Intergovernmental Critical Minerals Task Force Act

118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1871 AN ACT To create intergovernmental coordination between State, local, Tribal, and territorial jurisdictions, and the Fed- eral Government to combat United States reliance on the People’s Republic of China and other covered coun- tries for critical minerals and rare earth metals, and for other purposes. 2 † S 1871 ES 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 ‘‘Intergovernmental 4 Critical Minerals Task Force Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) current supply chains of critical minerals 8 pose a great risk to the national security of the 9 United States; 10 (2) critical minerals are necessary for transpor- 11 tation, technology, renewable energy, military equip- 12 ment and machinery, and other relevant sectors cru- 13 cial for the homeland and national security of the 14 United States; 15 (3) in 2022, the United States was 100 percent 16 import reliant for 12 out of 50 critical minerals and 17 more than 50 percent import reliant for an addi- 18 tional 31 critical mineral commodities classified as 19 ‘‘critical’’ by the United States Geological Survey, 20 and the People’s Republic of China was the top pro- 21 ducing nation for 30 of those 50 critical minerals; 22 (4) as of July 2023, companies based in the 23 People’s Republic of China that extract critical min- 24 3 † S 1871 ES erals around the world have received hundreds of 1 charges of human rights violations; and 2 (5) on August 29, 2014, the World Trade Or- 3 ganization Dispute Settlement Body adopted find- 4 ings that the export restraints by the People’s Re- 5 public of China on rare earth metals, which harmed 6 manufacturers and workers in the United States, 7 violated obligations under the General Agreement on 8 Tariffs and Trade 1994 and China’s Protocol of Ac- 9 cession to the World Trade Organization. 10 SEC. 3. INTERGOVERNMENTAL CRITICAL MINERALS TASK 11 FORCE. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 of the National Mate- 13 rials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act 14 of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1604) is amended by adding at the 15 end the following: 16 ‘‘(g) INTERGOVERNMENTAL CRITICAL MINERALS 17 TASK FORCE.— 18 ‘‘(1) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the task 19 force established under paragraph (3)(B) are— 20 ‘‘(A) to assess the reliance of the United 21 States on the People’s Republic of China, and 22 other covered countries, for critical minerals, 23 and the resulting national security risks associ- 24 ated with that reliance; 25 4 † S 1871 ES ‘‘(B) to make recommendations to the 1 President for the implementation of this Act 2 with regard to critical minerals, including— 3 ‘‘(i) the congressional declarations of 4 policies in section 3; and 5 ‘‘(ii) revisions to the program plan of 6 the President and the initiatives required 7 under this section; 8 ‘‘(C) to make recommendations to secure 9 United States supply chains for critical min- 10 erals; 11 ‘‘(D) to make recommendations to reduce 12 the reliance of the United States, and partners 13 and allies of the United States, on critical min- 14 eral supply chains involving covered countries; 15 and 16 ‘‘(E) consistent with ongoing efforts of 17 other Federal departments, agencies, and other 18 entities, to facilitate cooperation, coordination, 19 and mutual accountability among each level of 20 the Federal Government, Indian Tribes, and 21 State, local, and territorial governments, on a 22 holistic response to the dependence on covered 23 countries for critical minerals across the United 24 States. 25 5 † S 1871 ES ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 1 ‘‘(A) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 2 GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of 3 Congress’ means— 4 ‘‘(i) the Committees on Homeland Se- 5 curity and Governmental Affairs, Energy 6 and Natural Resources, Armed Services, 7 Environment and Public Works, Com- 8 merce, Science, and Transportation, Fi- 9 nance, and Foreign Relations of the Sen- 10 ate; and 11 ‘‘(ii) the Committees on Oversight and 12 Accountability, Natural Resources, Armed 13 Services, Ways and Means, Foreign Af- 14 fairs, and Energy and Commerce of the 15 House of Representatives. 16 ‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON; CO-CHAIRPERSON.— 17 The terms ‘Chairperson’ and ‘Co-Chairperson’, 18 respectively, mean the Chairperson or Co-Chair- 19 person of the task force designated by the 20 President pursuant to paragraph (3)(A). 21 ‘‘(C) COVERED COUNTRY.—The term ‘cov- 22 ered country’ means— 23 6 † S 1871 ES ‘‘(i) a covered nation (as defined in 1 section 4872(d) of title 10, United States 2 Code); and 3 ‘‘(ii) any other country determined by 4 the task force to be a geostrategic compet- 5 itor or adversary of the United States with 6 respect to critical minerals. 7 ‘‘(D) CRITICAL MINERAL.—The term ‘crit- 8 ical mineral’ has the meaning given the term in 9 section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 10 U.S.C. 1606(a)). 