National Strategic and Critical Minerals Policy Act of 2011
Latest action · Oct 14, 2011 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 164.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 26, 2011
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
National Strategic and Critical Minerals Policy Act of 2011 - (Sec. 3) Declares that it is the continuing policy of the United States to promote an adequate and stable supply of minerals to maintain the nation's economic well-being, security, and manufacturing, industrial, energy, agricultural, and technological capabilities.
(Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Geological Survey (Survey), to report to Congress: (1) an inventory of the nonfossil-fuel mineral potential of lands under BLM and U.S. Forest Service jurisdiction; (2) an identification of all such lands that have been withdrawn, segregated, or otherwise restricted from mineral exploration and development; (3) a detailed description of the time required to process mineral applications, operating plans, leases, licenses, permits, and other use authorizations for mineral-related activities on lands; (4) an itemized list of all use authorizations for which applications are pending; (5) an assessment of the impact of litigation on the processing or issuing of permits; (6) an assessment of the federal workforce with educational degrees and expertise in economic geology, geochemistry, mining, industrial minerals, metallurgy, metallurgical engineering, and mining engineering; and (7) an inventory of rare earth element potential on federal lands, and impediments to or restrictions on the exploration or development of those rare earth elements, with recommendations to lift the impediments or restrictions while maintaining environmental safeguards.
Requires progress reports to Congress on: (1) efforts to increase access to domestic supplies of minerals, and facilitation of their production; (2) implementation of recommendations in National Research Council reports on "Minerals, Critical Minerals, and the U.S. Economy" and on "Managing Minerals for a Twenty-First Century Military"; (3) the Department of Energy Critical Minerals Strategy I and II; and (4) a specified Department of Defense assessment and plan for critical rare earth elements in defense applications.
(Sec. 5) Directs the Survey, for the first National Mineral Assessment conducted after enactment of this Act, to include mineral assessments for mineral commodities important to the nation's energy infrastructure, manufacturing and agricultural industries, and to the national defense. Urges priority be given to minerals that are critical based on the impact of a potential supply restriction and the likelihood of a supply restriction.
(Sec. 6) Directs the Survey to expand the current Global Mineral Assessment to include mineral assessments for rare earth elements and other minerals that are critical based on the impact of a potential supply restriction and the likelihood of a supply restriction.
Requires such assessments to include an analysis, developed with participation by the National Minerals Information Center, of the rare earth elements or other critical minerals supply chain and associated processes and products, including mining, processing, recycling, separation, metal production, alloy production, and manufacturing of products sold to end users.
Cosponsors 35
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 26, 2011 to Jul 19, 2011; 21 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-MD | Andy Harris | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-OH | Bill Johnson | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-WA | Cathy McMorris Rodgers | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-TN | Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-WY | Cynthia M. Lummis | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-MI | Dan Benishek | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| D-OK | Dan Boren | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-FL | David Rivera | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-WA | Doc Hastings | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-AK | Don Young | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-CA | Elton Gallegly | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-PA | Glenn Thompson | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| D-UT | Jim Matheson | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-LA | John Fleming | Original | May 26, 2011 |
| R-TN | John J. Duncan, Jr. | Original | May 26, 2011 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Natural Resources Committee | Referred May 26, 2011Markup Jul 20, 2011Reported Oct 14, 2011 |
| Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee | Referred Jun 2, 2011Hearings Jun 3, 2011Discharged Jul 20, 2011 |
Actions 9
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 14, 2011Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 112-248.
- Oct 14, 2011Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 164.
- Jul 20, 2011Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Discharged.
- Jul 20, 2011Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Jul 20, 2011Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Unanimous Consent.
- Jun 3, 2011Subcommittee Hearings Held.
- Jun 2, 2011Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
- May 26, 2011Introduced in House
- May 26, 2011Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
In the Congressional Record 2
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H4832, H4833 | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. D-GA, Rush Holt D-NJ | Jul 12, 2012 |
| House | Debate and remarks H4792 | Jared Polis D-CO | Jul 11, 2012 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Aug 16, 2011H.R. 2011, National Strategic and Critical Minerals Policy Act of 2011Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on July 20, 2011
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H3756.
Printed hearings 4
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 112-101 | OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE ``EFFECT OF THE PRESIDENT'S FY 2013 BUDGET AND LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS FOR THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT AND THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE'S ENERGY AND MINERALS PROGRAMS ON PRIVATE SECTOR JOB CREATION, DOMESTIC ENERGY AND MINERALS PRODUCTION AND DEFICIT REDUCTION.''84 pages | Natural Resources Committee | Mar 20, 2012 |
| Serial No. 112-81 | H.R. 1980, H.R. 2070, H.R. 2621, AND H.R. 3155118 pages | Natural Resources Committee | Nov 3, 2011 |
| Serial No. 112-24 | FEDERAL PERSPECTIVE ON A NATIONAL CRITICAL MATERIALS STRATEGY90 pages | Science, Space, and Technology Committee | Jun 14, 2011 |
| Serial No. 112-39 | LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 2011, ``NATIONAL STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MINERALS POLICY ACT'' AND H.R. 1314, ``RESOURCE ASSESSMENT OF RARE EARTHS ACT OF 2011''42 pages | Natural Resources Committee | Jun 3, 2011 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an assessment of the capability of the Nation to meet our current and future demands for the minerals critical to United States manufacturing competitiveness and economic and national security in a time of expanding resource nationalism, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- National Strategic and Critical Minerals Policy Act of 2011
- Short Titles as Reported to House
- National Strategic and Critical Minerals Policy Act of 2011
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources.
- Agricultural practices and innovations
- Congressional oversight
- Forests, forestry, trees
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Land use and conservation
- Licensing and registrations
- Manufacturing
- Metals
- Mining
- Public Lands and Natural Resources
- Solid waste and recycling
- Strategic materials and reserves
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 14, 2011Reported in House
- May 26, 2011Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.