Application of Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to Hardrock Minerals

Floor Speech

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Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3872) to amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 3872

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. APPLICATION OF MINERAL LEASING ACT FOR ACQUIRED LANDS TO HARDROCK MINERALS.

The Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) is amended--

(1) in section 2 (30 U.S.C. 351)--

(A) by striking ``Act `United States' '' and inserting the following: ``Act:

``(1) United states.--The term `United States' '';

(B) by striking ``Alaska. `Acquired lands' '' and inserting the following: ``Alaska.

``(2) Acquired lands; lands acquired by the united states.--The term `acquired lands' '';

(C) by striking ``552). `Secretary' '' and inserting the following: ``552).

``(3) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' '';

(D) by striking ``Interior. `Mineral leasing laws' shall mean'' and inserting the following: ``Interior.

``(4) Mineral leasing laws.--The term `mineral leasing laws' means'';

(E) by striking ``Acts. `Lease' '' and inserting the following: ``Acts.

``(5) Lease.--The term `lease' '';

(F) by striking ``requires. The term'' and inserting the following: ``requires.

``(6) Oil.--The term''; and

(G) by adding at the end the following:

``(7) Hardrock mineral.--The term `hardrock mineral'--

``(A) includes deposits of--

``(i) minerals found in sedimentary or other rocks;

``(ii) base metals;

``(iii) precious metals;

``(iv) industrial minerals; and

``(v) precious and semi-precious gemstones; and

``(B) does not include deposits of--

``(i) coal;

``(ii) oil;

``(iii) oil shale;

``(iv) gas;

``(v) sodium;

``(vi) potassium;

``(vii) sulfur; or

``(viii) mineral materials subject to disposition under the Act of July 31, 1947, commonly known as the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).''; and

(2) in section 3 (30 U.S.C. 352), by striking ``and sulfur'' and inserting ``sulfur, and hardrock minerals''.

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Mr. STAUBER. 3872, the bill now under consideration.

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Mr. STAUBER.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3872, which would amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands, clarifying that all lands acquired by the Federal Government are eligible to be considered for hardrock mineral leasing.

I thank my colleague Representative Fallon for his work on the bipartisan piece of legislation.

Acquired lands comprise 10 percent of the Nation's Federal lands, or 64 million acres. The Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands governs mineral leasing for a wide range of resources on these lands. However, the existing statute leaves out hardrock minerals. As a result, acquired Federal lands holding key critical minerals have effectively been locked up. This includes vast deposits in the Smackover Formation, which spans across the southeastern United States and hosts some of America's best lithium reserves.

Specifically, in northeast Texas, the Bureau of Land Management is currently unable to even consider hardrock mineral leasing for a lithium-rich portion of the Smackover Formation because it is located on land acquired by the Federal Government more than 80 years ago under a statute that does not explicitly allow hardrock mineral leasing.

H.R. 3872 would address this issue by providing a much-needed technical fix to the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands, giving the Secretary of the Interior the authority to tap into our vast mineral wealth across all types of acquired lands.

As we seek to reshore our mineral supply chains, we must ensure that no stone gets left unturned. By allowing greater access to tens of millions of acres of acquired lands, this legislation would help to break our reliance on adversarial nations like China.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Fallon, for his work on this commonsense bill.

Mr. Speaker, this is a great bill that would provide a much-needed technical fix to the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands. I again thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Fallon) for his work on this bipartisan piece of legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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