II Calendar No. 176 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1052 [Report No. 116–74] To authorize the Office of Fossil Energy to develop advanced separation technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and coal byproducts, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 4, 2019 Mr. MANCHIN (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources AUGUST 16, 2019 Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of August 1, 2019, by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To authorize the Office of Fossil Energy to develop advanced separation technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and coal byproducts, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1052 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rare Earth Element 2 Advanced Coal Technologies Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds that— 5 (1) the United States is largely dependent on 6 foreign imports for the domestic supply of rare earth 7 elements and critical minerals in the United States; 8 (2) as of the date of enactment of this Act, the 9 United States does not have domestic production ca- 10 pability for, or a guaranteed supply chain of, rare 11 earth elements and critical minerals; 12 (3) access to certain rare earth elements and 13 minerals is critical for the national security of the 14 United States; 15 (4) China maintains a near monopoly of the 16 global supply chain of rare earth elements and crit- 17 ical minerals; 18 (5) the successful development of commercially 19 viable refining methods of rare earth elements from 20 coal byproducts could lead to new economic develop- 21 ment opportunities in parts of the United States 22 most affected by the downturn of the coal industry; 23 (6) rare earth elements— 24 (A) comprise elements on the periodic 25 table, including— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1052 RS (i) the lanthanides, which are lan- 1 thanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium 2 (Pr), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), 3 europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium 4 (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), er- 5 bium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), 6 and lutetium (Lu); and 7 (ii) transition elements, which are 8 scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y); and 9 (B) can be divided into— 10 (i) light rare earth elements, which 11 are lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseo- 12 dymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), pro- 13 methium (Pm), and samarium (Sm); and 14 (ii) heavy rare earth elements, which 15 are scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), gado- 16 linium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium 17 (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium 18 (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu); 19 and 20 (7) it is in the interest of the Federal Govern- 21 ment— 22 (A) to guide responsible domestic produc- 23 tion methods of rare earth elements and min- 24 erals to ensure industry and consumers in the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1052 RS United States have access to a reliable domestic 1 supply of valuable rare earth elements and min- 2 erals; and 3 (B)(i) to identify the areas of highest po- 4 tential interruption in the global supply chain of 5 rare earth elements and minerals; and 6 (ii) to strengthen the position of the 7 United States in that supply chain by miti- 8 gating potential interruptions through the de- 9 velopment of advanced separation technologies 10 for coal and coal byproducts. 11 SEC. 3. PROGRAM FOR EXTRACTION AND RECOVERY OF 12 RARE EARTH ELEMENTS AND MINERALS 13 FROM COAL AND COAL BYPRODUCTS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, acting 15 through the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (re- 16 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall carry out 17 a program under which the Secretary shall develop ad- 18 vanced separation technologies for the extraction and re- 19 covery of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and 20 coal byproducts. 21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 22 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 23 out the program described in subsection (a) $23,000,000 24 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2027. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1052 RS SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT AND REPORT. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta- 3 tion with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 4 the Interior, shall carry out, and submit to the Committee 5 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 6 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 7 Representatives— 8 (1) an assessment— 9 (A) identifying and ranking the rare earth 10 elements that— 11 (i) are most important to consumers 12 in the United States; 13 (ii) are most jeopardized in the global 14 supply chain; and 15 (iii) will have the greatest impact to 16 consumers in the United States in the 17 event of a disruption in the global supply 18 chain; 19 (B) evaluating the development of ad- 20 vanced separation technologies for the extrac- 21 tion and recovery of rare earth elements and 22 minerals from coal and coal byproducts (re- 23 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘‘tech- 24 nologies’’); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1052 RS (C) identifying and evaluating the results 1 of the development of the technologies, includ- 2 ing the results with respect to the extraction 3 and recovery of each rare earth element; 4 (D) determining what the technologies are 5 capable of producing; 6 (E) evaluating the performance of the 7 technologies, including what the technologies— 8 (i) succeed and fail at accomplishing; 9 and 10 (ii) can and cannot do cost-effectively; 11 and 12 (F)(i) evaluating the market impact on 13 each rare earth mineral of the penetration of 14 commercially viable technologies; and 15 (ii) how the penetration of commercially 16 viable coal-based technology will impact the 17 global supply chain; and 18 (2) a report analyzing— 19 (A) the additional resources required for 20 the development of commercial-ready deploy- 21 ment of technologies that are second generation 22 and transformational; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1052 RS (B) the market impact of processes to 1 treat and recover rare earth elements and min- 2 erals from acid mine drainage from coal mines. 3 (b) REQUIREMENT.—In carrying out the assessment 4 and report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall focus 5 on the rare earth elements determined by the Secretary 6 to be most critical to the national security of the United 7 States. 8 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 9 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rare Earth Element 10 Advanced Coal Technologies Act’’. 11 SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR EXTRACTION AND RECOVERY OF 12 RARE EARTH ELEMENTS AND MINERALS 13 FROM COAL AND COAL BYPRODUCTS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, acting 15 through the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (referred 16 to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall carry out a pro- 17 gram under which the Secretary shall develop advanced sep- 18 aration technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare 19 earth elements and minerals from coal and coal byproducts. 20 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 21 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out 22 the program described in subsection (a) $23,000,000 for 23 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2027. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1052 RS SEC. 3. REPORT. 1 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 2 this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 3 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Com- 4 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Represent- 5 atives a report evaluating the development of advanced sep- 6 aration technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare 7 earth elements and minerals from coal and coal byproducts, 8 including acid mine drainage from coal mines. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 176 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1052 [Report No. 116–74] A BILL To authorize the Office of Fossil Energy to develop advanced separation technologies for the extrac- tion and recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and coal byproducts, and for other purposes. AUGUST 16, 2019 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1052.RS S1052 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS