S.Amdt. 1578

SA 1578. Mr. MANCHIN (for himself, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Grassley, and Ms.
Ernst) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA
1502 proposed by Mr. Schumer to the bill S. 1260, to establish a new
Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the National Science
Foundation, to establish a regional technology hub program, to require
a strategy and report on economic security, science, research,
innovation, manufacturing, and job creation, to establish a critical
supply chain resiliency program, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 188, strike lines 2 through 25 and insert the
following:
(a) Critical Minerals Mining Research and Development.--
(1) In general.--In order to support supply chain
resiliency, the Secretary of Energy, acting through the
National Laboratories (as defined in section 2 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)), in coordination with
the Director, shall issue awards, on a competitive basis, to
institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations
(or consortia of such institutions or organizations) to
support basic research that will accelerate innovation to
advance critical minerals mining strategies and technologies
for the purpose of making better use of domestic resources
and eliminating national reliance on minerals and mineral
materials that are subject to supply disruptions.
(2) Use of funds.--Activities funded by an award under this
section may include--
(A) advancing mining research and development activities to
develop new mapping and mining technologies and techniques,
including advanced critical mineral extraction and
production, to improve existing or to develop new supply
chains of critical minerals, and to yield more efficient,
economical, and environmentally benign mining practices;
(B) advancing critical mineral processing and geochemical
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