Critical Mineral Access Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3896 To amend the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act of 2018 to authorize support in high-income economy countries for projects involving development or processing of covered critical mate- rials if such support furthers the national security interests of the United States. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2021 Mr. CARTER of Georgia (for himself and Ms. TITUS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To amend the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act of 2018 to authorize support in high-income economy countries for projects involving de- velopment or processing of covered critical materials if such support furthers the national security interests of 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 ‘‘Critical Mineral Access 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:46 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3896.IH H3896 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3896 IH SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO BETTER UTILIZATION OF INVEST- 1 MENTS LEADING TO DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2 2018. 3 Section 1412(b) of the Better Utilization of Invest- 4 ments Leading to Development Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 5 9612(b)) is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘The purpose’’ and inserting the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The purpose’’; 9 (2) by striking ‘‘shall be to’’ and inserting the 10 following: ‘‘shall be— 11 ‘‘(A) to’’; 12 (3) by striking ‘‘the United States.’’ and insert- 13 ing the following: ‘‘the United States; and 14 ‘‘(B) to provide support under title II in 15 high-income economy countries for projects in- 16 volving development or processing of covered 17 critical materials if such support furthers the 18 national security interests of the United 19 States.’’; 20 (4) by striking ‘‘In carrying out’’ and inserting 21 the following: 22 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN CRITERIA.— 23 In carrying out’’; and 24 (5) by adding at the end the following: 25 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In paragraph (1)(B): 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:46 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3896.IH H3896 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3896 IH ‘‘(A) COVERED CRITICAL MATERIALS.— 1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered 2 critical materials’ means aluminum (baux- 3 ite), antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, 4 bismuth, cesium, chromium, cobalt, 5 fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite 6 (natural), hafnium, helium, indium, lith- 7 ium, magnesium, manganese, niobium, 8 platinum group metals, potash, the rare 9 earth elements group, rhenium, rubidium, 10 scandium, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, 11 tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vana- 12 dium, and zirconium. 13 ‘‘(ii) RARE EARTH ELEMENTS 14 GROUP.—In clause (i), the term ‘rare earth 15 elements group’ means lanthanum, cerium, 16 praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, 17 samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, 18 dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, yt- 19 terbium, lutetium, scandium, yttrium. 20 ‘‘(B) HIGH-INCOME ECONOMY COUNTRY.— 21 The term ‘high-income economy country’ means 22 a country with a high-income economy, as de- 23 fined by the International Bank for Reconstruc- 24 tion and Development and the International 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:46 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3896.IH H3896 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3896 IH Development Association (collectively referred 1 to as the ‘World Bank’).’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:46 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3896.IH H3896 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS