I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8728 

To require that royalties derived from the production of sodium compounds 

and related products are disbursed to the State in which production 

occurred and to the Secretary of Education for educational grants, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2020 

Mr. COOK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Education 

and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require that royalties derived from the production of 

sodium compounds and related products are disbursed 

to the State in which production occurred and to the 

Secretary of Education for educational grants, 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 referred to as the ‘‘Soda Ash Fund5 ing for Education Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES. 

2 (a) DEPOSIT OF FUNDS FROM ROYALTIES ON SO3 DIUM COMPOUNDS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

4 of law, royalties collected on the quantity or gross value 

5 of the output of sodium compounds and related products 

6 (as such term is used in the Soda Ash Royalty Reduction 

7 Act of 2006 (30 U.S.C. 262 note)) from Federal land shall 

8 be paid into the Treasury of the United States. 

9 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Of funds deposited in the 

10 Treasury under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treas11 ury shall— 

12 (1) disburse 50 percent to the State within 

13 which such leased land is located; and 

14 (2) deposit 50 percent in the Fund. 

15 (c) SODA ASH EDUCATIONAL EQUALIZATION

16 FUND.— 

17 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

18 the Treasury a fund, to be known as the ‘‘Soda Ash 

19 Education Equalization Fund’’, to be administered 

20 by the Secretary of Education to provide resources 

21 to local educational agencies (as such term is defined 

22 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) impacted 

24 by changes in sodium royalty rates or changes in 

25 soda ash production levels. 


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1 (2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary of 

2 Education shall use funds available in the Fund to 

3 provide grants to local school districts that meet the 

4 following conditions: 

5 (A) The Secretary determines such school 

6 has received not less than 50 percent of its an7 nual budget from payments attributable to so8 dium royalty payments for at least 2 of the pre9 vious 5 fiscal years. 

10 (B) The Secretary determines that funding 

11 for the school for the current fiscal year attrib12 utable to royalties on sodium compounds and 

13 related products has fallen below the average 

14 payment for the past 5 years, determined by 

15 dropping the highest and lowest year from the 

16 average. 

17 (3) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The Secretary 

18 of Education may not issue a grant to a school for 

19 an amount in excess of the average calculated in 

20 paragraph (2)(B). 

21 (4) INVESTMENT OF FUND.—The Secretary of 

22 the Treasury shall invest such portion of the Fund 

23 as such Secretary determines appropriate in inter24 est-bearing obligations of the United States. The in25 terest on, and the proceeds from the sale or redempVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8728.IH H8728

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1 tion of, any obligation held in the Fund shall be 

2 credited to and form a part of the Fund. 

3 (5) FUND.—In this section, the term ‘‘Fund’’ 

4 means the Soda Ash Education Equalization Fund 

5 established in paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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