I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4866 

To reestablish a competitive domestic rare earths minerals production industry; a domestic rare earth processing, refining, purification, and metals 

production industry; a domestic rare earth metals alloying industry; and 

a domestic rare earth based magnet production industry and supply 

chain in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2010 

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees 

on Ways and Means and Financial Services, 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 reestablish a competitive domestic rare earths minerals 

production industry; a domestic rare earth processing, 

refining, purification, and metals production industry; 

a domestic rare earth metals alloying industry; and a 

domestic rare earth based magnet production industry 

and supply chain in the United States. 

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 ‘‘Rare Earths Supply3 Chain Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 

4 2010’’ or the ‘‘RESTART Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds that: 

7 (1) Many modern defense technologies such as 

8 radar and sonar systems, precision-guided weapons, 

9 cruise missiles, and lasers cannot be built, as de10 signed and specified, without the use of rare earth 

11 elements (‘‘REEs’’) and materials produced from 

12 them. 

13 (2) Significant quantities of REE are used in 

14 the production of renewable energy technologies, in15 cluding advanced automotive propulsion batteries, 

16 electric motors, high-efficiency light bulbs, solar pan17 els, and wind turbines. These technologies are used 

18 to advance the United States energy policy of reduc19 ing dependence on foreign oil and decreasing green20 house gas emissions through expansion of renewable 

21 sources of energy. 

22 (3) Though the United States owns at least 15 

23 percent of the world’s REEs reserves, it now de24 pends nearly 100 percent upon imports for rare 

25 earth elements, oxides, and alloys because there are 

26 virtually no active REE producers in the United 


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1 States. More than 97 percent of all REEs for world 

2 consumption are produced in China. 

3 (4) China’s ability—and willingness—to export 

4 REEs is eroding due to its growing domestic de5 mand, its enforcement of environmental law on cur6 rent producers, and its mandate to consolidate the 

7 industry by decreasing its number of mining per8 mits. The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Infor9 mation Technology draft rare earths plan for 2009 

10 to 2015 proposes an immediate ban on the export of 

11 dysprosium, terbium, thulium, lutetium and yttrium, 

12 the ‘‘heavy’’ REE and a restriction on the exports 

13 of all the other, light, rare earth metals to a level 

14 well below that of Japan’s 2008 demand alone. 

15 (5) Furthermore, the United States has no ac16 tive heavy group rare earth production capabilities 

17 or refining capabilities for heavy rare earth ele18 ments. Thus, should the United States begin to mine 

19 its heavy rare earth oxides, it would still be depend20 ent on overseas refineries for further elemental and 

21 alloy processing. Nor does the United States cur22 rently maintain a ‘‘strategic reserve’’ of rare earth 

23 compounds, metals or alloys. 

24 (6) REEs should qualify as materials either 

25 strategic or critical to national security. The United 


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1 States Government should take measures to reintro2 duce a globally competitive domestic strategic mate3 rials industry that is self-sufficient in the United 

4 States domestic market with multiple sources of 

5 mining, processing, alloying and manufacturing. 

6 (7) This self-sufficiency requires an uninter7 rupted supply of strategic materials critical to na8 tional security and innovative commercial product 

9 development, including rare earth materials, to sup10 port the defense supply chain. 

11 (8) The United States currently cannot reclaim 

12 valuable rare earth resources and permanent 

13 magnets from scrapped military or consumer prod14 ucts, industrial materials or equipment, which allows 

15 entities in overseas nations to identify and recover 

16 such materials for resale to United States manufac17 turers at considerable cost. 

18 (9) There is an urgent need to identify the cur19 rent global market situation regarding rare earth 

20 materials, the strategic value placed on them by for21 eign nations including China, and the Department of 

22 Defense’s and domestic manufacturing industry’s 

23 supply-chain vulnerability related to rare earths and 

24 end items containing rare earths such as neodymium 


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1 iron boron and other specialty magnets, and rare 

2 earth ‘‘doped’’ lasers. 

3 (10) It is the policy of the United States to 

4 take any and all actions necessary to ensure the re5 introduction of a competitive domestic rare earth 

6 supply chain, to include the reintroduction of the ca7 pacity to conduct mining, refining/processing, alloy8 ing and manufacturing operations using domestic 

9 suppliers to provide a secure source of rare earth 

10 materials as a vital component of national security 

11 and economic policy. 

