29–006 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 113–169 

AMERICAN SODA ASH COMPETITIVENESS ACT 

JULY 22, 2013.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 957] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 957) to reduce temporarily the royalty required to be paid 

for sodium produced on Federal lands, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 957 is to reduce temporarily the royalty required to be paid for sodium produced on Federal lands. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Soda Ash Royalty Reduction Act of 2006 was included in the 

National Heritage Areas Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–338). This 

law reduced the royalty on soda ash to 2 percent, the minimum required in the Mineral Leasing Act of 1921. 

Uses for soda ash include glass-making which consumes about 

half of soda ash output. This is followed by the chemical industry, 

which uses about a quarter of the output. Other uses include soap, 

paper manufacturing, and water treatment. 

Prior to the royalty relief legislation being enacted, the U.S. soda 

ash (sodium carbonate) industry was experiencing increased pressure from state owned Chinese companies operating under lax environmental standards, coupled with high U.S. royalty rates that 

ranged between 5 and 8 percent. Between 1997 (the year after the 

Bureau of Land Management raised the royalty rates) and 2000, 

China overtook the United States as the world’s largest exporter of 

soda ash. By 2003, the growth in domestic exports had grown by 


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only a few percentage points, and approximately 1000 jobs in the 

domestic soda ash mining industry had been lost. 

Between October 2006 and September 2011, when the 2 percent 

royalty rate was in place, the soda ash industry was able to reverse 

the downward trend in exports, and was able to add jobs during 

the recession. By being able to keep more of the money they made, 

the soda ash companies were able to reinvest in their operations 

to increase production and efficiencies, allowing the industry to increase exports by more than 1 million tons. 

In October 2011, the Bureau of Land Management reinstated the 

6 percent royalty. This was a discretionary decision. This has already had an impact on U.S. exports: those for the first two months 

of 2012 have fallen below the average exports for 2011. 

H.R. 957, the ‘‘American Soda Ash Competitiveness Act,’’ would 

restore the royalty rate for soda ash at 2 percent for a five year 

period. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 957 was introduced on March 5, 2013, by Congresswoman 

Cynthia Lummis (R–WY). The bill was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. On March 21, 2013, 

the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing 

on the bill. On May 15, 2013, the Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Energy and 

Mineral Resources was discharged by unanimous consent. Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (D–NH) offered an amendment designated .001 to the bill; the amendment was not adopted by a bipartisan roll call vote of 16 to 26, as follows: 

Congressman Alan Lowenthal (D–CA) offered an amendment 

designated .002 to the bill; the amendment was not adopted by a 

bipartisan roll call vote of 17 to 25, as follows: 


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Congressman Alan Lowenthal (D–CA) offered an amendment 

designated .002 to the bill; the amendment was not adopted by a 

bipartisan roll call vote of 17 to 25, as follows: 


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No further amendments were offered and the bill was then 

adopted and ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by a bipartisan roll call vote of 28 to 13, as follows: 


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COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that Rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 957—American Soda Ash Competitiveness Act 

Summary: H.R. 957 would require the Department of the Interior (DOI) to charge a 2 percent royalty on the value of soda ash 

and certain related minerals produced on federal lands for a fiveyear period following enactment of the bill. That rate would be 

lower than the average rate expected under current law, which is 

about 6 percent over that period. As a result, CBO estimates that 

implementing H.R. 957 would reduce net federal offsetting receipts 

from soda ash royalties by $80 million over the 2014–2018 period; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting H.R. 957 

would not affect revenues. 

H.R. 957 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). 

Estimated Cost to the Federal Government: The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 957 is shown in the following table. The costs 

of this legislation fall within budget function 300 (natural resources 

and environment). 

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2014– 

2018 

2014– 

2023 

CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING 

Estimated Budget Authority ... 16 16 16 16 16 0 0 0 0 0 80 80 

Estimated Outlays .................. 16 16 16 16 16 0 0 0 0 0 80 80 

Basis of Estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted near the end of 2013. 

H.R. 957 would reduce the royalty rate on the value of soda ash 

and certain related minerals produced on federal lands from about 

6 percent to 2 percent for a five-year period following enactment of 

the bill. Because CBO expects that royalty rates charged for the 

production of such minerals on state and private lands will be 

higher than 2 percent, we also expect that, under the bill, the 

amount of soda ash and other affected minerals produced on federal lands would be greater over the next five years than it would 


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be under current law. However, CBO expects that any increase in 

production would only partially offset the loss of receipts from lowering the royalty rate through 2018. 

In 2011, the last year in which the royalty rate was set at 2 percent, firms produced about 9 million tons of soda ash and related 

products on federal lands and paid net royalties totaling $11 million. (Half of all federal royalties collected on the affected minerals 

are paid to states where those minerals are produced.) The Bureau 

of Land Management increased the average royalty rate to about 

6 percent in 2012. Production of soda ash and related products decreased to about 7 million tons in that year; however, net royalty 

collections increased to about $25 million. Based on monthly data 

on royalty collections from the Office of Natural Resources Revenue, CBO expects that, under current law, net royalty collections 

will total between $25 million and $30 million in 2013 and will remain in that range over the next five years. Under the bill, we estimate that collections would total about $11 million to $12 million 

annually over that period. On balance, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 957 would reduce net offsetting receipts from soda ash 

royalties by $16 million a year over the 2014–2018 period. 

Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act 

of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures 

for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net 

changes in outlays that are subject to those pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in the following table. 

CBO ESTIMATE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS FOR H.R. 957 AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES ON MAY 15, 2013 

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2013– 

2018 

2013– 

2023 

NET INCREASE IN THE DEFICIT 

Statutory Pay-As-YouGo Impact ............. 0 16 16 16 16 16 0 0 0 0 0 80 80 

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 957 contains 

no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in 

UMRA. The royalty reduction required by the bill would reduce 

federal payments to Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, 

Utah, and Wyoming by about $80 million over the 2014–2018 period. 

Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Jeff LaFave; Impact on 

State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Melissa Merrell; Impact on 

the Private Sector: Amy Petz. 

Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required by 

clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

this bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or 

tax expenditures. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 957 

would reduce net federal offsetting receipts from soda ash royalties 

by $80 million over the 2014–2018 period. 


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3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to reduce temporarily the royalty required to be paid 

for sodium produced on Federal lands. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that this 

bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any specific 

rule-making proceedings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 

Æ 


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