H. R. 527—6 
‘‘(C) generate greater returns for taxpayers; and 
‘‘(D) increase the effectiveness of price discovery. 
‘‘(12) SALE
SCHEDULE
AND
FREQUENCY.—For fiscal year 
2015 the Secretary shall conduct only one auction, which shall 
precede, and one sale, which shall take place no later than 
August 1, 2014, with full and final payment for the sale being 
made no later than September 26, 2014. Consistent with the 
annual volumes established under paragraph (2), effective 
beginning in fiscal year 2016, the Secretary may conduct auc-
tions twice during each fiscal year if the Secretary determines 
that the auction frequency will— 
‘‘(A) not cause a disruption in the supply of helium 
from the Reserve; 
‘‘(B) represent a cost-effective action; 
‘‘(C) generate greater returns for taxpayers; and 
‘‘(D) increase the effectiveness of price discovery. 
‘‘(13) ONE-TIME SALE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding paragraph (4)(A), 
the Secretary shall hold a one-time sale of helium, no 
later than August 1, 2014 from amounts available in fiscal 
year 2016 pursuant to this section. Full and final payment 
for the sale must be made no later than 45 days after 
the date the sale takes place. 
‘‘(B) VOLUME SOLD.—The volume of helium sold under 
this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) shall be at least 250 million cubic feet; and 
‘‘(ii) shall be made available for sale consistent 
with paragraph (2)(B). 
‘‘(c) PHASE C: CONTINUED ACCESS FOR FEDERAL USERS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall offer crude helium 
for sale to Federal users in such quantities, at such times, 
at such prices required to reimburse the Secretary for the 
full costs of the sales, and under such terms and conditions 
as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out this sub-
section. 
‘‘(2) FEDERAL
PURCHASES.—Federal users may purchase 
refined helium with priority pipeline access under this sub-
section from persons who have entered into enforceable con-
tracts to purchase an equivalent quantity of crude helium at 
the in-kind price from the Secretary. 
‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection applies beginning 
on the day after the date described in subsection (b)(4)(B). 
‘‘(d) PHASE D: DISPOSAL OF ASSETS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 2 years after the date 
of commencement of Phase C described in subsection (c) and 
not later than September 30, 2021, the Secretary shall des-
ignate as excess property and dispose of all facilities, equip-
ment, and other real and personal property, and all interests 
in the same, held by the United States in the Federal Helium 
System. 
‘‘(2) APPLICABLE
LAW.—The disposal of the property 
described in paragraph (1) shall be in accordance with subtitle 
I of title 40, United States Code. 
‘‘(3) PROCEEDS.—All proceeds accruing to the United States 
by reason of the sale or other disposal of the property described 
in paragraph (1) shall be treated as funds received under this 
Act for purposes of subsection (e).
H. R. 527—7 
‘‘(4) COSTS.—All costs associated with the sale and disposal 
(including costs associated with termination of personnel) and 
with the cessation of activities under this subsection shall be 
paid from amounts available in the Helium Production Fund 
established under subsection (e). 
‘‘(e) HELIUM PRODUCTION FUND.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All amounts received under this Act, 
including amounts from the sale or auction of crude helium, 
shall be credited to the Helium Production Fund, which shall 
be available without fiscal year limitation for purposes deter-
mined to be necessary and cost effective by the Secretary to 
carry out this Act (other than sections 16, 17, and 18), including 
capital investments in upgrades and maintenance at the Fed-
eral Helium System, including— 
‘‘(A) well head maintenance at the Cliffside Field; 
‘‘(B) capital investments in maintenance and upgrades 
of facilities that pressurize the Cliffside Field; 
‘‘(C) capital investments in maintenance and upgrades 
of equipment related to the storage, withdrawal, enrich-
ment, transportation, purification, and sale of crude helium 
from the Federal Helium Reserve; 
‘‘(D) entering into purchase, lease, or other agreements 
to drill new or uncap existing wells to maximize the 
recovery of crude helium from the Federal Helium System; 
and 
‘‘(E) any other scheduled or unscheduled maintenance 
of the Federal Helium System. 
‘‘(2) EXCESS FUNDS.—Amounts in the Helium Production 
Fund in excess of amounts the Secretary determines to be 
necessary to carry out paragraph (1) shall be paid to the general 
fund of the Treasury and used to reduce the annual Federal 
budget deficit. 
‘‘(3) RETIREMENT OF PUBLIC DEBT.—Out of amounts paid 
to the general fund of the Treasury under paragraph (2), the 
Secretary of the Treasury shall use $51,000,000 to retire public 
debt. 
‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013 and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 
and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report describing all expenditures by the Bureau 
of Land Management to carry out this Act. 
‘‘(f) MINIMUM QUANTITY.—The Secretary shall offer for sale 
or auction during each fiscal year under subsections (a), (b), and 
(c) a quantity of crude helium that is the lesser of— 
‘‘(1) the quantity of crude helium offered for sale by the 
Secretary during fiscal year 2012; or 
‘‘(2) the maximum total production capacity of the Federal 
Helium System.’’. 
