I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3405 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to revise the Final List of Critical 
Minerals, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 21, 2019 
Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to revise the Final 
List of Critical Minerals, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Removing Uranium 
from the Critical Minerals List Act.’’ 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Pursuant to Executive Order 13817, the 
Department of the Interior published a Final List of 
Critical Minerals 2018 (83 Fed. Reg. 23295) on 
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May 18th, 2018, that categorizes uranium as a crit-
ical mineral. 
(2) A ‘‘critical mineral’’, as defined by Execu-
tive Order 13817, is a mineral— 
(A) identified to be a nonfuel mineral or 
mineral material essential to the economic and 
national security of the United States; 
(B) from a supply chain that is vulnerable 
to disruption; and 
(C) that serves an essential function in the 
manufacturing of a product, the absence of 
which would have substantial consequences for 
the United States economy or national security. 
(3) The terms ‘‘nonfuel mineral’’ and ‘‘mineral 
material’’ are used elsewhere in Federal law and do 
not include uranium. 
(4) Uranium is defined as a ‘‘mineral fuel’’ by 
the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970— 
(A) consistent with how uranium has been 
uniformly described by the United States Geo-
logical Survey, the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment, the National Science and Technology 
Council Subcommittee on Critical and Strategic 
Mineral Supply, and others; and 
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(B) supported by the Department of Ener-
gy’s Energy Information Administration catego-
rizing uranium with coal, natural gas, and pe-
troleum as an energy mineral since 1977. 
(5) Uranium is not a ‘‘mineral material’’ be-
cause— 
(A) the Materials Act of 1947 and the 
Multiple Surface Use Act of 1955 define min-
eral materials as ‘‘common varieties’’ of sand, 
stone, gravel, pumice, pumicite, cinders, and 
clay; and 
(B) Federal agencies do not treat uranium 
as a ‘‘common variety mineral’’ but as a min-
eral locatable under the General Mining Act of 
1872. 
(6) The United States uranium supply chain is 
not vulnerable to disruption, nor is it highly con-
centrated in individual markets, two requirements 
identified in the Department’s methodology for being 
considered a critical mineral. 
(7) In 2017, the United States imported 52 
percent of its uranium from Canada and Australia. 
(8) The Department of the Interior did not 
demonstrate how uranium meets the definition of a 
‘‘nonfuel mineral’’ or of ‘‘mineral material’’, nor did 
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the Department demonstrate that the uranium sup-
ply chain is vulnerable to disruption. 
(9) No other significant analysis of critical min-
erals, including those published by the National Re-
search Council, the National Science and Technology 
Council, the Department of Energy, the American 
Physical Society, and the Materials Research Society 
categorize uranium as a critical mineral. 
SEC. 3. REVISION OF FINAL RULE REGARDING CRITICAL 
MINERALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 
shall revise the Final List of Critical Minerals, and any 
related regulations, to remove uranium from such list. 
(b) RESTRICTION.—The Secretary of the Interior 
may not add uranium to the Final List of Critical Min-
erals. 
(c) FINAL LIST OF CRITICAL MINERALS.—The term 
‘‘Final List of Critical Minerals’’ means the Final List of 
Critical Minerals issued pursuant to Executive Order 
13817 (82 Fed. Reg. 60835, relating to a Federal strategy 
to ensure secure and reliable supplies of critical minerals). 
Æ 
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