IIB 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4402 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 16, 2012 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources 
AN ACT 
To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
of Agriculture to more efficiently develop domestic 
sources of the minerals and mineral materials of strategic 
and critical importance to United States economic and 
national security and manufacturing competitiveness. 
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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 Strategic and 
Critical Minerals Production Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The industrialization of China and India 
has driven demand for nonfuel mineral commodities, 
sparking a period of resource nationalism exempli-
fied by China’s reduction in exports of rare-earth 
elements necessary for telecommunications, military 
technologies, healthcare technologies, and conven-
tional and renewable energy technologies. 
(2) The availability of minerals and mineral 
materials are essential for economic growth, national 
security, technological innovation, and the manufac-
turing and agricultural supply chain. 
(3) The exploration, production, processing, 
use, and recycling of minerals contribute signifi-
cantly to the economic well-being, security and gen-
eral welfare of the Nation. 
(4) The United States has vast mineral re-
sources, but is becoming increasingly dependent 
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upon foreign sources of these mineral materials, as 
demonstrated by the following: 
(A) Twenty-five years ago the United 
States was dependent on foreign sources for 30 
nonfuel mineral materials, 6 of which the 
United States imported 100 percent of the Na-
tion’s requirements, and for another 16 com-
modities the United States imported more than 
60 percent of the Nation’s needs. 
(B) By 2011 the United States import de-
pendence for nonfuel mineral materials had 
more than doubled from 30 to 67 commodities, 
19 of which the United States imported 100 
percent of the Nation’s requirements, and for 
another 24 commodities, imported more than 
50 percent of the Nation’s needs. 
(C) The United States share of world wide 
mineral exploration dollars was 8 percent in 
2011, down from 19 percent in the early 1990s. 
(D) In the 2012 Ranking of Countries for 
Mining Investment, out of 25 major mining 
countries, the United States ranked last with 
Papua New Guinea in permitting delays, and 
towards the bottom regarding government take 
and social issues affecting mining. 
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SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MINERALS.—The 
term ‘‘strategic and critical minerals’’ means min-
erals that are necessary— 
(A) for national defense and national secu-
rity requirements; 
(B) for the Nation’s energy infrastructure, 
including pipelines, refining capacity, electrical 
power generation and transmission, and renew-
able energy production; 
(C) to support domestic manufacturing, 
agriculture, 
housing, 
telecommunications, 
healthcare, and transportation infrastructure; 
and 
(D) for the Nation’s economic security and 
balance of trade. 
(2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means any 
agency, department, or other unit of Federal, State, 
local, or tribal government, or Alaska Native Cor-
poration. 
(3) MINERAL
EXPLORATION
OR
MINE
PER-
MIT.—The term ‘‘mineral exploration or mine per-
mit’’ includes plans of operation issued by the Bu-
reau of Land Management and the Forest Service 
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pursuant to 43 CFR 3809 and 36 CFR 228A re-
spectively. 
TITLE I—DEVELOPMENT OF DO-
MESTIC SOURCES OF STRA-
TEGIC AND CRITICAL MIN-
ERALS 
SEC. 101. IMPROVING DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC AND 
CRITICAL MINERALS. 
Domestic mines that will provide strategic and crit-
ical minerals shall be considered an ‘‘infrastructure 
project’’ as described in Presidential Order ‘‘Improving 
Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infra-
structure Projects’’ dated March 22, 2012. 
SEC. 102. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEAD AGENCY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency with responsi-
bility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine permit 
shall appoint a project lead who shall coordinate and con-
sult with other agencies, cooperating agencies, project pro-
ponents and contractors to ensure that agencies minimize 
delays, set and adhere to timelines and schedules for com-
pletion of reviews, set clear permitting goals and track 
progress against those goals. 
(b) The lead agency with responsibility for issuing a 
mineral exploration or mine permit shall determine any 
such action would not constitute a major Federal action 
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significantly affecting the quality of the human environ-
ment within the meaning of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 if the procedural and substantive safe-
guards of the lead agency’s permitting process alone, any 
applicable State permitting process alone, or a combina-
tion of the two processes together provide an adequate 
mechanism to ensure that environmental factors are taken 
into account. 
(c) The lead agency with responsibility for issuing a 
mineral exploration or mine permit shall enhance govern-
ment coordination on permitting and review by avoiding 
duplicative reviews, minimizing paperwork and engaging 
other agencies and stakeholders early in the process. The 
lead agency shall consider the following best practices: 
(1) Deferring to and relying upon baseline data, 
analysis and reviews preformed by State agencies 
with jurisdiction over the proposed project. 
(2) Conducting reviews concurrently rather 
than sequentially to the extent practicable and when 
such concurrent review will expedite rather than 
delay a decision. 
