H.R. 6160 (111th): Rare Earths and Critical Materials Revitalization Act of 2010

Introduced:
Sep 22, 2010 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
Sponsor:
Rep. Kathleen Dahlkemper [D-PA3]
Status:
Died (Passed House)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on September 29, 2010 but was never passed by the Senate.

Progress
Introduced Sep 22, 2010
Referred to Committee Sep 22, 2010
Reported by Committee Sep 28, 2010
Passed House Sep 29, 2010
Votes

House Vote on Passage
Sep 29, 2010 6:08 p.m.
Passed 325/98

Cosponsors
6 cosponsors (4D, 2R) (show)
Committees

House Science, Space, and Technology

Senate Energy and Natural Resources

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To develop a rare earth materials program, to amend the National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Sep 29, 2010.
14 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

We don’t have a summary available yet.

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

9/29/2010.
Title I - Rare Earth Materials
Section 101 -
Establishes in the Department of Energy (DOE) a research, development, and commercial application program to assure the long-term, secure, and sustainable supply of specified rare earth materials to satisfy the national security, economic well-being, and industrial production needs of the United States. Directs the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to:
(1) support new or significantly improved processes and technologies (as compared to those currently in use in the rare earth materials industry);
(2) encourage multidisciplinary collaborations and opportunities for students at institutions of higher education;
(3) collaborate with relevant agencies of foreign countries with interests relating to rare earth materials; and
(4) submit an implementation plan to Congress. Requires the Secretary to offer to contract with the National Academy of Sciences for an assessment of the program after it has been in operation for four years.
Section 102 -
Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to authorize the Secretary through FY 2015, only to the extent provided in advance in a subsequent appropriations Act, to make loan guarantee commitments for the commercial application of new or significantly improved technologies for specified categories of projects, including:
(1) separation and recovery of rare earth materials from ores or other sources;
(2) preparation of rare earth materials in oxide, metal, alloy, or other forms needed for national security, economic well-being, or industrial production purposes; and
(3) application of rare earth materials in the production of improved magnets, batteries, refrigeration systems, optical systems, electronics, and catalysis, among other uses.
Directs the Secretary to cooperate with appropriate private sector participants to achieve a complete rare earth materials production capability in the United States within five years after enactment of this Act. Prohibits the Secretary from awarding a loan guarantee for a project unless the project's proponent provides assurances that the loan or guarantee shall be used to support the separation, recovery, preparation, or manufacturing of rare earth materials in the United States for customers within the United States, unless insufficient domestic demand for such materials results in excess capacity.
Title II - National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research, and Development
Section 201 -
Amends the National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980 to:
(1) instruct the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to coordinate federal materials research and development through the National Science and Technology Council (instead of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology, which is now defunct); and
(2) repeal specified reporting and action requirements for the Secretaries of Defense and of the Interior, respectively.
Section 202 -
Repeals the National Critical Materials Act of 1984.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/2/hr6160.

Background

According to the Science and Technology Committee, China currently holds control of approximately 90-97 percent of the world’s supply of rare earth materials.  China has imposed export quotas on many of these rare earth materials in 2006, and has consistently increased those quotas since then.

Summary

The bill would establish a program within the Department of Energy to research and develop advancing technology to assure the long-term, secure, and sustainable supply of rare earth materials sufficient to satisfy the national security, economic well-being, and industrial production needs of the U.S.

The bill would require the Department of Energy to establish a program to research, develop, demonstrate, and enhance the commercial application of rare earth materials for the nation’s security, economic, and industrial needs.  (Rare earth materials would include the following chemical elements:  scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium).

The program would authorize the Department of Energy to better characterize and quantify stocks of rare earth materials using theoretical geochemical research, discover rare materials using advanced science and technology, improve methods for extraction, and identify and test alternative materials that can be substituted for rare earth materials.

The bill would authorize to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy the following sums:

  • $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2011
  • $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2012
  • $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2013
  • $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2014
  • $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2015

Lastly, the bill would allow the Department of Energy to make loan guarantees for the commercial application of new or improved technologies for the separation, recovery, or application of rare earth materials. Loan guarantees could be approved for the application of rare earth materials in the production of improved magnets, batteries, refrigeration systems, optical systems, electronics, and catalysis.  The authority to enter into guarantees would expire September 30, 2015. 

Possible Member Concerns:  This bill would increase spending, and provide taxpayer subsidized loans to private companies that are associated with the commercial use of rare earth matierals.

Cost

There is currently no CBO score for H.R. 6160.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

Slip Laws

Slip laws refer to enacted bills and joint resolutions in their original form as enacted by Congress, that is, before other laws amend them. Slip laws are cited as “Public Law XXX-YYY”, where XXX is the number of the Congress in which the bill or resolution was introduced.

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)

Statutes at Large

The United States Statutes at Large is the compilation of all laws enacted by Congress.

  • 98 Stat. 1248