I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1022 

To develop 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 

MARCH 6, 2013 

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

to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To develop 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Securing Energy Critical Elements and American Jobs 

6 Act of 2013’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS 

Sec. 101. Energy critical elements program. 

Sec. 102. Policy Coordination Committee. 

Sec. 103. Rare earth materials loan guarantee program. 

TITLE II—NATIONAL MATERIALS AND MINERALS POLICY, 

RESEARCH, AND DEVELOPMENT 

Sec. 201. Amendments to National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research 

and Development Act of 1980. 

Sec. 202. Repeal. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate Congressional com5 mittees’’ means the Committee on Science, Space, 

6 and Technology of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans8 portation and the Committee on Energy and Natural 

9 Resources of the Senate. 

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

11 Research and Development Information Center es12 tablished in section 101(b). 

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

14 means the Department of Energy. 

15 (4) ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENT.—The term 

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

17 chemical elements that are critical to one or more 

18 new, energy-related technologies such that a short19 age of such element would significantly inhibit largeVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:33 Mar 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1022.IH H1022

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1 scale deployment of technologies that produce, trans2 mit, store, or conserve energy. 

3 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

4 the program of research, development, demonstra5 tion, and commercial application to assure the long6 term, secure, and sustainable supply of energy crit7 ical elements sufficient to satisfy the national secu8 rity, economic well-being, and industrial production 

9 needs of the United States established in section 

10 101(a). 

11 (6) RARE EARTH MATERIALS.—The term ‘‘rare 

12 earth materials’’ means any of the following chem13 ical elements in any of their physical forms or chem14 ical combinations: 

15 (A) Scandium. 

16 (B) Yttrium. 

17 (C) Lanthanum. 

18 (D) Cerium. 

19 (E) Praseodymium. 

20 (F) Neodymium. 

21 (G) Promethium. 

22 (H) Samarium. 

23 (I) Europium. 

24 (J) Gadolinium. 

25 (K) Terbium. 


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1 (L) Dysprosium. 

2 (M) Holmium. 

3 (N) Erbium. 

4 (O) Thulium. 

5 (P) Ytterbium. 

6 (Q) Lutetium. 

7 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of Energy. 

9 TITLE I—ENERGY CRITICAL 

10 ELEMENTS 

11 SEC. 101. ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

14 Department a program of research, development, 

15 demonstration, and commercial application to assure 

16 the long-term, secure, and sustainable supply of en17 ergy critical elements sufficient to satisfy the na18 tional security, economic well-being, and industrial 

19 production needs of the United States. 

20 (2) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The program shall 

21 support activities to— 

22 (A) better characterize and quantify virgin 

23 stocks of energy critical elements using theo24 retical geochemical research; 


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1 (B) explore, discover, and recover energy 

2 critical elements using advanced science and 

3 technology; 

4 (C) improve methods for the extraction, 

5 processing, use, recovery, and recycling of en6 ergy critical elements; 

7 (D) improve the understanding of the per8 formance, processing, and adaptability in engi9 neering designs of energy critical elements; 

10 (E) identify and test alternative materials 

11 that can be substituted for energy critical ele12 ments in particular applications; and 

13 (F) engineer and test applications that— 

14 (i) use recycled energy critical ele15 ments; 

16 (ii) use alternative materials; or 

17 (iii) seek to minimize energy critical 

18 element content. 

19 (3) IMPROVED PROCESSES AND TECH20 NOLOGIES.—To the maximum extent practicable, the 

21 Secretary shall support new or significantly im22 proved processes and technologies as compared to 

23 those currently in use in the energy critical elements 

24 industry. 


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1 (4) EXPANDING PARTICIPATION.—In carrying 

2 out the program, the Secretary shall encourage mul3 tidisciplinary collaborations of participants, extensive 

4 opportunities for students at institutions of higher 

5 education, or both. 

6 (5) CONSISTENCY.—The program shall be con7 sistent with the policies and programs in the Na8 tional Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and 

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

10 (6) INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION.—In car11 rying out the program, the Secretary shall collabo12 rate, to the extent practicable, on activities of mu13 tual interest with the relevant agencies of foreign 

14 countries with interests relating to energy critical 

15 elements. 

