IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 761 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to more efficiently develop domestic 

sources of the minerals and mineral materials of strategic 

and critical importance to United States economic and 

national security and manufacturing competitiveness. 


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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 ‘‘National Strategic and 

5 Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The industrialization of China and India 

9 has driven demand for nonfuel mineral commodities, 

10 sparking a period of resource nationalism exempli11 fied by China’s reduction in exports of rare-earth 

12 elements necessary for telecommunications, military 

13 technologies, healthcare technologies, and conven14 tional and renewable energy technologies. 

15 (2) The availability of minerals and mineral 

16 materials are essential for economic growth, national 

17 security, technological innovation, and the manufac18 turing and agricultural supply chain. 

19 (3) The exploration, production, processing, 

20 use, and recycling of minerals contribute signifi21 cantly to the economic well-being, security and gen22 eral welfare of the Nation. 

23 (4) The United States has vast mineral re24 sources, but is becoming increasingly dependent 


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1 upon foreign sources of these mineral materials, as 

2 demonstrated by the following: 

3 (A) Twenty-five years ago the United 

4 States was dependent on foreign sources for 30 

5 nonfuel mineral materials, 6 of which the 

6 United States imported 100 percent of the Na7 tion’s requirements, and for another 16 com8 modities the United States imported more than 

9 60 percent of the Nation’s needs. 

10 (B) By 2011 the United States import de11 pendence for nonfuel mineral materials had 

12 more than doubled from 30 to 67 commodities, 

13 19 of which the United States imported 100 

14 percent of the Nation’s requirements, and for 

15 another 24 commodities, imported more than 

16 50 percent of the Nation’s needs. 

17 (C) The United States share of worldwide 

18 mineral exploration dollars was 8 percent in 

19 2011, down from 19 percent in the early 1990s. 

20 (D) In the 2012 Ranking of Countries for 

21 Mining Investment, out of 25 major mining 

22 countries, the United States ranked last with 

23 Papua New Guinea in permitting delays, and 

24 towards the bottom regarding government take 

25 and social issues affecting mining. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MINERALS.—The 

4 term ‘‘strategic and critical minerals’’ means min5 erals that are necessary— 

6 (A) for national defense and national secu7 rity requirements; 

8 (B) for the Nation’s energy infrastructure, 

9 including pipelines, refining capacity, electrical 

10 power generation and transmission, and renew11 able energy production; 

12 (C) to support domestic manufacturing, 

13 agriculture, housing, telecommunications, 

14 healthcare, and transportation infrastructure; 

15 or 

16 (D) for the Nation’s economic security and 

17 balance of trade. 

18 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means any 

19 agency, department, or other unit of Federal, State, 

20 local, or tribal government, or Alaska Native Cor21 poration. 

22 (3) MINERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER23 MIT.—The term ‘‘mineral exploration or mine per24 mit’’ includes plans of operation issued by the Bu25 reau of Land Management and the Forest Service 


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1 pursuant to 43 CFR 3809 and 36 CFR 228A or the 

2 authorities listed in 43 CFR 3503.13, respectively. 

3 TITLE I—DEVELOPMENT OF DO4 MESTIC SOURCES OF STRA5 TEGIC AND CRITICAL MIN6 ERALS 

7 SEC. 101. IMPROVING DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC AND 

8 CRITICAL MINERALS. 

9 Domestic mines that will provide strategic and crit10 ical minerals shall be considered an ‘‘infrastructure 

11 project’’ as described in Presidential Order ‘‘Improving 

12 Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infra13 structure Projects’’ dated March 22, 2012. 

14 SEC. 102. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEAD AGENCY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency with responsi16 bility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine permit 

17 shall appoint a project lead who shall coordinate and con18 sult with cooperating agencies and any other agency in19 volved in the permitting process, project proponents and 

20 contractors to ensure that agencies minimize delays, set 

21 and adhere to timelines and schedules for completion of 

22 the permitting process, set clear permitting goals and 

23 track progress against those goals. 

