| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1130 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To require the Secretary of Energy to provide technology grants to strengthen |
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| 6 | 6 | | domestic mining education, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MARCH25, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. B |
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| 10 | 10 | | ARRASSO(for himself, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. HOEVEN, Ms. CORTEZ |
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| 11 | 11 | | M |
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| 12 | 12 | | ASTO, Mr. JUSTICE, Mr. BENNET, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. KELLY, Mr. |
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| 13 | 13 | | R |
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| 14 | 14 | | OUNDS, Ms. ROSEN, and Mr. GALLEGO) introduced the following bill; |
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| 15 | 15 | | which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- |
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| 16 | 16 | | ural Resources |
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| 17 | 17 | | A BILL |
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| 18 | 18 | | To require the Secretary of Energy to provide technology |
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| 19 | 19 | | grants to strengthen domestic mining education, and for |
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| 20 | 20 | | other purposes. |
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| 21 | 21 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 22 | 22 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 24 | 24 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Technology Grants to 4 |
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| 25 | 25 | | Strengthen Domestic Mining Education Act of 2025’’ or 5 |
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| 26 | 26 | | the ‘‘Mining Schools Act of 2025’’. 6 |
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| 28 | 28 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •S 1130 IS |
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| 30 | 30 | | SEC. 2. TECHNOLOGY GRANTS TO STRENGTHEN DOMESTIC 1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | MINING EDUCATION. 2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (a) D |
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| 33 | 33 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (1) B |
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| 35 | 35 | | OARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 4 |
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| 36 | 36 | | Mining Professional Development Advisory Board 5 |
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| 37 | 37 | | established by subsection (d)(1). 6 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (2) I |
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| 39 | 39 | | NSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION .—The 7 |
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| 40 | 40 | | term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 8 |
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| 41 | 41 | | meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 9 |
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| 42 | 42 | | Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 10 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (3) M |
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| 44 | 44 | | INING INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘mining in-11 |
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| 45 | 45 | | dustry’’ means the mining industry of the United 12 |
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| 46 | 46 | | States, consisting of the search for, and extraction, 13 |
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| 47 | 47 | | beneficiation, refining, smelting, processing, reproc-14 |
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| 48 | 48 | | essing, and recycling of, naturally occurring metal 15 |
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| 49 | 49 | | and nonmetal minerals from the earth. 16 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (4) M |
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| 51 | 51 | | INING PROFESSION.—The term ‘‘mining 17 |
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| 52 | 52 | | profession’’ means the body of jobs directly relevant 18 |
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| 53 | 53 | | to— 19 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (A) the exploration, planning, execution, 20 |
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| 55 | 55 | | and remediation of metal and nonmetal mining 21 |
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| 56 | 56 | | sites; and 22 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (B) the extraction, including the separa-23 |
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| 58 | 58 | | tion, refining, alloying, smelting, concentration, 24 |
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| 59 | 59 | | processing, reprocessing, and recycling, of min-25 |
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| 60 | 60 | | eral ores. 26 |
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| 63 | 63 | | •S 1130 IS |
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| 64 | 64 | | (5) MINING SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘mining 1 |
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| 65 | 65 | | school’’ means— 2 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (A) a mining, metallurgical, geological, or 3 |
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| 67 | 67 | | mineral engineering program accredited by the 4 |
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| 68 | 68 | | Accreditation Board for Engineering and Tech-5 |
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| 69 | 69 | | nology, Inc., that is located at an institution of 6 |
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| 70 | 70 | | higher education, including a Tribal College or 7 |
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| 71 | 71 | | University (as defined in section 316(b) of the 8 |
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| 72 | 72 | | Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 9 |
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| 73 | 73 | | 1059c(b))); or 10 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (B) a geology or engineering program or 11 |
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| 75 | 75 | | department that is located at a 4-year public in-12 |
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| 76 | 76 | | stitution of higher education located in a State 13 |
