Strategic Energy and Minerals Initiative Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1537 To modernize certain Federal agencies for an era of strategic energy and mineral competition, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 10, 2021 Ms. MURKOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To modernize certain Federal agencies for an era of strategic energy and mineral competition, 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. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strategic Energy and 4 Minerals Initiative Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—It is the policy of the United 7 States to enable the private sector in the United States 8 to compete in global energy and critical minerals markets 9 that may be dominated by cartels, state-sponsored enter- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1537.IS S1537 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1537 IS prises, and trade finance agencies that utilize the provision 1 of credit, capital, and other financial support for strategic 2 energy purposes. 3 (b) CRITICAL MINERAL DEFINED.—In this section, 4 the term ‘‘critical mineral’’ has the meaning given the 5 term in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (divi- 6 sion Z of Public Law 116–260; 134 Stat. 2562; 30 U.S.C. 7 1606(a)). 8 SEC. 3. STRATEGIC ENERGY AND MINERALS PORTFOLIO OF 9 UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOP- 10 MENT FINANCE CORPORATION. 11 Title V of the Better Utilization of Investments Lead- 12 ing to Development Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9671 et seq.) 13 is amended by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘SEC. 1455. STRATEGIC ENERGY AND MINERALS PORT- 15 FOLIO. 16 ‘‘The Corporation— 17 ‘‘(1) may provide support under title II for 18 projects related to any type of energy, including fos- 19 sil fuels, renewables (including hydropower), and nu- 20 clear energy, or the production, processing, manu- 21 facturing, or recycling of critical minerals (as de- 22 fined in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 23 (division Z of Public Law 116–260; 134 Stat. 2562; 24 30 U.S.C. 1606(a))); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1537.IS S1537 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1537 IS ‘‘(2) may not prohibit, restrict, or otherwise im- 1 pede the provision of support on the basis of the 2 type of energy involved in a project.’’. 3 SEC. 4. OPPOSITION TO POLICIES AT MULTILATERAL DE- 4 VELOPMENT BANKS RESTRICTING ASSIST- 5 ANCE BASED ON TYPE OF ENERGY IN- 6 VOLVED. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 8 shall direct the United States Executive Director of each 9 multilateral development bank to use the voice and vote 10 of the United States at the bank to oppose all policies, 11 rules, and regulations at the bank that restrict the provi- 12 sion of development assistance to developing countries on 13 the basis of the type of energy involved, including through 14 restrictions on upstream fossil fuel activities and the use 15 of coal-fired electricity generation. 16 (b) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANK DE- 17 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘multilateral develop- 18 ment bank’’ has the meaning given that term in section 19 1701(c) of the International Financial Institutions Act 20 (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)). 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1537.IS S1537 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1537 IS SEC. 5. PROMOTION OF ENERGY AND MINERALS EXPORTS 1 BY EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED 2 STATES. 3 (a) STRATEGIC ENERGY AND MINERALS PORT- 4 FOLIO.—The Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 5 635 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘SEC. 16. STRATEGIC ENERGY AND MINERALS PORTFOLIO. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bank shall establish a stra- 9 tegic energy and minerals portfolio focused on providing 10 financing (including loans, guarantees, and insurance) for 11 civil nuclear energy infrastructure projects (subject to sub- 12 section (c)), natural gas infrastructure projects, and crit- 13 ical minerals projects (including production, processing, 14 manufacturing, or recycling), that may facilitate— 15 ‘‘(1) increases in exports of United States en- 16 ergy commodities, such as regasification terminals; 17 ‘‘(2) the export of United States equipment, 18 materials, and technology; or 19 ‘‘(3) the strategic diversification of supply 20 chains critical to the United States economy. 21 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM EXPOSURE CAP FOR STRATEGIC EN- 22 ERGY PORTFOLIO.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The aggregate amount of 24 loans, guarantees, and insurance under subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1537.IS S1537 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1537 IS (a) the Bank has outstanding at any one time may 1 not exceed $50,000,000,000. 2 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF DEFAULTS.—A default on 3 financing provided under subsection (a) shall not— 4 ‘‘(A) be included in the default rate cal- 5 culated by the Bank under section 8(g)(1); or 6 ‘‘(B) count for purposes of the freeze on 7 lending provided for under section 6(a)(3). 8 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—The Bank may provide financing 9 for civil nuclear energy infrastructure projects only in 10 countries with which the United States has in effect a nu- 11 clear cooperation agreement under section 123 of the 12 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153). 13 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 14 tion may be construed to lessen the obligation of the Bank 15 to conduct rigorous due diligence and mitigate risks with 16 respect to transactions or projects for which the Bank pro- 17 vides financing under this section. 18 ‘‘(e) CRITICAL MINERAL DEFINED.—In this section, 19 the term ‘critical mineral’ has the meaning given the term 20 in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (division 21 Z of Public Law 116–260; 134 Stat. 2562; 30 U.S.C. 22 1606(a)).’’. 23 (b) PROMOTION OF ENERGY EXPORTS.—Section 24 2(b)(1)(C) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1537.IS S1537 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1537 IS U.S.C. 635(b)(1)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘nonnuclear 1 renewable’’ and inserting ‘‘all’’. 2 (c) MODIFICATION OF LIMITATION ON FINANCING 3 FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY EXPORTS.—Section 2(b)(5)(C) of 4 the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 5 635(b)(5)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘any liquid metal 6 fast breeder nuclear reactor or any nuclear fuel reprocess- 7 ing facility’’ and inserting ‘‘any nuclear material, equip- 8 ment, or technology not provided for under a nuclear co- 9 operation agreement in effect under section 123 of the 10 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153)’’. 11 (d) EXTENSION OF EXPORT-IMPORT BANK.— 12 (1) AGGREGATE LOAN, GUARANTEE, AND IN- 13 SURANCE AUTHORITY.—Section 6(a) of the Export- 14 Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635e(a)) is 15 amended— 16 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘fiscal 17 years 2020 through 2027, means 18 $135,000,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘2021 19 through 2031, means $200,000,000,000’’; and 20 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘If’’ and 21 inserting ‘‘Except as provided in section 22 16(b)(2), if’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1537.IS S1537 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1537 IS (2) TERMINATION.—Section 7 of the Export- 1 Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635f) is 2 amended by striking ‘‘2026’’ and inserting ‘‘2031’’. 3 SEC. 6. LOAN GUARANTEES FOR PROJECTS THAT IN- 4 CREASE THE DOMESTIC SUPPLY OF CRIT- 5 ICAL MINERALS. 6 Section 1703(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 7 (42 U.S.C. 16513(b)) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following: 9 ‘‘(13) Projects that increase the domestic sup- 10 ply of critical minerals (as designated by the Sec- 11 retary of the Interior under section 7002(c) of the 12 Energy Act of 2020 (division Z of Public Law 116– 13 260; 134 Stat. 2563; 30 U.S.C. 1606(c)), including 14 through the production, manufacturing, processing, 15 recycling, or fabrication of mineral alternatives.’’. 16 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL STRATEGY TO EN- 17 SURE SECURE AND RELIABLE SUPPLIES OF 18 CRITICAL MINERALS. 19 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact- 20 ment of this Act, the Federal Government shall fully im- 21 plement the recommendations made in the report of the 22 Department of Commerce entitled ‘‘A Federal Strategy to 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1537.IS S1537 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1537 IS Ensure the Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Min- 1 erals’’ and dated June 2019. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1537.IS S1537 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS