HR 2011 · 112th Congress 2011โ€“2013, ended

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.

  1. IntroducedMay 26, 2011
  2. Passed HouseNot reached
  3. Passed SenateNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. 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of lands under BLM and U.S. Forest Service jurisdiction; (2) an identification of all such lands that have been withdrawn, segregated, or otherwise restricted from mineral exploration and development; (3) a detailed description of the time required to process mineral applications,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.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
R-MDAndy HarrisOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-OHBill JohnsonOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-WACathy McMorris RodgersOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-TNCharles J. "Chuck" FleischmannOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-WYCynthia M. LummisOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-MIDan BenishekOriginalMay 26, 2011
D-OKDan BorenOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-FLDavid RiveraOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-WADoc HastingsOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-AKDon YoungOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-CAElton GalleglyOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-PAGlenn ThompsonOriginalMay 26, 2011
D-UTJim MathesonOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-LAJohn FlemingOriginalMay 26, 2011
R-TNJohn J. Duncan, Jr.OriginalMay 26, 2011

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

ChamberCommitteeWhat it did
HouseNatural 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.

  1. Oct 14, 2011Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 112-248.
  2. Oct 14, 2011Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 164.
  3. Jul 20, 2011Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Discharged.
  4. Jul 20, 2011Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  5. Jul 20, 2011Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Unanimous Consent.
  6. Jun 3, 2011Subcommittee Hearings Held.
  7. Jun 2, 2011Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
  8. May 26, 2011Introduced in House
  9. 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.

WhereIn the RecordMembersDate
HouseDebate and remarks H4832, H4833Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. D-GA, Rush Holt D-NJJul 12, 2012
HouseDebate and remarks H4792Jared Polis D-COJul 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

  1. 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

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article IV, section 3

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.

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.

Text 2

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Oct 14, 2011Reported in House
  2. May 26, 2011Introduced in House

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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.