12 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH EXECUTIVE AGENTS 

13 FOR RARE EARTH RELATED MATTERS. 

14 No later than 30 days after the enactment of this 

15 Act— 

16 (1) the Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, En17 ergy, Interior, and State shall appoint an Executive 

18 Agent, at the Assistant Secretary level of each af19 fected agency, to serve as a representative on an 

20 interagency working group for the purposes of rees21 tablishing a competitive domestic rare earth supply 

22 chain; and 

23 (2) the United States Trade Representative and 

24 the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall apVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:27 Mar 18, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4866.IH H4866

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1 point representation to the interagency working 

2 group in paragraph (1) above. 

3 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH A BASELINE FOR 

4 RARE EARTH MATERIAL SUPPLY-CHAIN VUL5 NERABILITY. 

6 No later than 180 days after the enactment of this 

7 Act, the Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Inte8 rior, and State shall undertake an assessment of the rare 

9 earth supply chain and determine which rare earth ele10 ments are critical to national and economic security and 

11 submit the findings of the review to Congress. Such as12 sessment shall be in coordination with the United States 

13 Trade Representative and the Executive Office of the 

14 President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. 

15 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL STOCK16 PILE FOR RARE EARTH MATERIALS. 

17 (a) In accordance with 50 U.S.C. 98 et seq., the Sec18 retary of Defense shall commence the procurement of rare 

19 earth materials designated as ‘‘critical’’ in section 4 of this 

20 Act and place such rare earth materials in the national 

21 stockpile within one year after enactment of this Act. 

22 (b) The Defense Logistics Agency, Defense National 

23 Stockpile Center, shall serve as Administrator of the rare 

24 earth stockpile and shall issue an annual report to ConVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:27 Mar 18, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4866.IH H4866

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1 gress describing which rare earth materials shall be added 

2 to or subtracted from the stockpile. 

3 (c) In accordance with section 98h–6 of title 50, 

4 United States Code, the Administrator shall purchase, or 

5 make a commitment to purchase, rare earth materials or 

6 for the processing or refining of rare earth materials, to 

7 support national defense and the economic needs of the 

8 United States. 

9 (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for 

10 a period of five years after the date of enactment of this 

11 Act, the Administrator shall be authorized to purchase 

12 necessary rare earth materials from the People’s Republic 

13 of China, if required to meet national security and eco14 nomic needs of the United States. 

15 (e) Upon the joint determination of the Secretaries 

16 of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, and State, in co17 ordination with the United States Trade Representative 

18 and the Executive Office of the President’s Office of 

19 Science and Technology Policy, that rare earth materials 

20 are no longer critical to supporting national defense or the 

21 economic well-being of the United States, the requirement 

22 to stockpile rare earth materials shall terminate by issuing 

23 a report of such determination to Congress. Such report 

24 shall be submitted to Congress no earlier than April 1, 

25 2015. 


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1 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF FAIR MARKET CONDITIONS 

2 FOR THE REESTABLISHMENT OF A DOMESTIC 

3 RARE EARTH SUPPLY CHAIN. 

4 (a) Not later than 30 days after the enactment of 

5 the Act, the United States Trade Representative shall ini6 tiate a comprehensive review of international trade prac7 tices in the rare earth materials market. Such review shall 

8 include actions by foreign producers of rare earth ele9 ments, rare earth metals, rare earth alloys and compo10 nents used in the defense or energy markets containing 

11 rare earth elements, as it relates to dumping, export 

12 quotas and other relevant mechanisms used to manipulate 

13 the rare earth market. 

14 (b) Upon completion of the review, the United States 

15 Trade Representative shall— 

16 (1) initiate an action before the World Trade 

17 Organization; or 

18 (2) issue a report to Congress describing the re19 sults of the comprehensive review and why it was de20 termined that international markets are free from 

21 market manipulation such as dumping or export 

22 quotas. 

23 SEC. 7. CONSIDERATION OF LOAN GUARANTEES FOR RARE 

24 EARTH SUPPLY-CHAIN DEVELOPMENT. 

25 Not later than 90 days after the enactment of the 

26 Act— 


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1 (1) the Secretaries of Commerce, Interior, and 

2 State shall issue a report to industry describing 

3 mechanisms for obtaining current and future year 

4 government loan guarantees to reestablish a domes5 tic rare earth supply chain; 

6 (2) the Secretary of Defense shall issue guid7 ance for the rare earth industry related to obtaining 

8 loan guarantees under 50 U.S.C. 98 and any other 

9 available mechanism for obtaining loan guarantees 

10 to support the reestablishment of mining, refining, 

11 alloying and manufacturing operations in the United 

12 States that will support the domestic defense supply 

13 chain; and 

14 (3) the Secretary of Energy shall issue guidance 

15 for the rare earth industry related to obtaining loan 

16 guarantees under the American Recovery and Rein17 vestment Act of 2009, Energy Efficiency and Re18 newable Energy sponsored programs and any other 

19 available mechanism for obtaining loan guarantees 

20 to support the reestablishment of mining, refining, 

21 alloying and manufacturing operations in the United 

22 States that will support the domestic supply chain. 


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1 SEC. 8. DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT PRIORITY FOR RARE 

2 EARTH SUPPLY-CHAIN DEVELOPMENT. 

3 (a) It is the sense of Congress that the urgent need 

4 to reintroduce a domestic rare earth supply chain war5 rants a prioritization of such Defense Production Act 

6 projects. The United States faces a shortage of key mate7 rials that form the backbone of both the defense and en8 ergy supply chains. 

