II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2093 

To provide for the establishment of the Thorium-Bearing Rare Earth Refinery 

Cooperative, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of the Thorium-Bearing 

Rare Earth Refinery Cooperative, 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 cited as the ‘‘Rare Earth Coopera5 tive 21st Century Manufacturing Act’’ or the ‘‘RE-Coop 

6 21st Century Manufacturing Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Rare earth elements are critical for ad2 vanced energy technologies, national defense, and 

3 other commercial and industrial applications. 

4 (2) The People’s Republic of China (referred to 

5 in this subsection as ‘‘China’’) has leveraged its mo6 nopoly control over the rare earth value chain to 

7 force corporations from the United States, Europe, 

8 Japan, and South Korea to transfer manufacturing 

9 facilities, technology, and jobs to China in exchange 

10 for secure supply contracts. 

11 (3) The increasingly aggressive mercantile be12 havior of China has led to involuntary transfers of 

13 technology, manufacturing, and jobs, which has re14 sulted in onerous trade imbalances with the United 

15 States and trading partners of the United States. 

16 (4) The Comptroller General of the United 

17 States has confirmed that the monopoly control of 

18 China over the rare earth value chain has resulted 

19 in vulnerabilities in the procurement of multiple 

20 United States weapons systems. 

21 (5) Direct links exist between rare earth min22 eralogy and thorium. 

23 (6) Thorium is a radioactive element commonly 

24 associated with the lanthanide elements in most rare 


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1 earth deposits located in the United States and else2 where. 

3 (7) Regulations regarding thorium represent a 

4 barrier to the development of a rare earth industry 

5 that is based in the United States. 

6 (8) Meeting the strategic national interest ob7 jectives of the United States and economic and envi8 ronmental goals are best achieved through the cre9 ation of a rare earth cooperative. 

10 (9) A rare earth cooperative could— 

11 (A) greatly increase the production of rare 

12 earth elements; 

13 (B) ensure environmental safety; and 

14 (C) lower the cost of the production and fi15 nancial risks faced by rare earth producers in 

16 the United States. 

17 (10) Historically, agricultural and electric co18 operatives have stood as one of the greatest success 

19 stories of the United States. 

20 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

21 United States to advance domestic refining of rare earth 

22 elements and the safe storage of thorium in anticipation 

23 of the potential future industrial uses of thorium, includ24 ing energy, because— 


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1 (1) thorium has a mineralogical association 

2 with valuable rare earth elements; 

3 (2) there is a great need to develop domestic re4 fining capacity to process domestic rare earth ele5 ment deposits; and 

6 (3) the economy of the United States would 

7 benefit from the rapid development and control of 

8 intellectual property relating to the commercial de9 velopment of technology utilizing thorium. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) ACTINIDE.—The term ‘‘actinide’’ means a 

13 natural element associated with any of the series of 

14 15 metallic elements between actinium, with atomic 

15 number 89, and lawrencium, with atomic number 

16 103, on the periodic table. 

17 (2) COOPERATIVE.—The term ‘‘Cooperative’’ 

18 means the Thorium-Bearing Rare Earth Refinery 

19 Cooperative established under section 4(a). 

20 (3) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’ 

21 means the Thorium Storage, Energy, and Industrial 

22 Products Corporation established under section 5(a). 

23 (4) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na24 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 


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1 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

2 U.S.C. 15801). 

3 (5) RARE EARTH ELEMENT.—The term ‘‘rare 

4 earth element’’ means a natural element associated 

5 with— 

6 (A) the metallic element scandium, with 

7 atomic number 21, or yttrium, with atomic 

8 number 39; 

9 (B) any of the series of 15 metallic ele10 ments between lanthanum, with atomic number 

11 57, and lutetium, with atomic number 71, on 

12 the periodic table; or 

13 (C) any of the series of 15 metallic ele14 ments between actinium, with atomic number 

15 89, and lawrencium, with atomic number 103, 

16 on the periodic table. 

17 SEC. 4. RARE EARTH REFINERY COOPERATIVE. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Com20 merce shall coordinate with any relevant Federal agencies 

21 to procure the issuance of a Federal charter for a privately 

22 funded, privately operated, and privately managed cooper23 ative with respect to rare earth elements, which— 

24 (1) shall— 


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1 (A) be known as the Thorium-Bearing 

2 Rare Earth Refinery Cooperative; 

3 (B) coordinate the establishment of a fully 

4 integrated United States value chain with re5 spect to rare earth elements to serve the na6 tional security needs of the United States and 

