I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 761 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2013 

Mr. AMODEI (for himself, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, 

Mr. JONES, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. HECK of Nevada, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. WALDEN, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, 

Mr. LATTA, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. BENISHEK, Mr. 

DAINES, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. BISHOP

of Georgia, Mr. LABRADOR, Mr. STEWART, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. SALMON, 

Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. PEARCE, and Mr. LUETKEMEYER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Strategic and 

3 Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The industrialization of China and India 

7 has driven demand for nonfuel mineral commodities, 

8 sparking a period of resource nationalism exempli9 fied by China’s reduction in exports of rare-earth 

10 elements necessary for telecommunications, military 

11 technologies, healthcare technologies, and conven12 tional and renewable energy technologies. 

13 (2) The availability of minerals and mineral 

14 materials are essential for economic growth, national 

15 security, technological innovation, and the manufac16 turing and agricultural supply chain. 

17 (3) The exploration, production, processing, 

18 use, and recycling of minerals contribute signifi19 cantly to the economic well-being, security and gen20 eral welfare of the Nation. 

21 (4) The United States has vast mineral re22 sources, but is becoming increasingly dependent 

23 upon foreign sources of these mineral materials, as 

24 demonstrated by the following: 

25 (A) Twenty-five years ago the United 

26 States was dependent on foreign sources for 30 


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1 nonfuel mineral materials, 6 of which the 

2 United States imported 100 percent of the Na3 tion’s requirements, and for another 16 com4 modities the United States imported more than 

5 60 percent of the Nation’s needs. 

6 (B) By 2011 the United States import de7 pendence for nonfuel mineral materials had 

8 more than doubled from 30 to 67 commodities, 

9 19 of which the United States imported 100 

10 percent of the Nation’s requirements, and for 

11 another 24 commodities, imported more than 

12 50 percent of the Nation’s needs. 

13 (C) The United States share of worldwide 

14 mineral exploration dollars was 8 percent in 

15 2011, down from 19 percent in the early 1990s. 

16 (D) In the 2012 Ranking of Countries for 

17 Mining Investment, out of 25 major mining 

18 countries, the United States ranked last with 

19 Papua New Guinea in permitting delays, and 

20 towards the bottom regarding government take 

21 and social issues affecting mining. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 


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1 (1) STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MINERALS.—The 

2 term ‘‘strategic and critical minerals’’ means min3 erals that are necessary— 

4 (A) for national defense and national secu5 rity requirements; 

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

7 including pipelines, refining capacity, electrical 

8 power generation and transmission, and renew9 able energy production; 

10 (C) to support domestic manufacturing, 

11 agriculture, housing, telecommunications, 

12 healthcare, and transportation infrastructure; 

13 and 

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

15 balance of trade. 

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

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

18 local, or tribal government, or Alaska Native Cor19 poration. 

20 (3) MINERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER21 MIT.—The term ‘‘mineral exploration or mine per22 mit’’ includes plans of operation issued by the Bu23 reau of Land Management and the Forest Service 

24 pursuant to 43 C.F.R. 3809 and 36 C.F.R. 228A, 

25 respectively. 


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1 TITLE I—DEVELOPMENT OF DO2 MESTIC SOURCES OF STRA3 TEGIC AND CRITICAL MIN4 ERALS 

5 SEC. 101. IMPROVING DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC AND 

6 CRITICAL MINERALS. 

7 Domestic mines that will provide strategic and crit8 ical minerals shall be considered an ‘‘infrastructure 

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

10 Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infra11 structure Projects’’ dated March 22, 2012. 

12 SEC. 102. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEAD AGENCY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency with responsi14 bility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine permit 

15 shall appoint a project lead who shall coordinate and con16 sult with other agencies, cooperating agencies, project pro17 ponents and contractors to ensure that agencies minimize 

18 delays, set and adhere to timelines and schedules for com19 pletion of reviews, set clear permitting goals and track 

20 progress against those goals. 

21 (b) DETERMINATION UNDER NEPA.—The lead 

22 agency with responsibility for issuing a mineral explo23 ration or mine permit shall determine any such action 

24 would not constitute a major Federal action significantly 

25 affecting the quality of the human environment within the 


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1 meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

2 1969 if the procedural and substantive safeguards of the 

3 lead agency’s permitting process alone, any applicable 

4 State permitting process alone, or a combination of the 

5 two processes together provide an adequate mechanism to 

6 ensure that environmental factors are taken into account. 

7 (c) COORDINATION ON PERMITTING AND REVIEW.— 

8 The lead agency with responsibility for issuing a mineral 

9 exploration or mine permit shall enhance government co10 ordination on permitting and review by avoiding duplica11 tive reviews, minimizing paperwork and engaging other 

12 agencies and stakeholders early in the process. The lead 

13 agency shall consider the following best practices: 

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

15 analysis and reviews preformed by State agencies 

16 with jurisdiction over the proposed project. 

17 (2) Conducting reviews concurrently rather 

18 than sequentially to the extent practicable and when 

19 such concurrent review will expedite rather than 

20 delay a decision. 