11 ‘‘(E) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 12 Tribe’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 13 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 14 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 15 ‘‘(F) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘task force’ 16 means the task force established under para- 17 graph (3)(B). 18 ‘‘(3) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 19 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 20 President shall— 21 ‘‘(A) designate a Chairperson, or 2 individ- 22 uals as Co-Chairpersons, for the task force, who 23 shall be— 24 7 † S 1871 ES ‘‘(i) the Assistant to the President for 1 National Security Affairs; 2 ‘‘(ii) the Assistant to the President for 3 Economic Policy; or 4 ‘‘(iii) another relevant member of the 5 Executive Office of the President; and 6 ‘‘(B) acting through the Executive Office 7 of the President, establish a task force. 8 ‘‘(4) COMPOSITION; MEETINGS.— 9 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT.—The Chairperson or 10 Co-Chairpersons, in consultation with key inter- 11 governmental, private, and public sector stake- 12 holders, shall appoint to the task force rep- 13 resentatives with expertise in critical mineral 14 supply chains from Federal agencies, including 15 not less than 1 representative from each of— 16 ‘‘(i) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 17 ‘‘(ii) the Bureau of Land Manage- 18 ment; 19 ‘‘(iii) the Critical Minerals Sub- 20 committee of the National Science and 21 Technology Council; 22 ‘‘(iv) the Department of Agriculture; 23 ‘‘(v) the Department of Commerce; 24 ‘‘(vi) the Department of Defense; 25 8 † S 1871 ES ‘‘(vii) the Department of Energy; 1 ‘‘(viii) the Department of Homeland 2 Security; 3 ‘‘(ix) the Department of the Interior; 4 ‘‘(x) the Department of Labor; 5 ‘‘(xi) the Department of State; 6 ‘‘(xii) the Department of Transpor- 7 tation; 8 ‘‘(xiii) the Environmental Protection 9 Agency; 10 ‘‘(xiv) the Export-Import Bank of the 11 United States; 12 ‘‘(xv) the Forest Service; 13 ‘‘(xvi) the General Services Adminis- 14 tration; 15 ‘‘(xvii) the National Economic Coun- 16 cil; 17 ‘‘(xviii) the National Science Founda- 18 tion; 19 ‘‘(xix) the National Security Council; 20 ‘‘(xx) the Office of Management and 21 Budget; 22 ‘‘(xxi) the Office of the United States 23 Trade Representative; 24 9 † S 1871 ES ‘‘(xxii) the United States Inter- 1 national Development Finance Corpora- 2 tion; 3 ‘‘(xxiii) the United States Geological 4 Survey; and 5 ‘‘(xxiv) any other relevant Federal en- 6 tity, as determined by the Chairperson or 7 Co-Chairpersons. 8 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—The task force 9 shall consult individuals with expertise in crit- 10 ical mineral supply chains, individuals from 11 States whose communities, businesses, and in- 12 dustries are involved in aspects of critical min- 13 eral supply chains, including mining and proc- 14 essing operations, and individuals from a di- 15 verse and balanced cross-section of— 16 ‘‘(i) intergovernmental consultees, in- 17 cluding— 18 ‘‘(I) State governments; 19 ‘‘(II) local governments; 20 ‘‘(III) territorial governments; 21 and 22 ‘‘(IV) Indian Tribes; and 23 ‘‘(ii) other stakeholders, including— 24 10 † S 1871 ES ‘‘(I) academic research institu- 1 tions; 2 ‘‘(II) corporations; 3 ‘‘(III) nonprofit organizations; 4 ‘‘(IV) private sector stakeholders; 5 ‘‘(V) trade associations; 6 ‘‘(VI) mining industry stake- 7 holders; and 8 ‘‘(VII) labor representatives. 9 ‘‘(C) MEETINGS.— 10 ‘‘(i) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later 11 than 90 days after the date on which all 12 representatives of the task force have been 13 appointed, the task force shall hold the 14 first meeting of the task force. 15 ‘‘(ii) FREQUENCY.—The task force 16 shall meet not less than once every 90 17 days. 18 ‘‘(5) DUTIES.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the task 20 force shall include— 21 ‘‘(i) facilitating cooperation, coordina- 22 tion, and mutual accountability for the 23 Federal Government, Indian Tribes, and 24 State, local, and territorial governments to 25 11 † S 1871 ES enhance data sharing and transparency to 1 build more robust and secure domestic 2 supply chains for critical minerals in sup- 3 port of the purposes described in para- 4 graph (1); 5 ‘‘(ii) providing recommendations with 6 respect to— 7 ‘‘(I) increasing capacities for 8 mining, processing, refinement, reuse, 9 and recycling of critical minerals in 10 the United States to facilitate the en- 11 vironmentally responsible production 12 of domestic resources to meet national 13 critical mineral needs, in consultation 14 with Tribal and local communities; 15 ‘‘(II) identifying how statutes, 16 regulations, and policies related to the 17 critical mineral supply chain, such as 18 stockpiling and development finance, 19 could be modified to accelerate envi- 20 ronmentally responsible domestic and 21 international production of critical 22 minerals, in