SEC. 6. INFORMATION, ASSESSMENT, RESEARCH, AND STRATEGY. 
The Helium Act (50 U.S.C. 167 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by repealing section 15 (50 U.S.C. 167m); 
(2) by redesignating section 17 (50 U.S.C. 167 note) as 
section 20; and
H. R. 527—8 
(3) by inserting after section 14 (50 U.S.C. 167l) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 15. INFORMATION. 
‘‘(a) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary, acting through the Bureau 
of Land Management, shall make available on the Internet informa-
tion relating to the Federal Helium System that includes— 
‘‘(1) continued publication of an open market and in-kind 
price; 
‘‘(2) aggregated projections of excess refining capacity; 
‘‘(3) ownership of helium held in the Federal Helium 
Reserve; 
‘‘(4) the volume of helium delivered to persons through 
the Federal Helium Pipeline; 
‘‘(5) pressure constraints of the Federal Helium Pipeline; 
‘‘(6) an estimate of the projected date when 3,000,000,000 
standard cubic feet of crude helium will remain in the Federal 
Helium Reserve and the final phase described in section 6(c) 
will begin; 
‘‘(7) the amount of the fees charged under section 5; 
‘‘(8) the scheduling of crude helium deliveries through the 
Federal Helium Pipeline; and 
‘‘(9) other factors that will increase transparency. 
‘‘(b) REPORTING.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 
enactment of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013, to provide the 
market with appropriate and timely information affecting the 
helium resource, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management 
shall establish a timely and public reporting process to provide 
data that affects the helium industry, including— 
‘‘(1) annual maintenance schedules and quarterly updates, 
that shall include— 
‘‘(A) the date and duration of planned shutdowns of 
the Federal Helium Pipeline; 
‘‘(B) the nature of work to be undertaken on the Federal 
Helium System, whether routine, extended, or extraor-
dinary; 
‘‘(C) the anticipated impact of the work on the helium 
supply; 
‘‘(D) the efforts being made to minimize any impact 
on the supply chain; and 
‘‘(E) any concerns regarding maintenance of the Fed-
eral Helium Pipeline, including the pressure of the pipeline 
or deviation from normal operation of the pipeline; 
‘‘(2) for each unplanned outage, a description of— 
‘‘(A) the beginning of the outage; 
‘‘(B) the expected duration of the outage; 
‘‘(C) the nature of the problem; 
‘‘(D) the estimated impact on helium supply; 
‘‘(E) a plan to correct problems, including an estimate 
of the potential timeframe for correction and the likelihood 
of plan success within the timeframe; 
‘‘(F) efforts to minimize negative impacts on the helium 
supply chain; and 
‘‘(G) updates on repair status and the anticipated 
online date; 
‘‘(3) monthly summaries of meetings and communications 
between the Bureau of Land Management and the Cliffside
H. R. 527—9 
Refiners Limited Partnership, including a list of participants 
and an indication of any actions taken as a result of the 
meetings or communications; and 
‘‘(4) current predictions of the lifespan of the Federal 
Helium System, including how much longer the crude helium 
supply will be available based on current and forecasted 
demand and the projected maximum production capacity of 
the Federal Helium System for the following fiscal year. 
‘‘SEC. 16. HELIUM GAS RESOURCE ASSESSMENT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013, the Secretary, 
acting through the Director of the United States Geological Survey, 
shall— 
‘‘(1) in coordination with appropriate heads of State 
geological surveys— 
‘‘(A) complete a national helium gas assessment that 
identifies and quantifies the quantity of helium, including 
the isotope helium-3, in each reservoir, including assess-
ments of the constituent gases found in each helium 
resource, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and natural 
gas; and 
‘‘(B) make available the modern seismic and geo-
physical log data for characterization of the Bush Dome 
Reservoir; 
‘‘(2) in coordination with appropriate international agencies 
and the global geology community, complete a global helium 
gas assessment that identifies and quantifies the quantity of 
the helium, including the isotope helium-3, in each reservoir; 
‘‘(3) in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, acting 
through the Administrator of the Energy Information Adminis-
tration, complete— 
‘‘(A) an assessment of trends in global demand for 
helium, including the isotope helium-3; 
‘‘(B) a 10-year forecast of domestic demand for helium 
across all sectors, including scientific and medical research, 
commercial, manufacturing, space technologies, cryogenics, 
and national defense; and 
‘‘(C) an inventory of medical, scientific, industrial, 
commercial, and other uses of helium in the United States, 
including Federal uses, that identifies the nature of the 
helium use, the amounts required, the technical and 
commercial viability of helium recapture and recycling in 
that use, and the availability of material substitutes wher-
ever possible; and 
‘‘(4) submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 
Resources of the House of Representatives a report describing 
the results of the assessments required under this paragraph. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized 
to be appropriated to carry out this section $1,000,000. 
‘‘SEC. 17. LOW-BTU GAS SEPARATION AND HELIUM CONSERVATION. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Energy shall support 
programs of research, development, commercial application, and 
conservation (including the programs described in subsection (b))— 
‘‘(1) to expand the domestic production of low-Btu gas and 
helium resources;