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| 77 | 77 | | the gross domestic product of which in 2021 14 |
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| 78 | 78 | | was not less than $2,000,000,000 in the com-15 |
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| 79 | 79 | | bined categories of ‘‘Mining (except oil and 16 |
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| 80 | 80 | | gas)’’ and ‘‘Support activities for mining’’, ac-17 |
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| 81 | 81 | | cording to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. 18 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (6) S |
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| 83 | 83 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19 |
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| 84 | 84 | | the Secretary of Energy. 20 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (b) D |
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| 86 | 86 | | OMESTICMININGEDUCATIONSTRENGTHENING 21 |
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| 87 | 87 | | P |
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| 88 | 88 | | ROGRAM.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-22 |
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| 89 | 89 | | retary of the Interior (acting through the Director of the 23 |
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| 90 | 90 | | United States Geological Survey), shall— 24 |
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| 93 | 93 | | •S 1130 IS |
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| 94 | 94 | | (1) establish a grant program to strengthen do-1 |
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| 95 | 95 | | mestic mining education; and 2 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (2) under the program established in paragraph 3 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (1), award competitive grants to mining schools for 4 |
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| 98 | 98 | | the purpose of recruiting and educating the next 5 |
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| 99 | 99 | | generation of mining engineers and other qualified 6 |
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| 100 | 100 | | professionals to meet the future energy and mineral 7 |
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| 101 | 101 | | needs of the United States. 8 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (c) G |
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| 103 | 103 | | RANTS.— 9 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (1) I |
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| 105 | 105 | | N GENERAL.—In carrying out the grant 10 |
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| 106 | 106 | | program established under subsection (b)(1), the 11 |
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| 107 | 107 | | Secretary shall award not more than 10 grants each 12 |
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| 108 | 108 | | year to mining schools. 13 |
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| 109 | 109 | | (2) S |
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| 110 | 110 | | ELECTION REQUIREMENTS .— 14 |
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| 111 | 111 | | (A) I |
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| 112 | 112 | | N GENERAL.—To the maximum ex-15 |
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| 113 | 113 | | tent practicable, the Secretary shall select re-16 |
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| 114 | 114 | | cipients for grants under paragraph (1) to en-17 |
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| 115 | 115 | | sure geographic diversity among grant recipi-18 |
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| 116 | 116 | | ents to ensure that region-specific specialties 19 |
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| 117 | 117 | | are developed for region-specific geology. 20 |
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| 118 | 118 | | (B) T |
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| 119 | 119 | | IMELINE.—The Secretary shall 21 |
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| 120 | 120 | | award the grants under paragraph (1) by not 22 |
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| 121 | 121 | | later than the later of— 23 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (i) the date that is 180 days after the 24 |
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| 123 | 123 | | start of the applicable fiscal year; and 25 |
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| 126 | 126 | | •S 1130 IS |
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| 127 | 127 | | (ii) the date that is 180 days after the 1 |
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| 128 | 128 | | date on which the Act making full-year ap-2 |
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| 129 | 129 | | propriations for the Department of Energy 3 |
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| 130 | 130 | | for the applicable fiscal year is enacted. 4 |
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| 131 | 131 | | (3) R |
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| 132 | 132 | | ECOMMENDATIONS OF THE BOARD .— 5 |
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| 133 | 133 | | (A) I |
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| 134 | 134 | | N GENERAL.—In selecting recipients 6 |
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| 135 | 135 | | for grants under paragraph (1) and deter-7 |
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| 136 | 136 | | mining the amount of each grant, the Sec-8 |
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| 137 | 137 | | retary, to the maximum extent practicable, shall 9 |
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| 138 | 138 | | take into consideration the recommendations of 10 |
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| 139 | 139 | | the Board under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 11 |
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| 140 | 140 | | subsection (d)(3). 12 |
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| 141 | 141 | | (B) S |
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| 142 | 142 | | ELECTION STATEMENT .—In selecting 13 |
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| 143 | 143 | | recipients for grants under paragraph (1), the 14 |
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| 144 | 144 | | Secretary shall— 15 |
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| 145 | 145 | | (i) in response to a recommendation 16 |
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| 146 | 146 | | from the Board, submit to the Board a 17 |
