Federal

Securing America’s Critical Minerals Supply Act

Source: Congress.gov · 905 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes the Department of Energy Organization Act to make securing critical energy resources a formal responsibility of the Department of Energy. Critical energy resources are energy materials that are essential to the U.S. energy system and whose supply can be easily disrupted. The Secretary of Energy must now work to protect America's access to these resources.

Who It Affects

The Secretary of Energy, federal agencies, energy companies, state governments, and other groups that work on energy issues.

Key Provisions

• The Secretary of Energy must continuously assess which energy resources are critical, how vulnerable the U.S. supply chain is, and how relying on imports affects America's energy security. (Sec. 3(a)(1)) • The Secretary must develop strategies to strengthen the U.S. supply of critical energy resources by diversifying where we get them and increasing how much we produce, separate, and process domestically. (Sec. 3(a)(2)) • The Secretary must work to create substitutes and alternatives to critical energy resources. (Sec. 3(a)(3)) • The Secretary must improve technology that reuses and recycles critical energy resources. (Sec. 3(a)(4))

What Changes

The Department of Energy gains a new official duty to secure critical energy resources. The department must now consult with federal agencies, energy companies, states, and other stakeholders on these matters.

Important Definitions

Critical energy resource: Any energy resource that is essential to America's energy sector and energy systems, and whose supply chain can be disrupted. (Sec. 2(d))

IB Union Calendar No. 14 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1068 [Report No. 118–22] 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 FEBRUARY 17, 2023 Mr. BUCSHON (for himself and Mr. WEBER of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce MARCH 23, 2023 Additional sponsors: Mr. OBERNOLTE, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. DUNCAN, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. WALBERG, and Mr. CURTIS MARCH 23, 2023 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 17, 2023] VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1068.RH H1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1068 RH 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1068.RH H1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1068 RH 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 Crit- 4 ical Minerals Supply Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OR- 6 GANIZATION ACT. 7 The Department of Energy Organization Act (42 8 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended— 9 (1) in section 2, by adding at the end the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(d) As used in sections 102(20) and 203(a)(12), the 12 term ‘critical energy resource’ means any energy resource— 13 ‘‘(1) that is essential to the energy sector and en- 14 ergy systems of the United States; and 15 ‘‘(2) the supply chain of which is vulnerable to 16 disruption.’’; 17 (2) in section 102, by adding at the end the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘(20) To ensure there is an adequate and reliable 20 supply of critical energy resources that are essential 21 to the energy security of the United States.’’; and 22 (3) in section 203(a), by adding at the end the 23 following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1068.RH H1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1068 RH ‘‘(12) Functions that relate to securing the sup- 1 ply of critical energy resources, including identifying 2 and mitigating the effects of a disruption of such sup- 3 ply on— 4 ‘‘(A) the development and use of energy 5 technologies; and 6 ‘‘(B) the operation of energy systems.’’. 7 SEC. 3. SECURING CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE SUPPLY 8 CHAINS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the requirements 10 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 11 7101 et seq.), the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with 12 the appropriate Federal agencies, representatives of the en- 13 ergy sector, States, and other stakeholders, shall— 14 (1) conduct ongoing assessments of— 15 (A) energy resource criticality based on the 16 importance of critical energy resources to the de- 17 velopment of energy technologies and the supply 18 of energy; 19 (B) the critical energy resource supply 20 chain of the United States; 21 (C) the vulnerability of such supply chain; 22 and 23 (D) how the energy security of the United 24 States is affected by the reliance of the United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1068.RH H1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1068 RH States on importation of critical energy re- 1 sources; 2 (2) facilitate development of strategies to 3 strengthen critical energy resource supply chains in 4 the United States, including by— 5 (A) diversifying the sources of the supply of 6 critical energy resources; and 7 (B) increasing domestic production, separa- 8 tion, and processing of critical energy resources; 9 (3) develop substitutes and alternatives to crit- 10 ical energy resources; and 11 (4) improve technology that reuses and recycles 12 critical energy resources. 13 (b) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE DEFINED.—In this 14 section, the term ‘‘critical energy resource’’ has the meaning 15 given such term in section 2 of the Department of Energy 16 Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101). 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1068.RH H1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 14 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1068 [Report No. 118–22] A BILL To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to secure the supply of critical energy re- sources, including critical minerals and other ma- terials, and for other purposes. MARCH 23, 2023 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H1068.RH H1068 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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