[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1563 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 423
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1563
[Report No. 115-255]
To authorize the Office of Fossil Energy to develop advanced separation
technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and
minerals from coal and coal byproducts, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 13, 2017
Mr. Manchin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
May 22, 2018
Reported by Ms. Murkowski, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Office of Fossil Energy to develop advanced separation
technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and
minerals from coal and coal byproducts, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rare Earth Element Advanced Coal
Technologies Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the United States is largely dependent on foreign
imports for the domestic supply of rare earth elements and
minerals in the United States;
(2) as of the date of enactment of this Act, the United
States does not have domestic production capability for, or a
guaranteed supply chain of, rare earth elements and minerals,
particularly in times of national crisis;
(3) access to certain rare earth elements and minerals is
critical for the national security of the United States;
(4) China maintains a near monopoly of the global supply
chain of rare earth elements and minerals;
(5) the successful development of commercially viable
refining methods of rare earth elements and minerals from coal
byproducts could lead to new economic development opportunities
in parts of the United States most affected by the downturn of
the coal industry;
(6) rare earth elements--
(A) comprise 17 elements on the periodic table,
including--
(i) the lanthanides, which are lanthanum
(La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium
(Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), europium
(Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium
(Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm),
ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu); and
(ii) transition elements, which are
scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y); and
(B) can be divided into--
(i) light rare earth elements, which are
lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr),
neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), and samarium
(Sm); and
(ii) heavy rare earth elements, which are
scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), europium (Eu),
gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy),
holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm),
ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu); and
(7) it is in the interest of the Federal Government--
(A) to guide responsible domestic production of
rare earth elements and minerals to ensure industry and
consumers in the United States have access to a
reliable domestic supply of valuable rare earth
elements and minerals; and
(B)(i) to identify the areas of highest potential
interruption in the global supply chain of rare earth
elements and minerals; and
(ii) to strengthen the position of the United
States in that supply chain by mitigating potential
interruptions through the development of advanced coal
technologies.
SEC. 3. PROGRAM FOR EXTRACTION AND RECOVERY OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS AND
MINERALS FROM COAL AND COAL BYPRODUCTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy, acting through the
Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (referred to in this section as
the ``Secretary''), shall carry out a program under which the Secretary
shall develop advanced separation technologies for the extraction and
recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and coal
byproducts.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program described in
subsection (a) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2025.
SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT AND REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the
Secretary of Defense (referred to in this section as the
``Secretary''), shall carry out, and submit to the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and
Commerce of the House of Representatives--
(1) an assessment--
(A) identifying and ranking the rare earth elements
that--
(i) are most important to consumers in the
United States;
(ii) are most jeopardized in the global
supply chain; and
(iii) will have the greatest impact to
consumers in the United States in the event of
a disruption in the global supply chain;
(B) evaluating the development of advanced
separation technologies for the extraction and recovery
of rare earth elements and minerals from coal and coal
byproducts (referred to in this subsection as the
``technologies'');
(C) identifying and evaluating the results of the
development of the technologies, including the results
with respect to the extraction and recovery of each
rare earth element;
(D) determining what the technologies are capable
of producing;
(E) evaluating the performance of the technologies,
including what the technologies--
(i) succeed and fail at accomplishing; and
(ii) can and cannot do cost-effectively;
and
(F)(i) evaluating the market impact on each rare
earth mineral of the penetration of commercially viable
technologies; and
(ii) how the penetration of commercially viable
coal-based technology will impact the global supply
chain; and
(2) a report analyzing--
(A) the additional resources required for the
development of commercial-ready deployment of
technologies that are second generation and
transformational; and
(B) the market impact of processes to treat and
recover rare earth elements and minerals from sludge
generated during treatment of acid mine drainage from
coal mines.
(b) Requirement.--In carrying out the assessment and report under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall focus on the rare earth elements
determined by the Secretary to be most critical to the national
security of the United States.
Calendar No. 423
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1563
[Report No. 115-255]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Office of Fossil Energy to develop advanced separation
technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and
minerals from coal and coal byproducts, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 22, 2018
Reported without amendment