On May 12th The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources held a hearing to examine the American Mineral Security Act (S. 883),
a bill designed “to prevent future mineral supply shocks and boost the
competitiveness of our energy, defense, electronics, medical, and manufacturing
industries.” Senator Murkowski (R-AK), the Chairwoman of the Senate Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources, continued, “Minerals are critical to every
aspect of our daily lives. We rely on them for everything we do and everything
we make – from our smallest computer chips to our newest energy technologies to
our most advanced defense systems…Despite this…we are alarmingly dependent on
foreign sources for dozens of minerals. Instead of ignoring this situation as
it grows worse, my bill offers a chance to change course. It would improve our
mineral security and protect our manufacturers for decades to come.”
The bill outlines steps to be taken to identify, evaluate,
and secure the U.S. critical mineral supply. It “requires the Director of the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) to establish a list of minerals critical to the
American economy and provides a comprehensive set of policies to address issues
associated with their discovery, production, use, and re-use.” The bill states
the need to develop supply forecasts “to avoid supply shortages, mitigate price
volatility, and prepare for demand growth and other market shifts.” The bill
also authorizes the Department of Energy (DOE) to continue programs that
develop methods to reduce demand for critical minerals through recycling,
efficiency, and identification of alternatives. The bill supports critical
mineral workforce development, tasking the USGS to work with the Department of
Labor (DOL), National Science Foundation (NSF), and academia to assess the
current critical minerals workforce needs, and work with the DOL, the National
Academy of Science, and the National Academy of Engineering to develop
curriculum to address those needs.
Environmental and mining groups are divided on provisions in
the bill that streamline the federal permitting process for opening new mines
on federal lands. The bill instructs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and
the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to quantify “the amount of time typically
required…to complete each step…associated with the development and processing
of application, operating plans, leases, licenses, permits,“ and identify and
implement methods to accelerate the U.S. permitting process. In addition, the
usefulness of each regulation present in the process will be scored by The U.S.
Small Business Administration, which will identify regulations that are
“outmoded, inefficient, duplicative, or excessively burdensome.” Environmental
groups are concerned these changes will weaken what they consider to be already
permissive mining statues in the United States. However, supporters argue that
the permitting process is prohibitive long, averaging 7-10 years to get a new
mine started. Hal Quinn, the CEO of The National Mining Association (NMA),
stated that "without compromising our rigorous environmental standards this
legislation helps reduce the inefficiencies of our underperforming permitting
system by incorporating best practices for improving coordination among state
and federal agencies and clarifying responsibilities, all necessary to bring
accountability to the process."