[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42560-42561]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17192]
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OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Critical and Strategic Materials Supply Chains
ACTION: Notice of Request for Information.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. economy's requirements for raw materials have and
will change over time, especially with the introduction of new products
and processing technologies. Furthermore, as the global economy grows,
there are increasing concerns regarding the availability and access to
the raw materials that will be necessary to sustain U.S. economic
growth and advance other national policies. As the criticality of
materials shifts over time, studying the early warning signs and the
underlying forces of potential material supply disruption can inform
proactive policy development for emerging critical materials. One of
the roles of the Critical and Strategic Minerals Supply Chain
Subcommittee (CSMSC Subcommittee) of the National Science and
Technology Council's Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and
Sustainability is to develop a methodology for identifying critical
materials and monitoring changes in criticality on an ongoing basis,
providing ``early warning'' to policymakers and other stakeholders. The
views of U.S. industry and other stakeholders are important to inform
both an understanding of current conditions and the characterization of
anticipated future demand for critical materials.
DATES: Responses must be received by August 31, 2014, to be considered.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email: criticalmaterials@ostp.gov. Include [Critical and
Strategic Materials Supply Chains] in the subject line of the message.
Fax: (202) 456-6071, Attn: Cyrus Wadia.
Mail: Attn: Cyrus Wadia, Office of Science and Technology
Policy, Eisenhower Executive Office Building, 1650 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW., Washington, DC 20504.
Instructions: Electronic responses must be provided as attachments
to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes
exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery.
Please identify your answers by responding to a specific question or
topic if possible. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions
as they wish. Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is
intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for
planning and strategy development. OSTP will review the responses in
its formulation of program strategies for the identified materials of
interest that are the subject of this request.
OSTP will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly
a compendium of responses, except as required by applicable law. A
response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to
develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed. OSTP will not pay for
information provided under this RFI. This RFI is not accepting
applications for financial assistance or financial incentives. OSTP has
no obligation to respond to those who submit comments, and/or give any
feedback on any decision made based on the responses received.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cyrus Wadia, (202) 456-4444,
criticalmaterials@ostp.gov. http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
PURPOSE: The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from
industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and
other stakeholders on issues related to demand, supply and supply chain
structure, R&D, and technology transitions related to raw materials
(including, but not limited to, minerals and gases) used in the U.S.
economy. The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), which co-
chairs the NSTC's Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and
Sustainability, is specifically interested in information on raw
materials of interest to the public. Input on the current and future
production of and demand for relevant materials, concerns related to
raw material availability, and overall market dynamics are topics of
additional relevance, as are the role of emerging technologies, trends
in nationally important sectors and global shifts in product markets.
Request for Information Categories
Category 1: Demand
What materials will be particularly important, and of
concern (due to availability, price, etc.) to your technologies and/or
your industry over the next 5 years?
What is the growth in demand forecast for your
technologies? What factors drive this assessment?
At what point(s) in technology or product development or
manufacturing do you select raw materials? How do you consider price?
How do you
[[Page 42561]]
consider performance characteristics? How do you consider availability?
What investments, if any, are you making to identify raw
material input alternatives?
Are there any emerging disruptive technologies or
technology transitions (e.g., new applications or substitutes) that
would dramatically change demand in the near term (5 years) or long
term (15 years)?
Category 2: Exploration, Mining, and Smelting/Refining
What barriers exist to exploration for additional
resources of raw materials in the United States and globally?
Once discovered, what barriers exist to the timely
development of raw materials in the United States and globally?
Is current North American separation, smelting, and/or
refining capacity adequate to ensure reliable material supplies?
What innovations in separation, smelting/refining
technology or processes might affect U.S. or global resource supplies?
What are the environmental impacts of these innovations?
Are the mining, separation, smelting, and/or refining
sites of the minerals required for your technologies adequately
diversified to account for potential market failures or political
risks?
How do market size, market price, capital availability and
other economic factors affect production decisions?
Category 3: Supply and Supply Chain
What are the supply chains for the technologies identified
as being important to your manufacturing processes and industry? How
would you describe the significant stages of the supply chain?
Are there vulnerabilities in the supply chain (domestic,
foreign, sole source, import reliance, etc.) that lead to concerns
regarding the supply of any of these materials and/or the ability to
manufacture these technologies?
How do you assess supply chain vulnerabilities and their
impact?
Category 4: Market Dynamics
How would you describe the market dynamics of your supply
chains, including the overall supply of materials of interest?
Are there any market distortions in the supply chain, such
as opacity, lack of information, or trade-related distortions?
Is there price volatility? If so, what factors drive this
volatility?
Category 5: Mitigation
What are some strategies you employ to mitigate supply
chain concerns? (e.g., stockpiles, hedging, etc.)
How do you cope with price volatility?
Do you consider using technologies available with slightly
reduced performance to avoid price and availability concerns?
Category 6: Other
Is there additional information, not requested above, that
you believe the CSMSC Subcommittee should consider in identifying
emerging critical materials? If so, please provide here.
Ted Wackler,
Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-17192 Filed 7-21-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3270-F4-P