9 (b) Not later than 180 days after the enactment of 

10 this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue a report de11 scribing past, current and future Defense Production Act 

12 projects to address the domestic rare earth supply chain. 

13 If no rare earth supply-chain Defense Production Act 

14 projects are in process or planned, the report shall justify 

15 the lack of action to support establishment of domestic 

16 rare earth supply-chain initiatives, particularly those to es17 tablish domestic manufacturing capability in critical seg18 ments of the rare earth market. 

19 SEC. 9. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TO SUPPORT THE 

20 DOMESTIC RARE EARTH SUPPLY CHAIN. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that, in order to reestab22 lish the United States as the preeminent supplier of rare 

23 earth materials, components and associated technologies, 

24 there is a pressing need to support innovation, training 

25 and workforce development of the rare earth supply chain. 

26 Therefore, base budget funding should be provided by the 


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1 Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, Energy, and Interior 

2 to fund academic institutions, Government laboratories, 

3 corporate research and development, not-for-profit re4 search and development, and industry associations. 

5 SEC. 10. RESTRICTIONS. 

6 (a) LIMITATION ON DIVESTMENT OF FACILITIES

7 CREATED.—No recipient of United States Government 

8 appropriated funds, for the purposes of supporting the re9 establishment of a domestic rare earth supply chain, may 

10 divest resources funded, in whole or in part, to any for11 eign-owned or controlled entity without the concurrence of 

12 the Secretaries of Energy, Commerce, and Defense. 

13 (b) ENHANCING NATIONAL SECURITY.—Any recipi14 ent of United States Government appropriated funds ob15 tained in connection with the reestablishment of a domes16 tic rare earth supply chain shall be subject to the restric17 tions of 10 U.S.C. 2538. In order to ensure the availability 

18 of rare earth materials for Department of Defense needs, 

19 this obligation extends to all materials sold by such recipi20 ents in the commercial marketplace. 

21 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) RARE EARTH.—The term ‘‘rare earth’’ 

24 means the chemical elements, all metals, beginning 

25 with lanthanum, atomic number 57, and including 


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1 all of the natural chemical elements in the periodic 

2 table following lanthanum up to and including lute3 tium, element number 71. The definition shall fur4 ther include the elements yttrium and scandium, 

5 which are usually found with the rare earth elements 

6 in nature. 

7 (2) REFINE.—The reestablishment of a domes8 tic rare earth element refinery capabilities within the 

9 United States whereby rare earths, once extracted 

10 from rock, are separated and purified to commercial 

11 grades of oxides or other salts such as oxalates or 

12 chlorides. 

13 (3) PROCESS.—The support of heavy rare earth 

14 processing and production facilities capable of con15 verting rare earth oxides into usable rare earth met16 als and specialty alloys and powders for domestic 

17 magnet and other manufacturing within the United 

18 States. 

19 (4) PRODUCE.—The advancement of domestic 

20 manufacturing efforts of U.S. magnet producers and 

21 other domestic innovation industries that rely on 

22 rare earth materials. 

23 (5) RECYCLE.—The establishment of an initia24 tive to recycle and strip used consumer products, 

25 and used or obsolete declassified military products, 


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1 of rare earth elements and strategic magnets within 

2 the United States for eventual reuse by domestic 

3 manufacturers. 

4 (6) STOCKPILE.—The creation and mainte5 nance of a ‘‘strategic reserve’’ of rare earth oxides, 

6 and storable forms of rare earth elements, and alloys 

7 for national defense purposes. 

8 (7) ALLOY AND ALLOYING.—An alloy is a par9 tial or complete solid solution of one or more ele10 ments in a metallic matrix. Alloying is the process 

11 of melting of metals to create the metallic matrix. 

12 (8) SINTERING.—Sintering is a method for 

13 making objects from powder, by heating the material 

14 in a sintering furnace below its melting point (solid 

15 state sintering) until its particles adhere to each 

16 other. 

Æ 


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