7 the needs of industry in the United States; and 

8 (C) produce products that use rare earth 

9 elements, including metal powders (such as rare 

10 earth oxides and rare earth salts, including 

11 chlorides and nitrates), metals containing rare 

12 earth elements, alloys, magnets, and other 

13 value-added products using rare earth elements, 

14 as required by— 

15 (i) the owners of, and investors in, the 

16 Cooperative; and 

17 (ii) the defense industry of the United 

18 States; and 

19 (2) may— 

20 (A) accept domestic and international in21 vestment from— 

22 (i) commercial or industrial users of 

23 products containing rare earth elements, 

24 including trade groups or associations 

25 formed to act on behalf of the defense inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2093.IS S2093

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1 dustry or other end-users of those prod2 ucts; or 

3 (ii) any of the resource suppliers of 

4 the Cooperative; 

5 (B) accept investment or funding from for6 eign governments, State agencies, or State7 sponsored entities, including universities or re8 search institutions, subject to the approval of 

9 the Committee on Foreign Investment in the 

10 United States established under section 721(k) 

11 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 

12 U.S.C. 4565(k)); 

13 (C) distribute finished goods and profits in 

14 proportion to investment; 

15 (D) on behalf of the owners of the Cooper16 ative, sell surplus finished goods on the open 

17 market; and 

18 (E) accept and process rare earth re19 sources, or other critical minerals, with elevated 

20 levels of thorium or uranium that are— 

21 (i) mined in the United States; 

22 (ii) from any domestic waste product, 

23 co-product, or byproduct of some other 

24 mined commodity; or 


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1 (iii) produced by any foreign supplier 

2 that has invested in the Cooperative. 

3 (b) SECURING RARE EARTHS.—The following mate4 rials shall be considered to be an unrefined and unproc5 essed ore, as defined in section 40.4 of title 10, Code of 

6 Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation: 

7 (1) Any material accepted by the Cooperative 

8 under subsection (a)(2)(E). 

9 (2) A thorium bearing rare earth ore that is— 

10 (A) a byproduct or coproduct of another 

11 mined commodity; and 

12 (B) sold and shipped under a supply agree13 ment with the Cooperative. 

14 (c) PRODUCERS OF RARE EARTHS.—A producer that 

15 acts under a supply contract with the Cooperative may, 

16 under the rules for unrefined and unprocessed ore under 

17 part 40 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, process, 

18 manage, and transport any material with respect to which 

19 the contract applies. 

20 (d) LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

21 of law or regulation— 

22 (1) the Federal Government shall not be liable 

23 for any activities of the Cooperative under this sec24 tion; and 


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1 (2) the Cooperative shall establish and secure 

2 sufficient financial surety bonding and other insur3 ance, consistent with private industry standards. 

4 SEC. 5. THORIUM STORAGE, ENERGY, AND INDUSTRIAL 

5 PRODUCTS CORPORATION. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy 

8 shall coordinate with relevant Federal agencies to procure 

9 the issuance of a Federal charter for a privately funded 

10 and privately operated corporation, which— 

11 (1) shall be known as the Thorium Storage, 

12 Energy, and Industrial Products Corporation; and 

13 (2) in accordance with all applicable laws, regu14 lations, and rules, shall— 

15 (A) on a preprocessing basis, assume liabil16 ity for and ownership of all thorium and 

17 mineralogically associated or related actinides 

18 and decay products contained within the rare 

19 earth element ores utilized by the Cooperative; 

20 (B) take physical possession and safely 

21 store all thorium-containing actinide byprod22 ucts, with the costs of the storage to be paid by 

23 the Cooperative; and 

24 (C) manage the sale of all valuable actinide 

25 and decay products, utilizing the proceeds for 


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1 the development of commercial uses and market 

2 for thorium, including energy. 

3 (b) THORIUM STORAGE.—The Corporation shall es4 tablish not less than 1 facility, each of which shall— 

5 (1) be known as a ‘‘Thorium Bank’’; 

6 (2) provide safe and long-term storage for all 

7 thorium produced as a byproduct in the production 

8 of rare earth elements for the Cooperative; and 

9 (3) hold and maintain financial surety bonding 

10 and insurance consistent with private industry 

11 standards. 

12 (c) INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS.—The Corporation may 

13 establish not less than 1 division, each of which shall be 

14 known as an ‘‘Industrial Products Corporation’’, for the 

15 certification, licensing, insuring, and commercial develop16 ment of all nonenergy uses for thorium (including thorium 

17 isotopes and thorium daughter elements), including alloys, 

18 catalysts, medical isotopes, and other products. 

19 (d) ENERGY APPLICATIONS.—The Corporation may 

20 establish not less than 1 energy products, energy systems, 

21 or energy applications division for the certification, licens22 ing, insuring, commercial development, deployment, lease, 

23 and licensing of such products and services, including— 

24 (1) developing intellectual property; 

25 (2) acquiring technology; 


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1 (3) developing, manufacturing, operating, or 

2 leasing commercial thorium energy systems; and 

3 (4) developing, manufacturing, operating, or 

4 leasing related thermal processing systems. 