24 (b) DETERMINATION UNDER NEPA.—To the extent 

25 that the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 apVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:15 Sep 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H761.RFS H761

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1 plies to any mineral exploration or mine permit, the lead 

2 agency with responsibility for issuing a mineral explo3 ration or mine permit shall determine that the action to 

4 approve the exploration or mine permit does not constitute 

5 a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality 

6 of the human environment within the meaning of the Na7 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 if the procedural 

8 and substantive safeguards of the permitting process 

9 alone, any applicable State permitting process alone, or 

10 a combination of the two processes together provide an 

11 adequate mechanism to ensure that environmental factors 

12 are taken into account. 

13 (c) COORDINATION ON PERMITTING PROCESS.—The 

14 lead agency with responsibility for issuing a mineral explo15 ration or mine permit shall enhance government coordina16 tion for the permitting process by avoiding duplicative re17 views, minimizing paperwork and engaging other agencies 

18 and stakeholders early in the process. The lead agency 

19 shall consider the following best practices: 

20 (1) Deferring to and relying upon baseline data, 

21 analyses and reviews performed by State agencies 

22 with jurisdiction over the proposed project. 

23 (2) Conducting any consultations or reviews 

24 concurrently rather than sequentially to the extent 


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1 practicable and when such concurrent review will ex2 pedite rather than delay a decision. 

3 (d) SCHEDULE FOR PERMITTING PROCESS.—At the 

4 request of a project proponent, the lead agency, cooper5 ating agencies and any other agencies involved with the 

6 mineral exploration or mine permitting process shall enter 

7 into an agreement with the project proponent that sets 

8 time limits for each part of the permitting process includ9 ing the following: 

10 (1) The decision on whether to prepare a docu11 ment required under the National Environmental 

12 Policy Act of 1969. 

13 (2) A determination of the scope of any docu14 ment required under the National Environmental 

15 Policy Act of 1969. 

16 (3) The scope of and schedule for the baseline 

17 studies required to prepare a document required 

18 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

19 1969. 

20 (4) Preparation of any draft document required 

21 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

22 1969. 

23 (5) Preparation of a final document required 

24 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

25 1969. 


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1 (6) Consultations required under applicable 

2 laws. 

3 (7) Submission and review of any comments re4 quired under applicable law. 

5 (8) Publication of any public notices required 

6 under applicable law. 

7 (9) A final or any interim decisions. 

8 (e) TIME LIMIT FOR PERMITTING PROCESS.—In no 

9 case should the total review process described in sub10 section (d) exceed 30 months unless agreed to by the sig11 natories of the agreement. 

12 (f) LIMITATION ON ADDRESSING PUBLIC COM13 MENTS.—The lead agency is not required to address agen14 cy or public comments that were not submitted during any 

15 public comment periods or consultation periods provided 

16 during the permitting process or as otherwise required by 

17 law. 

18 (g) FINANCIAL ASSURANCE.—The lead agency will 

19 determine the amount of financial assurance for reclama20 tion of a mineral exploration or mining site, which must 

21 cover the estimated cost if the lead agency were to con22 tract with a third party to reclaim the operations accord23 ing to the reclamation plan, including construction and 

24 maintenance costs for any treatment facilities necessary 

25 to meet Federal, State or tribal environmental standards. 


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1 (h) APPLICATION TO EXISTING PERMIT APPLICA2 TIONS.—This section shall apply with respect to a mineral 

3 exploration or mine permit for which an application was 

4 submitted before the date of the enactment of this Act 

5 if the applicant for the permit submits a written request 

6 to the lead agency for the permit. The lead agency shall 

7 begin implementing this section with respect to such appli8 cation within 30 days after receiving such written request. 

