Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Homeland Acceleration of Recovering Deposits and Renewing Onshore Critical Keystones Act of 2022” or the “HARD ROCK Act of 2022”.
Homeland Acceleration of Recovering Deposits and Renewing Onshore Critical Keystones Act of 2022
A BILL
To authorize certain actions to address domestic industrial base shortfalls, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Authority to acquire materials for National Defense Stockpile to address shortfalls
Modification of acquisition authority— Section 5 of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98d) is amended—
in subsection (a)—
in paragraph (1)—
in the first sentence, by inserting “under the authority of paragraph (3) or” after “Except for acquisitions made”; and
in the second sentence, by striking “for such acquisition” and inserting “for any acquisition of materials under this Act”;
in paragraph (2), by striking “any such transaction” and inserting “any transaction”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(3) Using funds available in the National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund established under section 9, the National Defense Stockpile Manager may acquire materials determined to be strategic and critical under section 3(a) without regard to the requirement of the first sentence of paragraph (1) if the Stockpile Manager determines there is a shortfall of such materials in the stockpile.”
in subsection (c), by striking “to carry out the purposes for which appropriated for a period of two fiscal years, if so provided in the appropriations Acts” and inserting “until expended, unless otherwise provided in appropriations Acts”.
Clarification that stockpile may not be used for budgetary purposes— Section 2(c) of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98(c)) is amended by striking “is not to be used” and inserting “shall not be used”.
Annual briefings— Section 11 of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98h–2) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(c)
“(1) Not later than 30 days after submitting a report required by subsection (a), the National Defense Stockpile Manager shall brief the committees specified in paragraph (2) on the state of the stockpile and the acquisitions intended to be made within the next fiscal year.
“(2) The committees specified in this paragraph are—
“(A) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
“(B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.”
Sec. 3 Increased threshold for actions to remedy certain domestic industrial base shortfalls
Section 303(a)(6) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4533(a)(6)) is amended—
in subparagraph (B)—
by striking “If the taking” and inserting the following:
“(i) In general—If the taking”
by striking “$50,000,000” and inserting “the amount specified in clause (ii)”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(ii) Amount specified—The amount specified in this clause is—
“(I) except as provided in subclause (II), $50,000,000; and
“(II) in the case of a domestic industrial base shortfall relating to an industrial resource described in clause (iii), $350,000,000.
“(iii) Industrial resources described—An industrial resource described in this clause is any of the following:
“(I) A material determined to be a strategic and critical material under section 3(a) of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98b(a)) with respect to which the National Defense Stockpile has a shortfall of more than $100,000,000, as demonstrated by the most recent report required by section 11 of that Act (50 U.S.C. 98h–2).
“(II) Any industrial resource necessary for the production, separation, or processing of a critical mineral (as defined in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a))).”
by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
“(C) Limitation—If entering into an obligation under this section to correct an industrial resource shortfall would cause the aggregate outstanding amount of all such obligations for such industrial resource shortfall to exceed $50,000,000, no such obligation may be entered until the President provides a briefing to Congress on the nature of the shortfall and the action or actions necessary to mitigate the shortfall.”
Sec. 4 Report on modifications to national technology and industrial base
In general— Not later than December 1, 2023, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the benefits and risks of potential legislative proposals to increase the availability of strategic and critical materials that are, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, sourced primarily from the People’s Republic of China or the Russian Federation.
Elements— The report required by subsection (a) shall include an assessment of the following:
The implications of modifying the term domestic source for purposes of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) to “domestic and allied source” and including business concerns in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia in the definition of that term.
The benefits of facilitating more effective integration of the national technology and industrial base with the technology and industrial bases of countries that are allies or partners of the United States with respect to technology transfer, socioeconomic procurement requirements, and export controls.
Definitions— In this section:
Congressional defense committees— The term congressional defense committees has the meaning given that term in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code.
National technology and industrial base— The term national technology and industrial base has the meaning given that term in section 4801 of title 10, United States Code.
Strategic and critical materials— The term strategic and critical materials has the meaning given that term in section 12 of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98h–3).