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| 147 | 147 | | statement that describes— 18 |
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| 148 | 148 | | (I) whether the Secretary accepts 19 |
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| 149 | 149 | | or rejects, in whole or in part, the rec-20 |
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| 150 | 150 | | ommendation of the Board; and 21 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (II) the justification and ration-22 |
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| 152 | 152 | | ale for any rejection, in whole or in 23 |
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| 153 | 153 | | part, of the recommendation of the 24 |
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| 154 | 154 | | Board; and 25 |
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| 157 | 157 | | •S 1130 IS |
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| 158 | 158 | | (ii) not later than 15 days after 1 |
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| 159 | 159 | | awarding a grant for which the Board sub-2 |
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| 160 | 160 | | mitted a recommendation, publish the 3 |
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| 161 | 161 | | statement submitted under clause (i) on 4 |
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| 162 | 162 | | the Department of Energy website. 5 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (4) U |
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| 164 | 164 | | SE OF FUNDS.—A mining school receiving 6 |
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| 165 | 165 | | a grant under paragraph (1) shall use the grant 7 |
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| 166 | 166 | | funds— 8 |
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| 167 | 167 | | (A) to recruit students to the mining 9 |
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| 168 | 168 | | school; and 10 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (B) to enhance and support programs re-11 |
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| 170 | 170 | | lated to, as applicable— 12 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (i) mining, mineral extraction effi-13 |
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| 172 | 172 | | ciency, and related processing technology; 14 |
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| 173 | 173 | | (ii) emphasizing critical mineral and 15 |
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| 174 | 174 | | rare earth element exploration, extraction, 16 |
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| 175 | 175 | | and refining; 17 |
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| 176 | 176 | | (iii) reclamation technology and prac-18 |
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| 177 | 177 | | tices for active mining operations; 19 |
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| 178 | 178 | | (iv) the development of reprocessing 20 |
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| 179 | 179 | | systems and technologies that facilitate 21 |
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| 180 | 180 | | reclamation that fosters the recovery of re-22 |
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| 181 | 181 | | sources at abandoned mine sites; 23 |
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| 182 | 182 | | (v) mineral extraction, refining, proc-24 |
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| 183 | 183 | | essing, reprocessing, and recycling methods 25 |
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| 186 | 186 | | •S 1130 IS |
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| 187 | 187 | | that reduce environmental and human im-1 |
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| 188 | 188 | | pacts; 2 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (vi) technologies to extract, refine, 3 |
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| 190 | 190 | | separate, smelt, produce, or recycle min-4 |
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| 191 | 191 | | erals, including rare earth elements; 5 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (vii) reducing dependence on foreign 6 |
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| 193 | 193 | | energy and mineral supplies through in-7 |
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| 194 | 194 | | creased domestic critical mineral produc-8 |
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| 195 | 195 | | tion and recycling; 9 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (viii) enhancing the competitiveness of 10 |
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| 197 | 197 | | United States energy and mineral tech-11 |
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| 198 | 198 | | nology exports; 12 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (ix) the extraction or processing of co-13 |
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| 200 | 200 | | inciding mineralization, including rare 14 |
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| 201 | 201 | | earth elements, within coal or other ores, 15 |
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| 202 | 202 | | coal or mineral processing byproduct, over-16 |
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| 203 | 203 | | burden, or residue from coal, minerals, or 17 |
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| 204 | 204 | | other ores; 18 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (x) enhancing technologies and prac-19 |
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| 206 | 206 | | tices relating to mitigation of acid mine 20 |
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| 207 | 207 | | drainage, reforestation, and revegetation in 21 |
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| 208 | 208 | | the reclamation of land and water re-22 |
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| 209 | 209 | | sources adversely affected by mining; 23 |
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| 210 | 210 | | (xi) enhancing exploration and charac-24 |
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| 211 | 211 | | terization of new or novel deposits, includ-25 |
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| 214 | 214 | | •S 1130 IS |
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| 215 | 215 | | ing rare earth elements and critical min-1 |
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| 216 | 216 | | erals within phosphate rocks, uranium- 2 |
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| 217 | 217 | | bearing deposits, and other nontraditional 3 |
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| 218 | 218 | | sources; 4 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (xii) meeting challenges of extreme 5 |
