I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2687 

To authorize an energy critical elements program, to amend the National 

Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 8, 2015 

Mr. SWALWELL of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To authorize an energy critical elements program, to amend 

the National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research 

and Development Act of 1980, 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 ‘‘Securing Energy Crit5 ical Elements and American Jobs Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate Congressional comVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2687.IH H2687

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1 mittees’’ means the Committee on Science, Space, 

2 and Technology of the House of Representatives and 

3 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans4 portation and the Committee on Energy and Natural 

5 Resources of the Senate. 

6 (2) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the 

7 Critical Materials Information Center established 

8 under section 102(b). 

9 (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

10 means the Department of Energy. 

11 (4) ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENT.—The term 

12 ‘‘energy critical element’’ means any of a class of 

13 chemical elements that have a high risk of a supply 

14 disruption and are critical to one or more new, en15 ergy-related technologies such that a shortage of 

16 such element would significantly inhibit large-scale 

17 deployment of technologies that produce, transmit, 

18 store, or conserve energy. 

19 (5) HUB.—The term ‘‘Hub’’ means the Critical 

20 Materials Energy Innovation Hub authorized in sec21 tion 102(a). 

22 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

24 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 

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


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1 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

2 the program authorized in section 101(a). 

3 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Energy. 

5 TITLE I—ENERGY CRITICAL 

6 ELEMENTS 

7 SEC. 101. ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS PROGRAM. 

8 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized in the 

10 Department a program of research, development, 

11 demonstration, and commercial application to assure 

12 the long-term, secure, and sustainable supply of en13 ergy critical elements sufficient to satisfy the na14 tional security, economic well-being, and industrial 

15 production needs of the United States. This program 

16 may be carried out primarily by the Critical Mate17 rials Energy Innovation Hub authorized in section 

18 102(a). 

19 (2) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The program shall 

20 focus on areas that the private sector by itself is not 

21 likely to undertake because of technical and financial 

22 uncertainty and support activities to— 

23 (A) improve methods for the extraction, 

24 processing, use, recovery, and recycling of en25 ergy critical elements; 


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1 (B) improve the understanding of the per2 formance, processing, and adaptability in engi3 neering designs using energy critical elements; 

4 (C) identify and test alternative materials 

5 that can be substituted for energy critical ele6 ments and maintain or exceed current perform7 ance; and 

8 (D) engineer and test applications that— 

9 (i) use recycled energy critical ele10 ments; 

11 (ii) use alternative materials; or 

12 (iii) seek to minimize energy critical 

13 element content. 

14 (3) EXPANDING PARTICIPATION.—In carrying 

15 out the program, the Secretary shall encourage mul16 tidisciplinary collaborations of participants, including 

17 opportunities for students at institutions of higher 

18 education. 

19 (4) CONSISTENCY.—The program shall be con20 sistent with the policies and programs in the Na21 tional Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and 

22 Development Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

23 (5) INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION.—In car24 rying out the program, the Secretary shall collabo25 rate, to the extent practicable, on activities of muVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2687.IH H2687

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1 tual interest with the relevant agencies of foreign 

2 countries with interests relating to energy critical 

3 elements. 

4 (b) PLAN.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act and biennially there7 after, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the 

8 appropriate Congressional committees a plan to 

9 carry out the program. 

10 (2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—The plan re11 quired under paragraph (1) shall include a descrip12 tion of— 

13 (A) the research and development activities 

14 to be carried out by the program during the 

15 subsequent 2 years; 

16 (B) the expected contributions of the pro17 gram to the creation of innovative methods and 

18 technologies for the efficient and sustainable 

19 provision of energy critical elements to the do20 mestic economy; and 

21 (C) how the program is promoting the 

22 broadest possible participation by academic, in23 dustrial, and other contributors. 

24 (3) CONSULTATION.—In preparing each plan 

25 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult 


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1 with appropriate representatives of industry, institu2 tions of higher education, Department of Energy na3 tional laboratories, professional and technical soci4 eties, other Federal agencies, and other entities, as 

5 determined by the Secretary. 

6 (c) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—To the 

7 maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure 

8 that the activities carried out under this title are coordi9 nated with, and do not unnecessarily duplicate the efforts 

10 of, other programs within the Federal Government. 

11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

13 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this Act 

14 the following sums: 

15 (A) For fiscal year 2016, $25,000,000. 

16 (B) For fiscal year 2017, $25,000,000. 

17 (C) For fiscal year 2018, $25,000,000. 

18 (D) For fiscal year 2019, $25,000,000. 

19 (E) For fiscal year 2020, $25,000,000. 

20 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Such sums shall remain 

21 available until expended. 

22 SEC. 102. CRITICAL MATERIALS ENERGY INNOVATION HUB. 

23 (a) CRITICAL MATERIALS ENERGY INNOVATION

24 HUB.—To carry out the program, the Secretary is authorVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2687.IH H2687

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1 ized to maintain a Critical Materials Energy Innovation 

2 Hub. 

3 (b) CRITICAL MATERIALS INFORMATION CENTER.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—To collect, catalogue, dis5 seminate, and archive information on energy critical 

6 elements in coordination with the Department of 

7 Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Informa8 tion, the Hub shall establish and maintain a Critical 

9 Materials Information Center. 

10 (2) CENTER ACTIVITIES.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall— 

12 (i) serve as the repository for sci13 entific and technical data generated by the 

14 research and development activities funded 

15 under this section; 

16 (ii) assist scientists and engineers in 

17 making the fullest possible use of the Cen18 ter’s data holdings; 

19 (iii) seek and incorporate other infor20 mation on energy critical elements to en21 hance the Center’s utility for program par22 ticipants and other users; 

23 (iv) provide advice to the Secretary 

24 concerning the program; and 


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1 (v) host meetings, at least annually, 

2 for participants in the program and other 

3 interested parties to promote information 

4 sharing and encourage new collaborative 

5 activities. 

