UPDATE 14 July 2010

Listen to the conference call

6 June 2010

We recently reported that Senator Murkoswki introduced a Senate version of the RESTART Act. On Thursday July 15, 2010 at 1pm we will be hosting a conference call with a staff member on the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to discuss the bill and its implications.

Original Article:

On June 22, 2010 Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a bill (S.3521) called "A bill to provide for the reestablishment of a domestic rare earths materials production and supply industry in the United States, and for other purposes". The bill is a companion measure to HR.4866, the Rare Earth Supply-chain Technology And Resources Transformation (RESTART) Act introduced by Congressman Mike Coffman. Congressman Coffman announced his bill publically at TREM10 on March 17, 2010.

Senator Murkowski's bill would "require--under the leadership of the Secretary of the Interior--the Secretaries of Energy, Agriculture, Defense, Commerce, and State along with the Director of OMB and the Chairman of CEQ to expedite permitting, review supply chains, and consider strategic stockpiling of rare earths. The bill would also provide the rare earth industry with access to federal loan guarantee programs meant to advance clean energy technologies."