II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2374 

To amend the Helium Act to ensure the expedient and responsible drawdown of the Federal Helium Reserve in a manner that protects the 

interests of private industry, the scientific, medical, and industrial communities, commercial users, and Federal agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2012 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. ENZI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Helium Act to ensure the expedient and responsible draw-down of the Federal Helium Reserve in 

a manner that protects the interests of private industry, 

the scientific, medical, and industrial communities, commercial users, and Federal agencies, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Helium Stewardship 

5 Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 2 of the Helium Act (50 U.S.C. 167) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking the semicolon 

5 at the end and inserting a period; 

6 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

7 inserting a period; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL HELIUM RESERVE.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Federal 

11 Helium Reserve’ means helium reserves owned 

12 by the United States. 

13 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘Federal He14 lium Reserve’ includes— 

15 ‘‘(i) the Cliffside Field helium storage 

16 reservoir; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the federally owned helium pipe18 line system; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) all associated infrastructure 

20 owned, leased, or managed under contract 

21 by the Secretary for storage, transpor22 tation, withdrawal, purification, or man23 agement of helium. 

24 ‘‘(5) LOW-BTU GAS.—The term ‘low-Btu gas’ 

25 means a fuel gas with a heating value of less than 

26 250 Btu per standard cubic foot measured as the 


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1 higher heating value resulting from the inclusion of 

2 noncombustible gases, including nitrogen, helium, 

3 argon, and carbon dioxide.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. SALE OF CRUDE HELIUM. 

5 Section 6 of the Helium Act (50 U.S.C. 167d) is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 6. SALE OF CRUDE HELIUM. 

8 ‘‘(a) PHASE A: BUSINESS AS USUAL.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

10 the Secretary may offer for sale crude helium for 

11 Federal, medical, scientific, and commercial uses in 

12 such quantities, at such times, and under such con13 ditions as the Secretary, in consultation with the he14 lium industry, determines necessary to carry out this 

15 subsection with minimum market disruption. 

16 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM QUANTITY.—The Secretary shall 

17 offer for sale during each fiscal year under para18 graph (1) a quantity of crude helium that is not less 

19 than the quantity of crude helium offered for sale by 

20 the Secretary during fiscal year 2012. 

21 ‘‘(3) PURCHASE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Fed22 eral agencies, and extramural holders of 1 or more 

23 Federal research grants, may purchase refined he24 lium under this subsection for Federal, medical, and 

25 scientific uses from persons who have entered into 


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1 enforceable contracts to purchase an equivalent 

2 quantity of crude helium from the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(4) DURATION.—This subsection applies dur4 ing the period— 

5 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date of enactment of 

6 the Helium Stewardship Act of 2012; and 

7 ‘‘(B) ending on the date on which all 

8 amounts required to be repaid to the United 

9 States under this Act as of October 1, 1995, 

10 are repaid in full. 

11 ‘‘(b) PHASE B: MAXIMIZING TOTAL RECOVERY OF

12 HELIUM.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may offer 

14 for sale crude helium for Federal, medical, scientific, 

15 and commercial uses in such quantities, at such 

16 times, and under such conditions as the Secretary, 

17 in consultation with the helium industry, determines 

18 necessary— 

19 ‘‘(A) to maximize total recovery of helium 

20 from the Federal Helium Reserve over the long 

21 term; 

22 ‘‘(B) to manage crude helium sales accord23 ing to the ability of the Secretary to extract and 

24 produce helium from the Federal Helium Re25 serve; 


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1 ‘‘(C) to respond to helium market supply 

2 and demand; 

3 ‘‘(D) to give priority to meeting the helium 

4 demand of Federal users in event of any disrup5 tion to the Federal Helium Reserve; and 

6 ‘‘(E) to carry out this subsection. 

7 ‘‘(2) PURCHASE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Fed8 eral agencies, and extramural holders of 1 or more 

9 Federal research grants, may purchase refined he10 lium under this subsection for Federal, medical, and 

11 scientific uses from persons who have entered into 

12 enforceable contracts to purchase an equivalent 

13 quantity of crude helium from the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—This subsection applies dur15 ing the period— 

16 ‘‘(A) beginning on the day after the date 

17 described in subsection (a)(4)(B); and 

18 ‘‘(B) ending on the date on which the vol19 ume of recoverable crude helium at the Federal 

20 Helium Reserve (other than privately owned 

21 quantities of crude helium stored temporarily at 

22 the Federal Helium Reserve under section 5 

23 and this section) is 3,000,000,000 standard 

24 cubic feet. 

25 ‘‘(c) PHASE C: ACCESS FOR FEDERAL USERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may offer 

2 for sale crude helium for Federal uses (including 

3 medical and scientific uses) in such quantities, at 

4 such times, and under such conditions as the Sec5 retary determines necessary to carry out this sub6 section. 

7 ‘‘(2) PURCHASE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Fed8 eral agencies, and extramural holders of 1 or more 

9 Federal research grants, may purchase refined he10 lium under this subsection for Federal uses (includ11 ing medical and scientific uses) from persons who 

12 have entered into enforceable contracts to purchase 

13 an equivalent quantity of crude helium from the Sec14 retary. 