16 (b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION

17 CENTER.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—To collect, catalogue, dis19 seminate, and archive information on energy critical 

20 elements, the Secretary shall establish, through a 

21 competitive process, a Research and Development 

22 Information Center. 

23 (2) CENTER ACTIVITIES.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall— 


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1 (i) serve as the repository for sci2 entific and technical data generated by the 

3 research and development activities funded 

4 under this section; 

5 (ii) assist scientists and engineers in 

6 making the fullest possible use of the Cen7 ter’s data holdings; 

8 (iii) seek and incorporate other infor9 mation on energy critical elements to en10 hance the Center’s utility for program par11 ticipants and other users; 

12 (iv) provide advice to the Secretary 

13 concerning the program; and 

14 (v) host conferences, at least annually, 

15 for participants in the program and other 

16 interested parties to promote information 

17 sharing and encourage new collaborative 

18 activities. 

19 (B) RESTRICTION.—Not more than 2.5 

20 percent of the amounts made available pursuant 

21 to this section may be used for hosting con22 ferences under subparagraph (A)(v). 

23 (c) PLAN.— 

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

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1 after, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the 

2 appropriate Congressional committees a plan to 

3 carry out the program and the Center. 

4 (2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—The plan shall 

5 include a description of— 

6 (A) the research and development activities 

7 to be carried out by the program during the 

8 subsequent 2 years; 

9 (B) the expected contributions of the pro10 gram and the Center to the creation of innova11 tive methods and technologies for the efficient 

12 and sustainable provision of energy critical ele13 ments to the domestic economy; 

14 (C) the technical criteria to be used to 

15 evaluate applications for loan guarantees under 

16 section 1706 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

17 (as added by section 103); 

18 (D) any projects receiving loan guarantee 

19 support under such section 1706 and the status 

20 of such projects; 

21 (E) how the program is promoting the 

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

24 (F) actions taken or proposed that reflect 

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1 ducted under subsection (d) or the Secretary’s 

2 rationale for not taking action pursuant to any 

3 recommendation from such assessment for 

4 plans submitted following the completion of the 

5 assessment under such subsection. 

6 (3) CONSULTATION.—In preparing each plan 

7 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult 

8 with appropriate representatives of industry, institu9 tions of higher education, Department of Energy na10 tional laboratories, professional and technical soci11 eties, and other entities, as determined by the Sec12 retary. 

13 (d) ASSESSMENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—After the program has been 

15 in operation for 4 years, the Secretary shall offer to 

16 enter into a contract with the National Academy of 

17 Sciences under which the National Academy shall 

18 conduct an assessment of the program, including the 

19 operations and activities of the Center. 

20 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The assessment shall include 

21 the recommendation of the National Academy of 

22 Sciences that the program should be— 

23 (A) continued, accompanied by a descrip24 tion of any improvements needed in the pro25 gram; or 


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1 (B) terminated, accompanied by a descrip2 tion of the lessons learned from the execution of 

3 the program. 

4 (3) AVAILABILITY.—The assessment shall be 

5 made available to Congress and the public upon 

6 completion. 

7 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

9 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sec10 tion the following sums: 

11 (A) For fiscal year 2014, $15,000,000. 

12 (B) For fiscal year 2015, $15,000,000. 

13 (C) For fiscal year 2016, $15,000,000. 

14 (D) For fiscal year 2017, $15,000,000. 

15 (E) For fiscal year 2018, $15,000,000. 

16 (2) ASSESSMENT.—From the amounts author17 ized under paragraph (1), there are authorized to be 

18 appropriated to the Secretary $700,000 to enter into 

19 a contract under subsection (d)(1). 

20 (3) AVAILABILITY.—Such sums shall remain 

21 available until expended. 

22 SEC. 102. SUPPLY OF ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENTS. 

23 The President, acting through the Office of Science 

24 and Technology Policy, shall— 


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1 (1) coordinate the actions of applicable Federal 

2 agencies to promote an adequate and stable supply 

3 of energy critical elements necessary to maintain na4 tional security, economic well-being, and industrial 

5 production with appropriate attention to a long-term 

6 balance between resource production, energy use, a 

7 healthy environment, natural resources conservation, 

8 and social needs; 

9 (2) identify energy critical elements and estab10 lish early warning systems for supply problems of 

11 energy critical elements; 

12 (3) establish a mechanism for the coordination 

13 and evaluation of Federal programs with energy crit14 ical element needs, including Federal programs in15 volving research and development, in a manner that 

16 complements related efforts carried out by the pri17 vate sector and other domestic and international 

18 agencies and organizations; 

19 (4) promote and encourage private enterprise in 

20 the development of an economically sound and stable 

21 domestic energy critical elements supply chain; 

22 (5) promote and encourage the recycling of en23 ergy critical elements, taking into account the logis24 tics, economic viability, environmental sustainability, 


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1 and research and development needs for completing 

2 the recycling process; 

3 (6) assess the need for and make recommenda4 tions concerning the availability and adequacy of the 

5 supply of technically trained personnel necessary for 

6 energy critical elements research, development, ex7 traction, and industrial production, with a particular 

8 focus on the problem of attracting and maintaining 

9 high quality professionals for maintaining an ade10 quate supply of energy critical elements; and 

11 (7) report to Congress on activities and findings 

12 under this section. 

