw 12 more than five thousand acres; and 13 (2) provide a mechanism for Congress to dis- 14 approve withdrawals that exceed five thousand acres. 15 SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON MINERAL WITHDRAWALS. 16 (a) Congress prohibits the Secretary from any min- 17 eral withdrawal until a mineral study has been completed, 18 as required under Section 204 of FLPMA, that dem- 19 onstrates that the proposed withdrawal will not result in 20 any negative impacts to U.S. national security by limiting 21 access to critical minerals. 22 (b) Congress prohibits the Secretary from with- 23 drawing Federal lands in excess of five thousand acres un- 24 less the withdrawal is expressly approved by Congress. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2176.IH H2176 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2176 IH (c) Prior to any withdrawal being initiated, the U.S. 1 Geological Survey—in consultation with the Department 2 of Defense, Department of State, and the U.S. Trade Rep- 3 resentative—will conduct a mineral assessment to ensure 4 that the minerals to be withdrawn by a proposed with- 5 drawal does not impede the ability of the U.S. or its allies 6 to procure a secure supply chain of mineral resources nec- 7 essary for activities designated in Section 3(a), and in 8 turn, result in negative impacts on— 9 (1) U.S. economic or national security; 10 (2) U.S. allies economic or national security; or 11 (3) the ability to ensure an appropriate balance 12 of trade. 13 SEC. 5. MINERAL ASSESSMENT. 14 (a) Any mineral assessment conducted prior to any 15 withdrawal being initiated must— 16 (1) include ample opportunity for input from 17 the public including mineral and mining interests; 18 (2) include forecasted impacts to U.S. and al- 19 lied nations economic and national security; 20 (3) include forecasted impacts to U.S. mineral 21 supply chains; 22 (4) be completed no more than 12 months prior 23 to the withdrawal; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2176.IH H2176 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2176 IH (5) evaluate the impacts of continued mineral 1 import reliance from foreign sources, including geo- 2 political adversaries; 3 (6) include a comprehensive geological mapping 4 and analysis by USGS of the likelihood of the pres- 5 ence of critical minerals within the withdrawal area; 6 and 7 (7) include an analysis, conducted by the De- 8 partment of Defense, of the impacts of the with- 9 drawal on national security, including— 10 (A) vulnerabilities to national security of 11 preventing access to domestic minerals located 12 in the withdrawal area. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2176.IH H2176 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS