On May 15, 2013, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a markup of 18 proposed bills, including three on critical and strategic minerals (H.R. 761, H.R. 981, and H.R. 1063), one on soda ash production (H.R. 957), and one on outer continental shelf hydrocarbon reservoir management (H.R. 1613).

Of the critical and strategic minerals legislation, H.R. 761, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013, received the most debate. The bill was introduced by Mark Amodei (R-NV) and seeks to streamline the hard rock mine permitting process and boost domestic critical and strategic mineral resources development. Three amendments were proposed during the hearing. Amodei’s amendment making technical changes was approved. Rush Holt (D-NJ) offered two amendments, one to narrow the definition of critical and strategic minerals and another to assess a 12.5 percent royalty on materials mined on federal lands. Both amendments failed. H.R. 761 was reported to the full House by a vote of 24-17.

H.R. 981 or the Resource Assessment of Rare Earths (RARE) Act of 2013 was passed by the committee unanimously without additional action. The bill, introduced by Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), mandates that the U.S. Geological Survey, “in coordination with the heads of national geological surveys where available,” conduct a global assessment of rare earth elements within three years.

H.R. 1063, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Policy Act of 2013, was also passed by unanimous consent without amendment. Introduced by Doug Lamborn (R-CO), it mandates that the Department of the Interior (DOI) assess the nation’s ability to supply current and future demands for critical and strategic minerals.

H.R. 957 or the American Soda Ash Competitiveness Act, introduced by Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), would reduce the royalty on sodium produced on federal lands from the current rate of six percent to two percent for five years. Two amendments were discussed. The first amendment, offered by Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), would prevent the royalty reduction during any year when there is a federal budget deficit. The second amendment, offered by Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), stated that if the reduced royalty rate failed to increase domestic production or employment then the reduction would cease. Both amendments were rejected, and H.R. 957 was reported to the full House with a vote of 28-13.

H.R. 1613, the Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act, was introduced by Jeff Duncan (R-SC) to approve an agreement between the U.S. and Mexico regarding offshore drilling along the Gulf of Mexico border. A primarily technical amendment proposed by Doug Lamborn (D-CO) was approved. An amendment from Holt regarding increasing penalties and liabilities was rejected. Raul Grijalva’s (D-AZ) amendment to remove the bill’s exemption for companies from the Dodd-Frank requirements to report company payments to the government also failed. The committee passed H.R. 1613 by a vote of 25-16.