RESTART Act

Bill: 111-s-4031
Sponsor: Sen. Bayh, Evan [D-IN]
Introduced: 2010-12-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Congressional oversight
Department of the Interior
Energy efficiency and conservation
Energy storage, supplies, demand
Executive agency funding and structure
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Higher education
International organizations and cooperation
Manufacturing
Metals
Military assistance, sales, and agreements
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Mining
Research administration and funding
Solid waste and recycling
Strategic materials and reserves

Summary:
action_date: 2010-12-15
text: 
Rare Earths Supply-Chain Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 2010 or RESTART Act - Sets forth U.S. policy with respect to the reestablishment of a rare earth materials supply chain in the United States and its allies.
 
Establishes within the Department of the Interior the Rare Earth Policy Task Force to monitor and assist federal agencies in expediting the review and approval of permits to accelerate the completion of projects that will increase investment in, exploration for, and development of domestic rare earth elements.
 
Directs the Secretaries of Commerce, of Defense, of Energy, of the Interior, and the Secretary of State to establish jointly an interagency working group for the purposes of reestablishing the production of, and a competitive supply chain for, rare earth materials in the United States.
 
Requires the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Energy to report jointly to Congress on: (1) the vulnerability of the supply chain for rare earth materials in the United States; (2) rare earth elements critical to clean energy technologies and the domestic and economic security; and (3) the establishment of a rare earth stockpile.
 
Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to authorize the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to implement a temporary loan guarantee program for the commercial application of rare earth materials revitalization.
 
Establishes in DOE a program to ensure the long-term, secure, and sustainable supply of rare earth materials in quantities sufficient to satisfy the U.S. national security, economic well-being, and industrial production needs.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the capability to produce rare earth materials is the backbone of both the defense and energy supply chains; (2) the United States lacks sufficient capability to produce rare earth materials; (3) there is an urgent need to reestablish a supply chain in the United States for processing rare earth oxides into metals and rare earth magnets; and (4) that urgency warrants the exercise of the President's authority to support reestablishment of the capability to produce rare earth materials and the supply chain to meet a deficiency in the defense industrial base and renewable energy sectors of the United States.
 
Directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Energy to study the feasibility and effectiveness of using a cooperative structure involving multiple producers of rare earth materials to reestablish the production of, and a supply chain for, rare earth materials in the United States.
 
Specifies restrictions upon the use of appropriated funds for the rare earth materials program.
 
Makes conforming amendments to the National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980.
 
Repeals the National Critical Materials Act of 1984.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-12-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2010-12-15
text: Introduced in Senate