13 SEC. 103. RARE EARTH MATERIALS LOAN GUARANTEE PRO14 GRAM. 

15 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title XVII of the Energy Policy 

16 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16511 et seq.) is amended by add17 ing at the end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 1706. TEMPORARY PROGRAM FOR RARE EARTH MA19 TERIALS REVITALIZATION. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As part of the program estab21 lished in section 101 of the Securing Energy Critical Ele22 ments and American Jobs Act of 2013, the Secretary is 

23 authorized to make guarantees under this title for the 

24 commercial application of new or significantly improved 


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1 technologies (compared to technologies currently in use in 

2 the United States) for the following categories of projects: 

3 ‘‘(1) The separation and recovery of rare earth 

4 materials from ores or other sources. 

5 ‘‘(2) The preparation of rare earth materials in 

6 oxide, metal, alloy, or other forms needed for na7 tional security, economic well-being, or industrial 

8 production purposes. 

9 ‘‘(3) The application of rare earth materials in 

10 the production of improved— 

11 ‘‘(A) magnets; 

12 ‘‘(B) batteries; 

13 ‘‘(C) refrigeration systems; 

14 ‘‘(D) optical systems; 

15 ‘‘(E) electronics; and 

16 ‘‘(F) catalysis. 

17 ‘‘(4) The application of rare earth materials in 

18 other uses, as determined by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(b) TIMELINESS.—The Secretary shall seek to mini20 mize delay in approving loan guarantee applications, con21 sistent with appropriate protection of taxpayer interests. 

22 ‘‘(c) COOPERATION.—To the maximum extent prac23 ticable, the Secretary shall cooperate with appropriate pri24 vate sector participants to achieve a complete rare earth 

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1 in 5 years after the date of enactment of the Securing 

2 Energy Critical Elements and American Jobs Act of 2013. 

3 ‘‘(d) SUNSET.—The authority to enter into guaran4 tees under this section shall expire on September 30, 

5 2021.’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

7 of contents for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is amended 

8 by inserting after the item relating to section 1705 the 

9 following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 1706. Temporary program for rare earth materials revitalization.’’. 

10 TITLE II—NATIONAL MATERIALS 

11 AND MINERALS POLICY, RE12 SEARCH, AND DEVELOPMENT 

13 SEC. 201. AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL MATERIALS AND 

14 MINERALS POLICY, RESEARCH AND DEVEL15 OPMENT ACT OF 1980. 

16 (a) PROGRAM PLAN.—Section 5 of the National Ma17 terials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development 

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

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

20 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘date of enact21 ment of the Securing Energy Critical Elements and 

22 American Jobs Act of 2013’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Federal Co24 ordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and 


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1 Technology’’ and inserting ‘‘National Science and 

2 Technology Council,’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (c)— 

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

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

6 (B) by striking ‘‘appropriate shall’’ and in7 serting ‘‘appropriate, shall’’; 

8 (C) by striking paragraph (1); 

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

10 case’’ and all that follows through ‘‘sub11 section,’’; 

12 (E) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

13 paragraph (1); 

14 (F) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

15 paragraph (2); and 

16 (G) by amending paragraph (2), as redes17 ignated, to read as follows: 

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

19 supply of materials necessary to maintain national 

20 security, economic well-being, and industrial produc21 tion.’’; 

22 (4) by striking subsections (d) and (e); and 

23 (5) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub24 section (d). 


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

2 is amended— 

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

4 and inserting ‘‘It’’; and 

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

6 that implementation’’ and inserting ‘‘Implementa7 tion’’. 

8 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Section 4 of such Act (30 

9 U.S.C. 1603) is amended— 

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

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

12 ‘‘The’’; and 

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

14 and inserting ‘‘departments and agencies to imple15 ment the policies set forth in section 3’’. 

16 SEC. 202. REPEAL. 

17 Title II of Public Law 98–373 (30 U.S.C. 1801; 98 

18 Stat. 1248), also known as the National Critical Materials 

19 Act of 1984, is repealed. 

Æ 


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