21 (d) TIME LIMITS FOR PERMIT REVIEW PROCESS.— 

22 At the request of a project proponent, the project lead of 

23 the agency with responsibility for issuing a mineral explo24 ration or mine permit shall enter into an agreement with 

25 the project proponent and other cooperating agencies that 


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1 sets time limits for each part of the permit review process 

2 including the following: 

3 (1) The decision on whether to prepare a docu4 ment required under the National Environmental 

5 Policy Act of 1969. 

6 (2) A determination of the scope of any docu7 ment required under the National Environmental 

8 Policy Act of 1969. 

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

10 studies required to prepare a document required 

11 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

12 1969. 

13 (4) Preparation of any draft document required 

14 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

15 1969. 

16 (5) Preparation of a final document required 

17 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

18 1969. 

19 (6) Consultations required under applicable 

20 laws. 

21 (7) Submission and review of any comments re22 quired under applicable law. 

23 (8) Publication of any public notices required 

24 under applicable law. 

25 (9) A final or any interim decisions. 


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1 (e) TIME LIMIT FOR TOTAL REVIEW PROCESS.—In 

2 no case should the total review process described in sub3 section (d) exceed 30 months unless agreed to by the sig4 natories of the agreement. 

5 (f) LIMITATION ON ADDRESSING PUBLIC COM6 MENTS.—The lead agency is not required to address agen7 cy or public comments that were not submitted during the 

8 public comment periods provided by the lead agency or 

9 otherwise required by law. 

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

11 determine the amount of financial assurance for reclama12 tion of a mineral exploration or mining site, which must 

13 cover the estimated cost if the lead agency were to con14 tract with a third party to reclaim the operations accord15 ing to the reclamation plan, including construction and 

16 maintenance costs for any treatment facilities necessary 

17 to meet Federal, State or tribal environmental standards. 

18 (h) APPLICATION TO EXISTING PERMIT APPLICA19 TIONS.—This section shall apply with respect to a mineral 

20 exploration or mine permit for which an application was 

21 submitted before the date of the enactment of this Act 

22 if the applicant for the permit submits a written request 

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

24 begin implementing this section with respect to such appli25 cation within 30 days after receiving such written request. 


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1 (i) STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MATERIALS WITHIN

2 NATIONAL FORESTS.—With respect to strategic and crit3 ical materials within a federally administered unit of the 

4 National Forest System, the lead agency shall— 

5 (1) exempt all areas of identified mineral re6 sources in Land Use Designations, other than Non7 Development Land Use Designations, in existence as 

8 of the date of the enactment of this Act from the 

9 procedures detailed at and all rules promulgated 

10 under part 294 of title 36, Code for Federal Regula11 tions; 

12 (2) apply such exemption to all additional 

13 routes and areas that the lead agency finds nec14 essary to facilitate the construction, operation, main15 tenance, and restoration of the areas of identified 

16 mineral resources described in paragraph (1); and 

17 (3) continue to apply such exemptions after ap18 proval of the Minerals Plan of Operations for the 

19 unit of the National Forest System. 

20 SEC. 103. CONSERVATION OF THE RESOURCE. 

21 In developing the mineral exploration or mine permit, 

22 the priority of the lead agency shall be to maximize the 

23 development of the mineral resource, while mitigating en24 vironmental impacts, so that more of the mineral resource 

25 can be brought to the market place. 


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1 SEC. 104. FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS FOR MINERAL EX2 PLORATION AND MINING PROJECTS. 

3 (a) PREPARATION OF FEDERAL NOTICES FOR MIN4 ERAL EXPLORATION AND MINE DEVELOPMENT

5 PROJECTS.—The preparation of Federal Register notices 

6 required by law associated with the issuance of a mineral 

7 exploration or mine permit shall be delegated to the orga8 nization level within the agency responsible for issuing the 

9 mineral exploration or mine permit. All Federal Register 

10 notices regarding official document availability, announce11 ments of meetings, or notices of intent to undertake an 

12 action shall be originated and transmitted to the Federal 

13 Register from the office where documents are held, meet14 ings are held, or the activity is initiated. 

15 (b) DEPARTMENTAL REVIEW OF FEDERAL REG16 ISTER NOTICES FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MIN17 ING PROJECTS.—Absent any extraordinary circumstance 

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

19 each Federal Register notice described in subsection (a) 

20 shall undergo any required reviews within the Department 

21 of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture and be 

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

23 than 30 days after its initial preparation. 


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1 TITLE II—JUDICIAL REVIEW OF 

2 AGENCY ACTIONS RELATING 

3 TO EXPLORATION AND MINE 

4 PERMITS 

5 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS FOR TITLE. 

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

7 civil action against the Federal Government containing a 

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

9 regarding agency action affecting a mineral exploration or 

10 mine permit. 

11 SEC. 202. TIMELY FILINGS. 

12 A covered civil action is barred unless filed no later 

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

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

15 SEC. 203. RIGHT TO INTERVENE. 

16 The holder of any mineral exploration or mine permit 

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

18 a person affecting rights or obligations of the permit hold19 er under the permit. 

20 SEC. 204. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING THE 

21 ACTION. 

22 The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any 

23 covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. 


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1 SEC. 205. LIMITATION ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF. 

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

3 or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 

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

5 necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 

6 and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 

7 violation. 

8 SEC. 206. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 

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

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

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

12 civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac13 tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 

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

Æ 


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