consultation with Indian 23 Tribes and local communities; 24 12 † S 1871 ES ‘‘(III) strengthening the domestic 1 workforce to support growing critical 2 mineral supply chains with good-pay- 3 ing, safe jobs in the United States; 4 ‘‘(IV) identifying alternative do- 5 mestic sources to critical minerals 6 that the United States currently relies 7 on the People’s Republic of China or 8 other covered countries for mining, 9 processing, refining, and recycling, in- 10 cluding the availability, capacity, cost, 11 and quality of those domestic alter- 12 natives; 13 ‘‘(V) identifying critical minerals 14 and critical mineral supply chains that 15 the United States can onshore, in 16 whole or in part, at a competitive 17 value and quality, for those minerals 18 and supply chains that the United 19 States relies on the People’s Republic 20 of China or other covered countries to 21 provide; 22 ‘‘(VI) opportunities for the Fed- 23 eral Government, Indian Tribes, and 24 State, local, and territorial govern- 25 13 † S 1871 ES ments to mitigate risks to the national 1 security of the United States with re- 2 spect to supply chains for critical min- 3 erals that the United States currently 4 relies on the People’s Republic of 5 China or other covered countries for 6 mining, processing, refining, and recy- 7 cling; and 8 ‘‘(VII) evaluating and integrating 9 the recommendations of the Critical 10 Minerals Subcommittee of the Na- 11 tional Science and Technology Council 12 into the recommendations of the task 13 force; 14 ‘‘(iii) prioritizing the recommendations 15 in clause (ii), taking into consideration eco- 16 nomic costs and focusing on the critical 17 mineral supply chains with vulnerabilities 18 posing the most significant risks to the na- 19 tional security of the United States; 20 ‘‘(iv) recommending specific strate- 21 gies, to be carried out in coordination with 22 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 23 Commerce, to strengthen international 24 partnerships in furtherance of critical min- 25 14 † S 1871 ES erals supply chain security with inter- 1 national allies and partners, including a 2 strategy to collaborate with governments of 3 the allies and partners described in sub- 4 paragraph (B) to develop advanced mining, 5 refining, separation and processing tech- 6 nologies; and 7 ‘‘(v) other duties, as determined by 8 the Chairperson or Co-Chairpersons. 9 ‘‘(B) ALLIES AND PARTNERS.—The allies 10 and partners referred to in subparagraph (A) 11 include— 12 ‘‘(i) countries participating in the 13 Quadrilateral Security Dialogue; 14 ‘‘(ii) countries that are— 15 ‘‘(I) signatories to the Abraham 16 Accords; or 17 ‘‘(II) participants in the Negev 18 Forum; and 19 ‘‘(iii) countries that are members of 20 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 21 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—The Chairperson or Co- 22 Chairpersons shall— 23 ‘‘(i) not later than 60 days after the 24 date of enactment of this subsection, and 25 15 † S 1871 ES every 60 days thereafter until the require- 1 ments under subsection (a) are satisfied, 2 brief the appropriate committees of Con- 3 gress on the status of the compliance of 4 the President with completing the require- 5 ments under that subsection; 6 ‘‘(ii) not later than 2 years after the 7 date of enactment of this subsection, sub- 8 mit to the appropriate committees of Con- 9 gress a report, which shall be submitted in 10 unclassified form, but may include a classi- 11 fied annex, that describes any findings, 12 guidelines, and recommendations created 13 in performing the duties under subpara- 14 graph (A); 15 ‘‘(iii) not later than 120 days after 16 the date on which the Chairperson or Co- 17 Chairpersons submits the report under 18 clause (ii), publish that report in the Fed- 19 eral Register, except that the Chairperson 20 or Co-Chairpersons shall redact informa- 21 tion from the report that the Chairperson 22 or Co-Chairpersons determines could pose 23 a risk to the national security of the 24 16 † S 1871 ES United States by being publicly available; 1 and 2 ‘‘(iv) brief the appropriate committees 3 of Congress twice per year. 4 ‘‘(6) DUPLICATION OF EFFORT.—The Chair- 5 person or Co-Chairpersons, to the maximum extent 6 practicable, shall carry out the task force in a man- 7 ner that does not duplicate the efforts of other Fed- 8 eral departments, agencies, or other entities. 9 ‘‘(7) SUNSET.—The task force shall terminate 10 on the date that is 90 days after the date on which 11 the task force completes the requirements under 12 paragraph (5)(C). 13 ‘‘(8) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—No additional 14 funds are authorized to be appropriated for the pur- 15 pose of carrying out this subsection.’’. 16 (b) GAO STUDY.— 17 (1) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Comptroller Gen- 18 eral of the United States shall conduct a study ex- 19 amining the Federal and State regulatory landscape 20 related to improving domestic supply [Text truncated for display. 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