A bill to improve the quality and timeliness of Federal permitting and review processes with respect to critical mineral production on Federal land, and for other purposes.

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1352 To improve the quality and timeliness of Federal permitting and review processes with respect to critical mineral production on Federal land, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. RISCH, Mr. TILLIS, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. DAINES, and Mr. LANKFORD) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To improve the quality and timeliness of Federal permitting and review processes with respect to critical mineral pro- duction on Federal land, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. CRITICAL MINERALS SUPPLY CHAINS AND RE- 3 LIABILITY. 4 (a) DEFINITION OF CRITICAL MINERAL.—In this 5 section, the term ‘‘critical mineral’’ has the meaning given 6 the term in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1352.IS S1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1352 IS (Public Law 116–260; 134 Stat. 2562; 30 U.S.C. 1 1606(a)). 2 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 3 gress that— 4 (1) critical minerals are fundamental to the 5 economy, competitiveness, and security of the United 6 States; 7 (2) many critical minerals are only economic to 8 recover when combined with the production of a host 9 mineral; 10 (3) to the maximum extent practicable, the crit- 11 ical mineral needs of the United States should be 12 satisfied by minerals responsibly produced and recy- 13 cled in the United States; and 14 (4) the Federal permitting process has been 15 identified as an impediment to mineral production 16 and the mineral security of the United States. 17 (c) FEDERAL PERMITTING AND REVIEW PERFORM- 18 ANCE IMPROVEMENTS.—To improve the quality and time- 19 liness of Federal permitting and review processes with re- 20 spect to critical mineral production on Federal land, the 21 Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of 22 the Bureau of Land Management, and the Secretary of 23 Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service 24 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretaries’’), to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1352.IS S1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1352 IS maximum extent practicable, shall complete the Federal 1 permitting and review processes with maximum efficiency 2 and effectiveness, while supporting vital economic growth, 3 by— 4 (1) establishing and adhering to timelines and 5 schedules for the consideration of, and final deci- 6 sions regarding, applications, operating plans, leases, 7 licenses, permits, and other use authorizations for 8 critical mineral-related activities on Federal land; 9 (2) establishing clear, quantifiable, and tem- 10 poral permitting performance goals and tracking 11 progress against those goals; 12 (3) engaging in early collaboration among agen- 13 cies, project sponsors, and affected stakeholders— 14 (A) to incorporate and address the inter- 15 ests of those parties; and 16 (B) to minimize delays; 17 (4) ensuring transparency and accountability by 18 using cost-effective information technology to collect 19 and disseminate information regarding individual 20 projects and agency performance; 21 (5) engaging in early and active consultation 22 with State, local, and Tribal governments— 23 (A) to avoid conflicts or duplication of ef- 24 fort; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1352.IS S1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1352 IS (B) to resolve concerns; and 1 (C) to allow for concurrent, rather than se- 2 quential, reviews; 3 (6) providing demonstrable improvements in the 4 performance of Federal permitting and review proc- 5 esses, including lower costs and more timely deci- 6 sions; 7 (7) expanding and institutionalizing Federal 8 permitting and review process improvements that 9 have proven effective; 10 (8) developing mechanisms to better commu- 11 nicate priorities and resolve disputes among agencies 12 at the national, regional, State, and local levels; and 13 (9) developing other practices, such as 14 preapplication procedures. 15 (d) REVIEW AND REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries 17 shall submit to Congress a report that— 18 (1) identifies additional measures, including 19 regulatory and legislative proposals, if appropriate, 20 that would increase the timeliness of permitting ac- 21 tivities for the exploration and development of do- 22 mestic critical minerals; 23 (2) identifies options, including cost recovery 24 paid by permit applicants, for ensuring adequate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1352.IS S1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1352 IS staffing and training of Federal entities and per- 1 sonnel responsible for the consideration of applica- 2 tions, operating plans, leases, licenses, permits, and 3 other use authorizations for critical mineral-related 4 activities on Federal land; 5 (3) quantifies the period of time typically re- 6 quired to complete each step associated with the de- 7 velopment and processing of applications, operating 8 plans, leases, licenses, permits, and other use au- 9 thorizations for critical mineral-related activities on 10 Federal land, including by— 11 (A) calculating the range, the mean, the 12 median, the variance, and other statistical 13 measures or representations of the period of 14 time; and 15 (B) taking into account other aspects that 16 affect the period of time that are outside the 17 control of the Executive branch, such as judicial 18 review, applicant decisions, or State and local 19 government involvement; and 20 (4) describes actions carried out pursuant to 21 subsection (c). 22 (e) PERFORMANCE METRIC.—Not later than 90 days 23 after the date of submission of the report under subsection 24 (d), and after providing public notice and an opportunity 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1352.IS S1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1352 IS to comment, the Secretaries, using as a baseline the period 1 of time quantified under paragraph (3) of that subsection, 2 shall develop and publish a performance metric for evalu- 3 ating the progress made by the Executive branch to expe- 4 dite the permitting of activities that will increase explo- 5 ration for, and development of, domestic critical minerals, 6 while maintaining environmental standards. 7 (f) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than the date on 8 which the President submits the first budget of the Presi- 9 dent under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, 10 after publication of the performance metric required under 11 subsection (e), and annually thereafter, the Secretaries 12 shall submit to Congress a report that— 13 (1) summarizes the implementation of rec- 14 ommendations, measures, and options identified in 15 paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (d); 16 (2) using the performance metric developed 17 under subsection (e), describes progress made by the 18 Executive branch, as compared to the baseline devel- 19 oped pursuant to subsection (d)(3), in expediting the 20 permitting of activities that will increase exploration 21 for, and development of, domestic critical minerals; 22 and 23 (3) compares the United States to other coun- 24 tries in terms of permitting efficiency and any other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1352.IS S1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1352 IS criteria relevant to the globally competitive critical 1 minerals industry. 2 (g) INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS.—Each year, using data 3 contained in the reports submitted under subsection (f), 4 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 5 shall prioritize inclusion of individual critical mineral 6 projects on the website operated by the Office of Manage- 7 ment and Budget in accordance with section 1122 of title 8 31, United States Code. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1352.IS S1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS