I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4883 
To provide for the establishment of a National Rare-Earth Refinery 
Cooperative, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 17, 2014 
Mr. STOCKMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To provide for the establishment of a National Rare-Earth 
Refinery Cooperative, 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 ‘‘National Rare-Earth 
Cooperative Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ing: 
(1) Heavy rare-earth elements are critical for 
the national defense of the United States, advanced 
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energy technologies, and other desirable commercial 
and industrial applications. 
(2) The Government Accountability Office has 
confirmed that the monopoly control of the People’s 
Republic of China over the rare-earth value chain 
has resulted in vulnerabilities in the procurement 
process of multiple United States weapons systems. 
(3) China has leveraged its monopoly control 
over the rare-earth value chain to force American, 
European, Japanese, and Korean corporations to 
transfer manufacturing facilities, technology, and 
jobs to China in exchange for secure supply con-
tracts. 
(4) China’s increasingly aggressive mercantilist 
behavior has resulted in involuntary transfers of 
technology, manufacturing facilities, and jobs as well 
as onerous trade imbalances with the United States 
and trading partners of the United States. 
(5) Direct links exist between heavy rare-earth 
mineralogy and thorium. 
(6) Thorium is a mildly radioactive element 
commonly associated with the lanthanide elements in 
the most heavy rare-earth deposits that are located 
in the United States and elsewhere. 
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(7) Regulations regarding thorium represent a 
barrier to the development of the heavy rare-earth 
industry that is based in the United States. 
(8) Balancing the strategic national interest ob-
jectives of the United States against economic and 
environmental risks is best met through the creation 
of a rare-earth cooperative. 
(9) A rare-earth cooperative could— 
(A) greatly increase rare-earth production; 
(B) ensure environmental safety; and 
(C) lower the cost of production and finan-
cial risks faced by rare-earth producers in the 
United States. 
(10) Historically, agricultural and electric co-
operatives have stood as some of the greatest success 
stories of the United States. 
(b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 
United States to advance domestic refining of heavy rare- 
earth materials and the safe storage of thorium in antici-
pation of the potential future industrial uses of thorium, 
including energy, as— 
(1) thorium has a mineralogical association 
with valuable heavy rare-earth elements; 
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(2) there is a great need to develop domestic re-
fining capacity to process domestic heavy rare-earth 
deposits; and 
(3) the economy of the United States would 
benefit from the rapid development and control of 
intellectual property relating to the commercial de-
velopment of thorium-utilizing technology. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ACTINIDE.—The term ‘‘actinide’’ means all 
elements with atomic numbers of 89 or greater on 
the periodic table. 
(2) CONSUMER MEMBER.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘consumer 
member’’ means a member of the Cooperative 
that is— 
(i) an entity that is part of, or has a 
role in, the value chain for rare-earth ma-
terials or rare-earth products, including 
from the refined oxide state to the stage in 
which the rare-earth elements are finished 
in any physical or chemical form (including 
oxides, metals, alloys, catalysts, or compo-
nent); or 
(ii) a consumer of rare-earth products. 
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(6) CORPORATION
BOARD.—The term ‘‘Cor-
poration Board’’ means the Board of Directors of 
the Corporation established under section 5(b)(1). 
(7) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Exec-
utive Committee’’ means the executive committee es-
tablished under section 5(b)(2). 
(8) INITIAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—The term 
‘‘Initial Board of Directors’’ means the initial Board 
of Directors for the Cooperative established under 
section 4(b)(1)(A). 
(9) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 
(10) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘na-
tional laboratory’’ has the meaning given that term 
in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 15801). 
(11) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Defense. 
(12) SUPPLIER MEMBER.—The term ‘‘supplier 
member’’ means a rare-earth producer that enters 
into a contract to supply the Cooperative with rare- 
earth ores. 
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(13) TOLLING.—The term ‘‘Tolling’’ means a 
fee-for-services contract between the Cooperative and 
a primary rare-earth producer under which— 
(A) the producer retains ownership and 
control of the finished product; and 
(B) pays to the Cooperative a fee for serv-
ices rendered by the Cooperative. 
(14) UNPROCESSED
AND
UNREFINED
ORE.— 
The term ‘‘unprocessed and refined ore’’ includes 
any ores or residual ores resulting from the mining, 
extraction, beneficiation, and processing of other 
natural resources. 
SEC. 4. THORIUM-BEARING RARE-EARTH REFINERY COOP-
ERATIVE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a Coop-
erative, to be known as the ‘‘Thorium-Bearing Rare- 
Earth Refinery Cooperative’’, to provide for the do-
mestic processing of thorium-bearing rare-earth con-
centrates as residual unprocessed and unrefined 
ores, in accordance with 10 CFR 40.12 and 13b as 
it relates to the Cooperative. 
(2) FEDERAL CHARTER; OWNERSHIP.—The Co-
operative shall operate under a Federal charter. 
(3) MEMBERSHIP.— 
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(A) COMPOSITION.—The Cooperative shall 
comprise— 
(i) supplier members; and 
(ii) consumer members. 
(B) SUPPLIER MEMBERS.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of 
entering into a contract to supply the Co-
operative with rare-earth ores, supplier 
members provide rare-earth concentrates 
to the Cooperative at market price. 
(ii) CAPITAL
CONTRIBUTIONS.—Any 
supplier member that makes significant 
capital contributions to the Cooperative, as 
determined by the Cooperative Board, may 
become a consumer member for purposes 
of the distribution of profits of the Cooper-
ative under subparagraph (D). 
(C) CONSUMER
MEMBER.—A consumer 
member— 
(i) shall make capital contributions to 
the Cooperative in exchange for entering 
into negotiated supply agreements; and 
(ii) in accordance with the agreements 
entered into under clause (i), may acquire 
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finished rare-earth products from the Co-
operative at market price. 
(D) DISTRIBUTION
OF
PROFITS.—Any 
profits of the Cooperative shall be distributed 
between supplier members and consumer mem-
bers in accordance with a formula established 
by the Cooperative Board. 
(b) MANAGEMENT.— 
(1) INITIAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall appoint the Initial Board of Di-
rectors for the Cooperative, comprised of five 
members, of whom— 
(i) one member shall represent the 
Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Mate-
rials program of the Department of De-
fense; 
(ii) one member shall represent the 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Re-
search and Engineering; 
(iii) one member shall represent 
United States advocacy groups for rare- 
earth producers and original equipment 
manufacturing interests; 
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(iv) one member shall represent the 
United States Geological Survey; and 
(v) one member who shall— 
(I) not be affiliated with a Fed-
eral agency; and 
(II) be recommended for appoint-
ment by a majority vote of the other 
members of the Initial Board of Di-
rectors appointed under clauses (i) 
through (iv). 
(B) DUTIES.—The Initial Board of Direc-
tors shall— 
(i) establish the charter, bylaws, and 
rules of governance for the Cooperative; 
(ii) make formative business decisions 
on behalf of the Cooperative; and 
(iii) assist in the formation of, and 
the provision of tasks and assignments to, 
the Corporation. 
(C) STANDING MEMBER.—The member ap-
pointed under subparagraph (A)(v) shall remain 
on the Cooperative Board and Corporation 
Board, until such time as— 
(i) the member voluntarily resigns; or 
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(ii) a majority of the members of the 
Cooperative Board and a majority of the 
members of the Corporation Board vote to 
remove the member from the Cooperative 
Board and the Corporation Board. 
(D) TERMINATION.—The Initial Board of 
Directors shall terminate on the date on which 
the initial members of the Cooperative Board 
are appointed under paragraph (2). 
(2) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Directors 
of the Cooperative shall comprise nine mem-
bers, to be selected in accordance with the by-
laws of the Cooperative established under para-
graph (1)(B)(i), of whom— 
(i) five members shall be consumer 
members; 
(ii) two members shall be supplier 
members; 
(iii) one member shall represent an 
advocacy group for defense contractors, 
other rare-earth consumers, and suppliers 
who are not represented by the Board or 
through direct ownership in the Coopera-
tive; and 
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(iv) one member shall be the member 
of the Initial Board of Directors appointed 
under paragraph (1)(A)(v). 
(B) POWERS.—The Cooperative Board 
may— 
(i) prescribe the manner in which 
business shall be conducted by the Cooper-
ative; 
(ii) determine pay-out ratio formulas 
for consumer members and supplier mem-
bers, based on— 
(I) the capital stock ratios of 
consumer members; and 
(II) the value of supply member 
contracts, as determined based on the 
volume, term, and distributions of 
rare-earth concentrates relative to 
processing costs; and 
(iii) evaluate technologies and proc-
esses for the efficient extraction and refin-
ing of rare-earth materials from various 
thorium-bearing ores. 
(C) REFINERY AND OFFICE LOCATIONS.— 
The Cooperative Board shall establish the refin-
ery and offices for the Cooperative at any loca-
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