15 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection ap16 plies beginning on the day after the date described 

17 in subsection (b)(3)(B). 

18 ‘‘(d) PRICES AND DETERMINATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Sales of crude helium by 

20 the Secretary shall be at prices established by the 

21 Secretary that approximate the crude helium price 

22 in the private market as of the date of the offer for 

23 sale. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF SALE PRICE.—The 

2 Secretary may make a determination of the prices 

3 described in paragraph (1) using— 

4 ‘‘(A) a confidential survey of qualifying do5 mestic helium sourcing transactions to which 

6 any holder of a contract with the Secretary for 

7 the acceptance, storage, and redelivery of crude 

8 helium in the Cliffside Field helium storage res9 ervoir is a party; 

10 ‘‘(B) current market crude helium prices 

11 inferred from any amount received by the Sec12 retary from the sale or disposition of helium on 

13 Federal land under subsection (f); and 

14 ‘‘(C) in consultation with the helium indus15 try, the volume-weighted average cost among 

16 helium refiners, producers, and liquefiers, in 

17 dollars per thousand cubic feet, of converting 

18 gaseous crude helium into bulk liquid helium. 

19 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Sec20 retary shall require all persons or entities that are 

21 parties to a contract with the Secretary for the ac22 ceptance, storage, and redelivery of crude helium to 

23 disclose, on a strictly confidential basis in dollars per 

24 thousand cubic feet, the weighted average price of all 

25 crude helium and bulk liquid helium purchased or 


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1 processed by the persons in all qualifying domestic 

2 helium sourcing transactions during the fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(4) QUALIFYING DOMESTIC HELIUM SOURCING

4 TRANSACTIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In establishing the 

6 prices described in paragraph (1), the Secretary 

7 shall consider subparagraphs (B) and (C) to en8 sure a reasonable number of transactions. 

9 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—For the purposes of 

10 this subsection, qualifying domestic helium 

11 sourcing transactions include any new agree12 ment in the United States for the purchase of 

13 at least 20,000,000 standard cubic feet of crude 

14 helium or liquid helium in the fiscal year in 

15 which the Secretary collects the data. 

16 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—For the purposes of 

17 this subsection, qualifying domestic helium 

18 sourcing transactions do not include— 

19 ‘‘(i) purchases of crude helium from 

20 the Secretary; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) transactions at prices indexed to 

22 the posted crude helium price of the Sec23 retary. 

24 ‘‘(5) USE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

25 may use the information gathered under this subVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:48 May 02, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2374.IS S2374

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1 section to approximate the current fair market price 

2 for crude helium to ensure recovery of fair value for 

3 the taxpayers of the United States from sales of 

4 crude helium. 

5 ‘‘(6) PROTECTION OF CONFIDENTIALITY.—The 

6 Secretary shall adopt such administrative policies 

7 and procedures that the Secretary considers nec8 essary and reasonable to ensure robust protection of 

9 the confidentiality of data submitted by private per10 sons. 

11 ‘‘(e) HELIUM PRODUCTION FUND.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All amounts received under 

13 this Act, including amounts from the sale of crude 

14 helium, shall be credited to the Helium Production 

15 Fund, which shall be available without fiscal year 

16 limitation for purposes considered necessary by the 

17 Secretary to carry out this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(2) CAPITAL INVESTMENTS AND MAINTE19 NANCE.—The Secretary may use funds credited to 

20 the Helium Production Fund to fund capital invest21 ments in upgrades and maintenance at the Federal 

22 Helium Reserve, including— 

23 ‘‘(A) well head maintenance at the Cliff24 side Field helium storage reservoir; 


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1 ‘‘(B) capital investments in maintenance 

2 and upgrades of facilities that pressurize the 

3 Cliffside Field helium storage reservoir; 

4 ‘‘(C) capital investments in maintenance 

5 and upgrades of equipment related to the stor6 age, withdrawal, transportation, purification, 

7 and sale of crude helium at the Cliffside Field 

8 helium storage reservoir; and 

9 ‘‘(D) any other scheduled or unscheduled 

10 maintenance of the Cliffside Field helium stor11 age reservoir and helium pipeline. 

12 ‘‘(3) EXCESS FUNDS.—Any amounts in the 

13 Fund described in paragraph (1) that exceed the 

14 amounts that the Secretary determines to be nec15 essary to carry out paragraph (1) and any contracts 

16 negotiated under this Act shall be paid to the Treas17 ury and credited against the amounts required to be 

18 repaid to the Treasury under subsection (a). 

19 ‘‘(f) EXTRACTION OF HELIUM FROM DEPOSITS ON

20 FEDERAL LAND.—All amounts received by the Secretary 

21 from the sale or disposition of helium on Federal land 

22 shall be paid to the Treasury and credited against the 

23 amounts required to be repaid to the Treasury under sub24 section (a).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. HELIUM RESOURCE ASSESSMENT, CONSERVATION 

2 RESEARCH, AND HELIUM-3 SEPARATION. 

3 The Helium Act is amended by striking section 15 

4 (50 U.S.C. 167m) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 15. HELIUM GAS RESOURCE ASSESSMENT. 

