Title: A bill to improve the quality and timeliness of Federal permitting and review processes with respect to critical mineral production on Federal land, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
This bill establishes deadlines for the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service to complete the federal permitting and review process with respect to critical mineral production on federal lands. It also establishes related requirements to expedite the process and remove impediments to the production of critical minerals and the mineral security of the United States.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1352 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1352

To improve the quality and timeliness of Federal permitting and review 
processes with respect to critical mineral production on Federal land, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 22, 2021

 Ms. Murkowski (for herself, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Risch, Mr. 
     Tillis, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Daines, and Mr. Lankford) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To improve the quality and timeliness of Federal permitting and review 
processes with respect to critical mineral production on Federal land, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CRITICAL MINERALS SUPPLY CHAINS AND RELIABILITY.

    (a) Definition of Critical Mineral.--In this section, the term 
``critical mineral'' has the meaning given the term in section 7002(a) 
of the Energy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-260; 134 Stat. 2562; 30 
U.S.C. 1606(a)).
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) critical minerals are fundamental to the economy, 
        competitiveness, and security of the United States;
            (2) many critical minerals are only economic to recover 
        when combined with the production of a host mineral;
            (3) to the maximum extent practicable, the critical mineral 
        needs of the United States should be satisfied by minerals 
        responsibly produced and recycled in the United States; and
            (4) the Federal permitting process has been identified as 
        an impediment to mineral production and the mineral security of 
        the United States.
    (c) Federal Permitting and Review Performance Improvements.--To 
improve the quality and timeliness of Federal permitting and review 
processes with respect to critical mineral production on Federal land, 
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the 
Bureau of Land Management, and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 
through the Chief of the Forest Service (referred to in this section as 
the ``Secretaries''), to the maximum extent practicable, shall complete 
the Federal permitting and review processes with maximum efficiency and 
effectiveness, while supporting vital economic growth, by--
            (1) establishing and adhering to timelines and schedules 
        for the consideration of, and final decisions regarding, 
        applications, operating plans, leases, licenses, permits, and 
        other use authorizations for critical mineral-related 
        activities on Federal land;
            (2) establishing clear, quantifiable, and temporal 
        permitting performance goals and tracking progress against 
        those goals;
            (3) engaging in early collaboration among agencies, project 
        sponsors, and affected stakeholders--
                    (A) to incorporate and address the interests of 
                those parties; and
                    (B) to minimize delays;
            (4) ensuring transparency and accountability by using cost-
        effective information technology to collect and disseminate 
        information regarding individual projects and agency 
        performance;
            (5) engaging in early and active consultation with State, 
        local, and Tribal governments--
                    (A) to avoid conflicts or duplication of effort;
                    (B) to resolve concerns; and
                    (C) to allow for concurrent, rather than 
                sequential, reviews;
            (6) providing demonstrable improvements in the performance 
        of Federal permitting and review processes, including lower 
        costs and more timely decisions;
            (7) expanding and institutionalizing Federal permitting and 
        review process improvements that have proven effective;
            (8) developing mechanisms to better communicate priorities 
        and resolve disputes among agencies at the national, regional, 
        State, and local levels; and
            (9) developing other practices, such as preapplication 
        procedures.
    (d) Review and Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to Congress a 
report that--
            (1) identifies additional measures, including regulatory 
        and legislative proposals, if appropriate, that would increase 
        the timeliness of permitting activities for the exploration and 
        development of domestic critical minerals;
            (2) identifies options, including cost recovery paid by 
        permit applicants, for ensuring adequate staffing and training 
        of Federal entities and personnel responsible for the 
        consideration of applications, operating plans, leases, 
        licenses, permits, and other use authorizations for critical 
        mineral-related activities on Federal land;
            (3) quantifies the period of time typically required to 
        complete each step associated with the development and 
        processing of applications, operating plans, leases, licenses, 
        permits, and other use authorizations for critical mineral-
        related activities on Federal land, including by--
                    (A) calculating the range, the mean, the median, 
                the variance, and other statistical measures or 
                representations of the period of time; and
                    (B) taking into account other aspects that affect 
                the period of time that are outside the control of the 
                Executive branch, such as judicial review, applicant 
                decisions, or State and local government involvement; 
                and
            (4) describes actions carried out pursuant to subsection 
        (c).
    (e) Performance Metric.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
submission of the report under subsection (d), and after providing 
public notice and an opportunity to comment, the Secretaries, using as 
a baseline the period of time quantified under paragraph (3) of that 
subsection, shall develop and publish a performance metric for 
evaluating the progress made by the Executive branch to expedite the 
permitting of activities that will increase exploration for, and 
development of, domestic critical minerals, while maintaining 
environmental standards.
    (f) Annual Reports.--Not later than the date on which the President 
submits the first budget of the President under section 1105 of title 
31, United States Code, after publication of the performance metric 
required under subsection (e), and annually thereafter, the Secretaries 
shall submit to Congress a report that--
            (1) summarizes the implementation of recommendations, 
        measures, and options identified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
        subsection (d);
            (2) using the performance metric developed under subsection 
        (e), describes progress made by the Executive branch, as 
        compared to the baseline developed pursuant to subsection 
        (d)(3), in expediting the permitting of activities that will 
        increase exploration for, and development of, domestic critical 
        minerals; and
            (3) compares the United States to other countries in terms 
        of permitting efficiency and any other criteria relevant to the 
        globally competitive critical minerals industry.
    (g) Individual Projects.--Each year, using data contained in the 
reports submitted under subsection (f), the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget shall prioritize inclusion of individual critical 
mineral projects on the website operated by the Office of Management 
and Budget in accordance with section 1122 of title 31, United States 
Code.
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