5 (e) INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation may sell or 

7 distribute equity and establish partnerships with the 

8 United States. 

9 (2) FOREIGN INVESTORS.—Any foreign investor 

10 in the Corporation shall make a voluntary filing with 

11 the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United 

12 States established under section 721(k) of the De13 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565(k)). 

14 (f) LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

15 of law or regulation— 

16 (1) the Federal Government shall not be liable 

17 for any activities of the Corporation under this sec18 tion; and 

19 (2) the Corporation shall establish and secure 

20 sufficient financial surety bonding and other insur21 ance, consistent with private industry standards, for 

22 the management and storage of radioactive materials 

23 and other waste and hazards. 


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1 SEC. 6. FEDERAL SUPPORT. 

2 (a) MEETINGS WITH RELEVANT PARTIES.—The Sec3 retary of Commerce and the Secretary of Defense shall 

4 provide initial assistance to the Cooperative, and the Sec5 retary of Energy and the Secretary of Defense shall pro6 vide initial assistance to the Corporation, by establishing 

7 peer-to-peer meetings with allies of the United States in 

8 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, other allied for9 eign governments, Federal and State agencies, science and 

10 technology research institutions, and commercial users 

11 and consumers of rare earth elements and energy. 

12 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN SUPPORT.— 

13 (1) GRANT AND LOAN PROGRAMS.—The Coop14 erative and the Corporation may apply for funding 

15 assistance provided by any relevant grant or loan 

16 program carried out by the Department of Energy, 

17 the Department of Defense, or the Department of 

18 Commerce, including, with respect to the Corpora19 tion— 

20 (A) the Small Modular Reactor Licensing 

21 Technical Support Program of the Department 

22 of Energy; and 

23 (B) any program of the Office of Advanced 

24 Reactor Technologies of the Department of En25 ergy. 


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1 (2) TECHNICAL AND DATA SUPPORT TO THE

2 CORPORATION.—The National Laboratories shall 

3 provide technical and data support to the Corpora4 tion on parity with transfers made before the date 

5 of enactment of this Act by the National Labora6 tories to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and any 

7 other foreign agent or entity. 

8 (c) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY POLICY.—The Sec9 retary of Energy shall adopt and execute a policy that pro10 motes the United States, acting in conjunction with the 

11 Corporation, as a global leader in thorium energy systems. 

12 SEC. 7. APPOINTMENT OF INITIAL OFFICERS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce and 

14 the Secretary of Energy shall jointly appoint 2 citizens 

15 of the United States— 

16 (1) neither of whom may be an employee of, 

17 consultant to, advisor to, or affiliate of the United 

18 States Government; and 

19 (2) who shall act as the initial officers and 

20 Board of Directors of both the Cooperative and the 

21 Corporation. 

22 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—The 2 individuals appointed 

23 under subsection (a) shall each have expertise in, and a 

24 history of promoting— 

25 (1) the development of a platform— 


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1 (A) that is based in the United States; 

2 (B) that is funded using multinational 

3 sources; and 

4 (C) the purpose of which is the develop5 ment of a fully integrated rare earth value 

6 chain; and 

7 (2) the commercial development of uses and 

8 markets for thorium, including energy. 

9 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The individuals appointed 

10 under subsection (a) shall work with the Secretary of 

11 Commerce to develop corporate bylaws and terms of gov12 ernance for the Cooperative, and with the Secretary of En13 ergy to develop those bylaws and terms for the Corpora14 tion, which shall be set forth in a Memorandum of Under15 standing for each such entity that outlines specific obliga16 tions, commitments, limitations on sources of inter17 national investment, and goals that are specific to the na18 tional interests of the United States. 

19 (d) DURATION OF SERVICE.—The individuals ap20 pointed under subsection (a) shall continue to serve in 

21 those roles for as long as provided under the terms of gov22 ernance developed under subsection (c). 

23 SEC. 8. OTHER PROVISIONS. 

24 (a) ANNUAL AUDITS.—The Cooperative and the Cor25 poration shall, on the date that is 180 days after the date 


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1 on which each such entity is established, and annually 

2 thereafter, submit to the Secretary of Commerce, the Sec3 retary of Energy, and the Secretary of Defense an audited 

4 report, which shall— 

5 (1) be conducted by an outside auditing firm; 

6 and 

7 (2) for the period covered by the report, evalu8 ate the progress and success of the Cooperative and 

9 the Corporation in meeting all targets and objectives 

10 established by the Secretary, in consultation with the 

11 heads of other relevant Federal agencies. 

12 (b) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.— 

13 The Secretary of Defense may monitor the output of the 

14 Cooperative and the Corporation with respect to the na15 tional security objectives set forth in the Memorandum of 

16 Understanding required for each entity under section 7(c). 

Æ 


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