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| 220 | 220 | | mining conditions, such as deeper deposits 6 |
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| 221 | 221 | | or cold region mining; 7 |
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| 222 | 222 | | (xiii) mineral economics, including 8 |
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| 223 | 223 | | analysis of supply chains, future mineral 9 |
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| 224 | 224 | | needs, and unconventional mining re-10 |
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| 225 | 225 | | sources; and 11 |
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| 226 | 226 | | (xiv) mining practices that reduce en-12 |
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| 227 | 227 | | vironmental impact, including mining prac-13 |
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| 228 | 228 | | tices that reduce water usage, mitigate 14 |
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| 229 | 229 | | surface disturbance, and promote overall 15 |
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| 230 | 230 | | resource efficiency. 16 |
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| 231 | 231 | | (d) M |
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| 232 | 232 | | ININGPROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT ADVI-17 |
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| 233 | 233 | | SORYBOARD.— 18 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (1) I |
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| 235 | 235 | | N GENERAL.—There is established an advi-19 |
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| 236 | 236 | | sory board, to be known as the ‘‘Mining Professional 20 |
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| 237 | 237 | | Development Advisory Board’’. 21 |
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| 238 | 238 | | (2) C |
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| 239 | 239 | | OMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com-22 |
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| 240 | 240 | | posed of 6 members, to be appointed by the Sec-23 |
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| 241 | 241 | | retary not later than 180 days after the date of en-24 |
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| 242 | 242 | | actment of this Act, of whom— 25 |
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| 245 | 245 | | •S 1130 IS |
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| 246 | 246 | | (A) 3 shall be individuals who are actively 1 |
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| 247 | 247 | | working in the mining profession and for the 2 |
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| 248 | 248 | | mining industry; and 3 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (B) 3 shall have experience in academia 4 |
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| 250 | 250 | | implementing and operating professional skills 5 |
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| 251 | 251 | | training and education programs in the mining 6 |
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| 252 | 252 | | sector. 7 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (3) D |
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| 254 | 254 | | UTIES.—The Board shall— 8 |
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| 255 | 255 | | (A) evaluate grant applications received 9 |
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| 256 | 256 | | under subsection (c) and make recommenda-10 |
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| 257 | 257 | | tions to the Secretary for selection of grant re-11 |
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| 258 | 258 | | cipients under that subsection; 12 |
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| 259 | 259 | | (B) propose the amount of the grant for 13 |
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| 260 | 260 | | each applicant recommended to be selected 14 |
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| 261 | 261 | | under subparagraph (A); and 15 |
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| 262 | 262 | | (C) perform oversight to ensure that grant 16 |
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| 263 | 263 | | funds awarded under subsection (c) are used 17 |
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| 264 | 264 | | for the purposes described in paragraph (4) of 18 |
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| 265 | 265 | | that subsection. 19 |
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| 266 | 266 | | (4) T |
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| 267 | 267 | | ERM.—A member of the Board shall serve 20 |
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| 268 | 268 | | for a term of 4 years. 21 |
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| 269 | 269 | | (5) V |
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| 270 | 270 | | ACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Board— 22 |
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| 271 | 271 | | (A) shall not affect the powers of the 23 |
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| 272 | 272 | | Board; and 24 |
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| 275 | 275 | | •S 1130 IS |
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| 276 | 276 | | (B) shall be filled in the same manner as 1 |
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| 277 | 277 | | the original appointment was made by not later 2 |
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| 278 | 278 | | than 180 days after the date on which the va-3 |
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| 279 | 279 | | cancy occurs. 4 |
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| 280 | 280 | | (e) A |
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| 281 | 281 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 5 |
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| 282 | 282 | | authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 6 |
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| 283 | 283 | | $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2033. 7 |
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| 284 | 284 | | SEC. 3. REPEAL OF THE MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES 8 |
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| 285 | 285 | | INSTITUTES ACT. 9 |
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| 286 | 286 | | The Mining and Mineral Resources Institutes Act (30 10 |
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| 287 | 287 | | U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) is repealed. 11 |
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| 288 | 288 | | Æ |
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