I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10377 

To encourage the Secretary of the Interior to enter into memoranda of 

understanding with agencies in other countries with respect to scientific 

and technical cooperation in the earth sciences. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2024 

Mr. WITTMAN (for himself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. GIMENEZ, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. TORRES of New 

York, and Mr. CLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To encourage the Secretary of the Interior to enter into 

memoranda of understanding with agencies in other 

countries with respect to scientific and technical cooperation in the earth sciences. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Earth Sciences and 

5 Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING WITH RESPECT 

2 TO SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL COOPERA3 TION IN EARTH SCIENCES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter into a 

5 memorandum of understanding with the head of an agen6 cy of a foreign country with respect to scientific and tech7 nical cooperation in the earth sciences. 

8 (b) PRIORITIZATION.—The Secretary shall prioritize 

9 entering into memoranda of understanding under sub10 section (a) with the heads of agencies of partner foreign 

11 countries. 

12 (c) PRIORITIZATION OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.—A 

13 memorandum of understanding entered into under sub14 section (a) shall prioritize carrying out activities in a coop15 erative manner, including the following: 

16 (1) Acquisition, compilation, analysis, and inter17 pretation of geologic, geophysical, geochemical, and 

18 spectroscopic remote sensing data. 

19 (2) Prospectivity mapping and mineral resource 

20 assessment. 

21 (3) Analysis of geoscience data, including devel22 oping derivative map products that can help more 

23 effectively evaluate the mineral resources of the 

24 other country. 

25 (4) Scientific collaboration to enhance the un26 derstanding and management of the natural reVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:58 Jan 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10377.IH H10377

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1 sources of the other country and thereby contribute 

2 to the sustainable development of the mineral re3 sources sector of the other country. 

4 (5) Training and capacity building in each area 

5 described in paragraphs (1) through (4). 

6 (6) Facilitation of higher education with respect 

7 to and specialized training in geoscience and mineral 

8 resource management at institutions of higher edu9 cation located within the United States. 

10 (7) Training in environmental and workplace 

11 standards, led by the Secretary, for an agency of a 

12 foreign country that is a party to such a memo13 randum of understanding. 

14 (d) ENCOURAGEMENT OF DIRECT CONTACTS AND

15 COOPERATION.—A memorandum of understanding en16 tered into under subsection (a) may encourage and facili17 tate the development of direct contacts and cooperation 

18 among and between entities of the United States and each 

19 country that is a party to the memorandum of under20 standing, including government agencies, universities, re21 search centers, and private companies. 

22 (e) PARTICIPATION OF THIRD PARTIES.—To the ex23 tent permitted by the laws and policies of the government 

24 of each country that is a party to a memorandum of un25 derstanding entered into under subsection (a), the memoVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:58 Jan 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10377.IH H10377

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1 randum of understanding shall encourage government en2 tities or agencies of the United States and each such coun3 try and other entities that are not parties to the memo4 randum of understanding, including scientists, technical 

5 experts, institutions of other foreign countries, and inter6 national organizations, to participate in activities carried 

7 out pursuant to the memorandum of understanding. 

8 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro10 priated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $3,000,000 

11 for fiscal year 2025, to remain available until expended. 

12 (b) REQUIRED USE OF AMOUNTS.—The Secretary 

13 shall use at least 70 percent of the amounts authorized 

14 to be appropriated under subsection (a) to support the im15 plementation of memoranda of understanding entered into 

16 under section 2(a), including paying salaries and expenses 

17 necessary to carry out the activities described in section 

18 2(c). 

19 (c) ALLOWED USE OF AMOUNTS.—The Secretary 

20 may use amounts authorized to be appropriated under 

21 subsection (a) that are not used in accordance with sub22 section (b)— 

23 (1) to support the planning and coordinating of 

24 critical mineral data collection; 


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1 (2) to adopt shared data management ap2 proaches with partner foreign countries; and 

3 (3) to coordinate data management approaches 

4 with partner foreign countries. 

5 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) CRITICAL MINERAL.—The term ‘‘critical 

8 mineral’’ means any mineral, element, substance, or 

9 material— 

10 (A) included on the list of critical minerals 

11 published by the United States Geological Sur12 vey pursuant to section 7002(c) of the Energy 

13 Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)); 

14 (B) included on the list of critical mate15 rials published by the Department of Energy 

16 pursuant to section 7002(a) of the Energy Act 

17 of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)); and 

18 (C) designated as a material of interest by 

19 the Defense Logistics Agency. 

20 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

21 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

22 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

23 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 


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1 (3) PARTNER FOREIGN COUNTRY.—The term 

2 ‘‘partner foreign country’’ means a country that is 

3 a source of a critical mineral and— 

4 (A) with which the United States has en5 tered into a mutual defense treaty or other mu6 tual defense agreement; 

7 (B) that is recognized by the Secretary of 

8 State and the Secretary of Defense as a stra9 tegic partner due to an established bilateral 

10 agreement that emphasizes mutual interests in 

11 security, defense, and critical mineral supply 

12 chains, including countries designated under 

13 United States strategic frameworks and agree14 ments; 

15 (C) with which the United States has en16 tered into a comprehensive economic and trade 

17 agreement that includes provisions for the col18 laboration on critical mineral resources and to 

19 safeguard supply chains critical to national se20 curity and economic stability; 

21 (D) with which the Secretary has entered 

22 into a memorandum of understanding con23 cerning scientific and technical cooperation in 

24 earth sciences under section 2(a); or 


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1 (E) with which the Secretary of State is 

2 working under the Partnership for Global Infra3 structure and Investment to advance a critical 

4 mineral project. 

5 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

6 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di7 rector of the United States Geologic Survey. 

Æ 


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