Geoscience Policy Monthly Review
may 2018

The Monthly Review is part of a continuing effort to improve communications about the role of geoscience in policy.
Current and archived monthly reviews are available online.

Subscribe to receive the Monthly Review directly.

natural resources

Department of the Interior finalizes list of critical minerals

May 18, 2018

On May 18, the Department of the Interior (DOI) released the final version of the Critical Minerals List (83 FR 23295) in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 13817. Among other directives, the EO directed the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and in consultation with the heads of other relevant agencies, to publish a list of critical minerals in the Federal Register. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) compiled the list using the methodology described in USGS Open-File Report 2018-1021 and the list was submitted for public comment on February 16 (83 FR 7065).

After reviewing 453 comments, the final list is unchanged from the 35 minerals first proposed in the February draft. The comments included 147 requests to add a total of 13 minerals to the list, with seven minerals (copper, silver, nickel, gold zinc, molybdenum and lead) each receiving over 10 requests for addition to the list. There were 183 requests to delete one mineral (uranium) from the list, largely based on arguments that its primary use as an energy source rather than a non-fuel mineral would preclude its inclusion as a critical mineral as defined in EO 13817. DOI indicated that the list of critical minerals, while “final,” is not a permanent list, but will be dynamic and updated periodically to reflect current data on supply, demand, and concentration of production, as well as current policy priorities.

Now, the Department of Commerce is responsible for organizing the interagency responses into a final report for mid-August. The report shall include a strategy to reduce the Nation’s reliance on critical minerals by addressing many issues related to critical minerals: status of recycling and reprocessing technologies or technological alternatives to critical minerals; options for accessing critical minerals through investment and trade with allies and partners; recommendations to streamline permitting and review processes related to developing leases; enhancing access to critical mineral resources; increasing domestic discovery, production, and refining of critical minerals; and a plan to improve topographic, geologic, and geophysical mapping of the United States and make the resulting data and metadata electronically accessible.

The minerals on the final list are:

·         aluminum (bauxite)

·         antimony

·         arsenic

·         barite

·         beryllium

·         bismuth

·         cesium

·         chromium

·         cobalt

·         fluorspar

·         gallium

·         germanium

·         graphite (natural)

·         hafnium

·         helium

·         indium

·         lithium

·         magnesium

·         manganese

·         niobium

·         platinum group metals

·         potash

·         rare earth elements

·         rhenium

·         rubidium

·         scandium

·         strontium

·         tantalum

·         tellurium

·         tin

·         titanium

·         tungsten

·         uranium

·         vanadium

·         zirconium

Sources: Federal Register; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey.

 

Congress moves forward with reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act

May 23, 2018

Aiming to complete one of their top legislative priorities before the end of this session of Congress, lawmakers from both the House and the Senate introduced bipartisan bills to reauthorize the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which should be passed every two years. The last two WRDA reauthorizations passed in 2016 and 2014. However, prior to 2014, there had been a seven-year gap since the act was last reauthorized in 2007.

On May 9, 2018, Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced a version of the bill in the Senate, entitled “America’s Public Water Infrastructure Act of 2018” (S. 2800). Just over a week later, on May 18, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA-9) introduced a related bill in the House named the “Water Resources Development Act of 2018” (H.R. 8). The legislation provides for improvements to the nation’s ports, dams, flood protection, ecosystem restoration, and other water infrastructure administered by the Army Corps of Engineers. Both chambers have expressed strong commitment to pass a 2018 WRDA reauthorization on schedule.

While President Donald Trump’s infrastructure proposal is unlikely to pass before the end of the calendar year, some policymakers see WRDA as a component of the proposal in some respect, and suggest its reauthorization signals the start of a new long-term infrastructure investment plan. Others argue that these two efforts are unrelated because WRDA requires biennial congressional reauthorization regardless and, unlike the President’s proposal, neither the House nor Senate WRDA reauthorization bills contain provisions to reform the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

In addition to supporting water resource infrastructure projects, both the House and Senate bills would direct the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to study the current organizational structure of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works division, with the House bill language specifically asking NAS to conduct a study on the potential effects of transferring the functions of civil works from the Department of Defense to a new or existing agency or subagency of the federal government.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure each approved their chamber’s version of the WRDA reauthorization on May 22 and May 23, respectively. Ultimately, members of Congress in both chambers must reconcile the versions proposed by each chamber and pass a final WRDA reauthorization bill before the end of the session.

Sources: Library of Congress; U.S. House, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; U.S. Senate, Committee on Environment and Public Works.