6 (B) RESTRICTION.—Not more than 2.5 

7 percent of the amounts made available pursuant 

8 to this section may be used for hosting con9 ferences under subparagraph (A)(v). 

10 (c) REVIEW AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.—An award 

11 made to operate the Hub shall be for a period not to ex12 ceed 5 years, after which the award may be renewed, sub13 ject to a rigorous merit review. A Hub already in existence 

14 on the date of enactment of this Act may continue to re15 ceive support for a period of 5 years beginning on the date 

16 of establishment of that Hub. Following this process, if 

17 the Secretary determines that award renewal for the Hub 

18 is justified, then the Secretary must submit a report to 

19 the appropriate Congressional committees at least 30 days 

20 prior to the award renewal which explains the Secretary’s 

21 determination and describes the Department’s review 

22 process. 

23 (d) PROHIBITION ON CONSTRUCTION.—No funds 

24 provided pursuant to this section may be used for con25 struction of new buildings or facilities for the Hub. ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Jun 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2687.IH H2687

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1 struction of new buildings or facilities shall not be consid2 ered as part of the non-Federal share of a Hub cost-shar3 ing agreement. 

4 SEC. 103. SUPPLY OF ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS. 

5 The President, acting through the Critical Material 

6 Supply Chain Subcommittee of the Committee on Envi7 ronment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability of the Na8 tional Science and Technology Council, shall— 

9 (1) coordinate the actions of applicable Federal 

10 agencies to promote an adequate and stable supply 

11 of energy critical elements necessary to maintain na12 tional security, economic well-being, and industrial 

13 production with appropriate attention to a long-term 

14 balance between resource production, energy use, a 

15 healthy environment, natural resources conservation, 

16 and social needs; 

17 (2) identify energy critical elements and estab18 lish scenario modeling systems for supply problems 

19 of energy critical elements; 

20 (3) establish a mechanism for the coordination 

21 and evaluation of Federal programs with energy crit22 ical element needs, including Federal programs in23 volving research and development, in a manner that 

24 complements related efforts carried out by the priVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Jun 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2687.IH H2687

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1 vate sector and other domestic and international 

2 agencies and organizations; 

3 (4) promote and encourage private enterprise in 

4 the development of an economically sound and stable 

5 domestic energy critical elements supply chain; 

6 (5) promote and encourage the recycling of en7 ergy critical elements, taking into account the logis8 tics, economic viability, environmental sustainability, 

9 and research and development needs for completing 

10 the recycling process; 

11 (6) assess the need for and make recommenda12 tions concerning the availability and adequacy of the 

13 supply of technically trained personnel necessary for 

14 energy critical elements research, development, ex15 traction, and industrial production, with a particular 

16 focus on the problem of attracting and maintaining 

17 high-quality professionals for maintaining an ade18 quate supply of energy critical elements; and 

19 (7) report to the appropriate Congressional 

20 committees on activities and findings under this sec21 tion. 


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1 TITLE II—NATIONAL MATERIALS 

2 AND MINERALS POLICY, RE3 SEARCH, AND DEVELOPMENT 

4 SEC. 201. AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL MATERIALS AND 

5 MINERALS POLICY, RESEARCH AND DEVEL6 OPMENT ACT OF 1980. 

7 (a) PROGRAM PLAN.—Section 5 of the National Ma8 terials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development 

9 Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1604) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘date of enactment of this Act’’ 

11 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘date of enact12 ment of the Securing Energy Critical Elements and 

13 American Jobs Act of 2015’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘Federal 

15 Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and 

16 Technology’’ and inserting ‘‘National Science and 

17 Technology Council’’; 

18 (3) in subsection (c)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘the Federal Emergency’’ 

20 and all that follows through ‘‘Agency, and’’; 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘appropriate shall’’ and in22 serting ‘‘appropriate, shall’’; 

23 (C) by striking paragraph (1); 


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1 (D) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘in the 

2 case’’ and all that follows through ‘‘sub3 section,’’; 

4 (E) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

5 paragraph (1); 

6 (F) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

7 paragraph (2); and 

8 (G) by amending paragraph (2), as redes9 ignated, to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(2) assess the adequacy and stability of the 

11 supply of materials necessary to maintain national 

12 security, economic well-being, and industrial produc13 tion.’’; 

14 (4) by striking subsection (d); and 

15 (5) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

16 subsections (d) and (e), respectively. 

17 (b) POLICY.—Section 3 of such Act (30 U.S.C. 1602) 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘The Congress declares that it’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘It’’; and 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘The Congress further declares 

22 that implementation’’ and inserting ‘‘Implementa23 tion’’. 


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1 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The matter before para2 graph (1) of section 4 of such Act (30 U.S.C. 1603) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘For the purpose’’ and all that 

5 follows through ‘‘declares that the’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘The’’; and 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘departments and agencies,’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘departments and agencies to imple9 ment the policies set forth in section 3’’. 

10 SEC. 202. REPEAL. 

11 The National Critical Materials Act of 1984 (30 

12 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is repealed. 

Æ 


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