6 ‘‘Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

7 of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2012, the Secretary, 

8 acting through the Director of the United States Geologi9 cal Survey, shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) in coordination with appropriate heads of 

11 State geological surveys— 

12 ‘‘(A) complete a national helium gas as13 sessment that identifies and quantifies the 

14 quantity of helium, including the isotope he15 lium-3, in each reservoir, including assessments 

16 of the constituent gases found in each helium 

17 resource, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and 

18 natural gas; and 

19 ‘‘(B) make available the modern seismic 

20 and geophysical log data for characterization of 

21 the Bush Dome Reservoir; 

22 ‘‘(2) in coordination with appropriate inter23 national agencies and the global geology community, 

24 complete a global helium gas assessment that identi25 fies and quantifies the quantity of the helium, in26 cluding the isotope helium-3, in each reservoir; 


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1 ‘‘(3) in coordination with the Secretary of En2 ergy, acting through the Administrator of the En3 ergy Information Administration, complete— 

4 ‘‘(A) an assessment of trends in global de5 mand for helium, including the isotope helium6 3; 

7 ‘‘(B) a 10-year forecast of domestic de8 mand for helium across all sectors, including 

9 scientific and medical research, manufacturing, 

10 space technologies, cryogenics, and national de11 fense; and 

12 ‘‘(C) an inventory of medical, scientific, in13 dustrial, commercial, and other uses of helium 

14 in the United States, including Federal and 

15 commercial helium uses, that identifies the na16 ture of the helium use, the amounts required, 

17 the technical and commercial viability of helium 

18 recapture and recycling in that use, and the 

19 availability of material substitutes wherever 

20 possible; and 

21 ‘‘(4) submit to the Committee on Energy and 

22 Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee 

23 on Natural Resources of the House of Representa24 tives a report describing the results of the assess25 ments required under this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 16. LOW-BTU GAS SEPARATION AND HELIUM CON2 SERVATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

3 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Energy 

4 shall support programs of research, development, commer5 cial application, and conservation (including the programs 

6 described in subsection (b))— 

7 ‘‘(1) to expand the domestic production of low8 Btu gas and helium resources; 

9 ‘‘(2) to separate and capture helium from nat10 ural gas streams at the wellhead; and 

11 ‘‘(3) to reduce the venting of helium and he12 lium-bearing low-Btu gas during natural gas explo13 ration and production. 

14 ‘‘(b) PROGRAMS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH.— 

16 The Secretary of Energy, in consultation with other 

17 appropriate agencies, shall support a civilian re18 search program to develop advanced membrane tech19 nology that is used in the separation of low-Btu 

20 gases, including technologies that remove helium and 

21 other constituent gases that lower the Btu content 

22 of natural gas. 

23 ‘‘(2) HELIUM SEPARATION TECHNOLOGY.—The 

24 Secretary of Energy shall support a research pro25 gram to develop technologies for separating, gath26 ering, and processing helium in low concentrations 


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1 that occur naturally in geological reservoirs or for2 mations, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) low-Btu gas production streams; and 

4 ‘‘(B) technologies that minimize the atmos5 pheric venting of helium gas during natural gas 

6 production. 

7 ‘‘(3) INDUSTRIAL HELIUM PROGRAM.—The Sec8 retary of Energy, working through the Industrial 

9 Technologies Program of the Department of Energy, 

10 shall carry out a research program— 

11 ‘‘(A) to develop low-cost technologies and 

12 technology systems for recycling, reprocessing, 

13 and reusing helium; and 

14 ‘‘(B) to develop industrial gathering tech15 nologies to capture helium from other chemical 

16 processing, including ammonia processing. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 17. HELIUM-3 SEPARATION. 

18 ‘‘(a) INTERAGENCY COOPERATION.—The Secretary 

19 shall cooperate with the Secretary of Energy, or a des20 ignee, on any assessment or research relating to the ex21 traction and refining of the isotope helium-3 from crude 

22 helium at the Federal Helium Reserve or along the helium 

23 pipeline system, including— 

24 ‘‘(1) gas analysis; 

25 ‘‘(2) infrastructure studies; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) cooperation with private helium refiners. 

2 ‘‘(b) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The Secretary, in con3 sultation with the Secretary of Energy, or a designee, may 

4 carry out a study to assess the feasibility of establishing 

5 a facility to separate the isotope helium-3 from crude he6 lium at— 

7 ‘‘(1) the Federal Helium Reserve; or 

8 ‘‘(2) an existing helium separation or purifi9 cation facility connected to the helium pipeline sys10 tem. 

11 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

12 of enactment of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2012, the 

13 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 

14 Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 

15 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a re16 port that contains a description of the results of the as17 sessments conducted under this section.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. MISCELLANEOUS. 

19 Section 102 of the Soda Ash Royalty Reduction Act 

20 of 2006 (30 U.S.C. 262 note; Public Law 109–338) is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘5-year’’ and inserting ‘‘7-year’’. 

Æ 


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