(d) At the request of a project proponent, the project 
lead of the agency with responsibility for issuing a mineral 
exploration or mine permit shall enter into an agreement 
with the project proponent and other cooperating agencies 
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that sets time limits for each part of the permit review 
process including the following: 
(1) The decision on whether to prepare a docu-
ment required under the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969. 
(2) A determination of the scope of any docu-
ment required under the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969. 
(3) The scope of and schedule for the baseline 
studies required to prepare a document required 
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969. 
(4) Preparation of any draft document required 
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969. 
(5) Preparation of a final document required 
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969. 
(6) Consultations required under applicable 
laws. 
(7) Submission and review of any comments re-
quired under applicable law. 
(8) Publication of any public notices required 
under applicable law. 
(9) A final or any interim decisions. 
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(e) In no case should the total review process de-
scribed in subsection (d) exceed 30 months unless agreed 
to by the signatories of the agreement. 
(f) The lead agency is not required to address agency 
or public comments that were not submitted during the 
public comment periods provided by the lead agency or 
otherwise required by law. 
(g) The lead agency will determine the amount of fi-
nancial assurance for reclamation of a mineral exploration 
or mining site, which must cover the estimated cost if the 
lead agency were to contract with a third party to reclaim 
the operations according to the reclamation plan, includ-
ing construction and maintenance costs for any treatment 
facilities necessary to meet Federal, State or tribal envi-
ronmental standards. 
(h) This section shall apply with respect to a mineral 
exploration or mine permit for which an application was 
submitted before the date of the enactment of this Act 
if the applicant for the permit submits a written request 
to the lead agency for the permit. The lead agency shall 
begin implementing this section with respect to such appli-
cation within 30 days after receiving such written request. 
(i) With respect to strategic and critical materials 
within a federally administered unit of the National Forest 
System, the lead agency shall— 
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(1) exempt all areas of identified mineral re-
sources in Land Use Designations, other than Non- 
Development Land Use Designations, in existence as 
of the date of the enactment of this Act from the 
procedures detailed at and all rules promulgated 
under part 294 of title 36, Code for Federal Regula-
tions; 
(2) apply such exemption to all additional 
routes and areas that the lead agency finds nec-
essary to facilitate the construction, operation, main-
tenance, and restoration of the areas of identified 
mineral resources described in paragraph (1); and 
(3) continue to apply such exemptions after ap-
proval of the Minerals Plan of Operations for the 
unit of the National Forest System. 
SEC. 103. CONSERVATION OF THE RESOURCE. 
In developing the mineral exploration or mine permit, 
the priority of the lead agency shall be to maximize the 
development of the mineral resource, while mitigating en-
vironmental impacts, so that more of the mineral resource 
can be brought to the market place. 
SEC. 104. FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS FOR MINERAL EX-
PLORATION AND MINING PROJECTS. 
(a) PREPARATION OF FEDERAL NOTICES FOR MIN-
ERAL
EXPLORATION
AND
MINE
DEVELOPMENT 
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PROJECTS.—The preparation of Federal Register notices 
required by law associated with the issuance of a mineral 
exploration or mine permit shall be delegated to the orga-
nization level within the agency responsible for issuing the 
mineral exploration or mine permit. All Federal Register 
notices regarding official document availability, announce-
ments of meetings, or notices of intent to undertake an 
action shall be originated and transmitted to the Federal 
Register from the office where documents are held, meet-
ings are held, or the activity is initiated. 
(b) DEPARTMENTAL REVIEW
OF FEDERAL REG-
ISTER NOTICES FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION AND MIN-
ING PROJECTS.—Absent any extraordinary circumstance 
or except as otherwise required by any Act of Congress, 
each Federal Register notice described in subsection (a) 
shall undergo any required reviews within the Department 
of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture and be 
published in its final form in the Federal Register no later 
than 30 days after its initial preparation. 
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TITLE II—JUDICIAL REVIEW OF 
AGENCY ACTIONS RELATING 
TO EXPLORATION AND MINE 
PERMITS 
SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS FOR TITLE. 
In this title the term ‘‘covered civil action’’ means a 
civil action containing a claim under section 702 of title 
5, United States Code, regarding agency action affecting 
a mineral exploration or mine permit. 
SEC. 202. TIMELY FILINGS. 
A covered civil action is barred unless filed no later 
than the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date 
of the final Federal agency action to which it relates. 
SEC. 203. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING THE 
ACTION. 
The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any 
covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. 
SEC. 204. LIMITATION ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF. 
In a covered civil action, the court shall not grant 
or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 
that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than 
necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 
and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 
violation. 
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SEC. 205. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 
Sections 504 of title 5, United States Code, and 2412 
of title 28, United States Code (together commonly called 
the Equal Access to Justice Act) do not apply to a covered 
civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac-
tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 
their attorneys’ fees, expenses, and other court costs. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 12, 2012. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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