The American Geological Institute's monthly Government Affairs Program review that came out today summarizes two mineral resource bills:
Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) introduced the “Critical Minerals and Materials Promotion Act of 2011” (S.383) on February 17. The bill would authorize several programs under the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Department of Energy (DOE). DOI, acting through USGS, would establish a research and development program tasked with compiling the discovered and potential for undiscovered resources of critical materials in the United States and other countries as well as analyzing the current and future critical materials domestic and global supply chains. DOE would conduct a program of research and development to strengthen the domestic supply chain of critical materials for clean energy technologies. Other programs within the bill promote development of a critical materials industry workforce through partnerships with higher education institutions and the establishment of an early warning system of potential critical materials and supply problems. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
On the House side, Representative Leonard Boswell (D-IA) introduced the “Rare Earths and Critical Materials Revitalization Act” (H.R. 618) on February 10 to promote the domestic production of REE’s. The legislation, first proposed by Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania in the 111 Congress (H.R. 6160), aims to further research through a DOE program on advancing technology affecting REE mining, manufacturing, recycling and authorizes research to find substitutions for and use less of the materials. It has been referred to the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
To subscibe to the AGI Govt Affairs Program monthly review send an email with your request and your email address to govt@agiweb.org. This is a tremendously important and valuable resource. I congratulate Linda Rowan and her team for their great work.
The American Institute of Physics and the Materials Science Society jointly published an influential report on Energy Critical Elements last month.
BLM land is PUBLIC land. So why were the citizens of Chloride not informed of plans to reopen the mines by Hondo Minerals (a/k/a Tycore)? Why are the people of the town no longer permitted to walk beyond the murals on the land allegedly belonging to the PEOPLE? Where is the Environmental Assessment, Environmental Impact Statement? We have Hondo THUGS keeping property owner off of their private lands. Clouds of DUST containing dangerous, radioactive particles began to be visible in MARCH, 2011..when equipment began being moved up a road belonging to this town. Sand being trucked in, other earthen materials trucked out. OUR ROADS. Who is getting paid for the use of town infrastructure? Not the citizens of Chloride. And WHERE IS THE WATER COMING FROM?! Did Hondo/Tycore cut a deal with our local water providers without anyone bothering to mention this small fact? Who is profiting from this, I wonder? Seems people's water bills just keep increasing. They're told they have "leaks" which are untraceable. Just as everyone is supposed to pony up an additional hundred bucks to get a special pressure regulator fitted to their existing "rig" because of the magic culvert which is conveniently being run through the town (and anyone in the way of this pipeline mysteriously had their property condemned by Mohave County. Coincidence?
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