9 (i) STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MINERALS WITHIN

10 NATIONAL FORESTS.—With respect to strategic and crit11 ical minerals within a federally administered unit of the 

12 National Forest System, the lead agency shall— 

13 (1) exempt all areas of identified mineral re14 sources in Land Use Designations, other than Non15 Development Land Use Designations, in existence as 

16 of the date of the enactment of this Act from the 

17 procedures detailed at and all rules promulgated 

18 under part 294 of title 36, Code for Federal Regula19 tions; 

20 (2) apply such exemption to all additional 

21 routes and areas that the lead agency finds nec22 essary to facilitate the construction, operation, main23 tenance, and restoration of the areas of identified 

24 mineral resources described in paragraph (1); and 


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1 (3) continue to apply such exemptions after ap2 proval of the Minerals Plan of Operations for the 

3 unit of the National Forest System. 

4 SEC. 103. CONSERVATION OF THE RESOURCE. 

5 In evaluating and issuing any mineral exploration or 

6 mine permit, the priority of the lead agency shall be to 

7 maximize the development of the mineral resource, while 

8 mitigating environmental impacts, so that more of the 

9 mineral resource can be brought to the market place. 

10 SEC. 104. FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS FOR MINERAL EX11 PLORATION AND MINING PROJECTS. 

12 (a) PREPARATION OF FEDERAL NOTICES FOR MIN13 ERAL EXPLORATION AND MINE DEVELOPMENT

14 PROJECTS.—The preparation of Federal Register notices 

15 required by law associated with the issuance of a mineral 

16 exploration or mine permit shall be delegated to the orga17 nization level within the agency responsible for issuing the 

18 mineral exploration or mine permit. All Federal Register 

19 notices regarding official document availability, announce20 ments of meetings, or notices of intent to undertake an 

21 action shall be originated and transmitted to the Federal 

22 Register from the office where documents are held, meet23 ings are held, or the activity is initiated. 

24 (b) DEPARTMENTAL REVIEW OF FEDERAL REG25 ISTER NOTICES FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MINVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:15 Sep 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H761.RFS H761

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1 ING PROJECTS.—Absent any extraordinary circumstance 

2 or except as otherwise required by any Act of Congress, 

3 each Federal Register notice described in subsection (a) 

4 shall undergo any required reviews within the Department 

5 of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture and be 

6 published in its final form in the Federal Register no later 

7 than 30 days after its initial preparation. 

8 TITLE II—JUDICIAL REVIEW OF 

9 AGENCY ACTIONS RELATING 

10 TO EXPLORATION AND MINE 

11 PERMITS 

12 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS FOR TITLE. 

13 In this title the term ‘‘covered civil action’’ means a 

14 civil action against the Federal Government containing a 

15 claim under section 702 of title 5, United States Code, 

16 regarding agency action affecting a mineral exploration or 

17 mine permit. 

18 SEC. 202. TIMELY FILINGS. 

19 A covered civil action is barred unless filed no later 

20 than the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date 

21 of the final Federal agency action to which it relates. 

22 SEC. 203. RIGHT TO INTERVENE. 

23 The holder of any mineral exploration or mine permit 

24 may intervene as of right in any covered civil action by 


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1 a person affecting rights or obligations of the permit hold2 er under the permit. 

3 SEC. 204. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING THE 

4 ACTION. 

5 The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any 

6 covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. 

7 SEC. 205. LIMITATION ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF. 

8 In a covered civil action, the court shall not grant 

9 or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 

10 that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than 

11 necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 

12 and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 

13 violation. 

14 SEC. 206. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 

15 Sections 504 of title 5, United States Code, and 2412 

16 of title 28, United States Code (together commonly called 

17 the Equal Access to Justice Act) do not apply to a covered 

18 civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac19 tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 

20 their attorneys’ fees, expenses, and other court costs. 

21 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

22 PROVISIONS 

23 SEC. 301. SECRETARIAL ORDER NOT AFFECTED. 

24 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as to affect 

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1 retary of the Interior on December 3, 2012, with respect 

2 to potash and oil and gas operators. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 18, 

2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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