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The National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 () is a bill that was introduced into the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress. The bill would alter the rules and regulations surrounding getting permits/permission to undertake mining projects in the United States. The bill would also alter that legal framework associated with this type of mining. ==Provisions of the bill== ''This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source.''〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/761 )〕 The National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 would deem a domestic mine that will provide strategic and critical minerals to be an "infrastructure project" as described in the Presidential Order "Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects" dated March 22, 2012.〔 The bill would set forth the responsibilities of the lead agency (federal, state, local, tribal, or Alaska Native Corporation) with responsibility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine permit with respect to project coordination, agency consultation, project proponents, contractors, and the status and scope of any environmental impact statement.〔 It would require that lead agency to determine that any such action would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) if the procedural and substantive safeguards of the lead agency's permitting process alone, any applicable state permitting process alone, or a combination of the two processes together provide an adequate mechanism to ensure that environmental factors are taken into account.〔 The bill would require the lead agency's project lead, at a project proponent's request, to enter into an agreement with the project proponent and other cooperating agencies that sets time limits for each part of the permit review process.〔 The bill would make these new rules retroactive by request, by applying the new rules to a mineral exploration or mine permit for which an application was submitted before enactment of H.R. 761 (if enacted) if the applicant so requests in writing. It then requires the lead agency to begin implementing the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 with respect to such application within 30 days after receiving such a request.〔 The bill would require the lead agency, with respect to strategic and critical materials within a federally administered unit of the National Forest System, to: (1) exempt from federal regulations governing Special Areas all areas of identified mineral resources in Land Use Designations (other than Non-Development Land Use Designations); (2) apply such exemption to all additional routes and areas that the agency finds necessary to facilitate the construction, operation, maintenance, and restoration of the areas of the identified mineral resources; and (3) continue to apply such exemptions after approval of the Minerals Plan of Operations for the unit.〔 The bill then declares that the priority of the lead agency is to maximize mineral resource development while mitigating environmental impacts, so that more of the mineral resource can be brought to the market place.〔 The bill prescribes the Federal Register notice process for mineral exploration and mining projects.〔 The National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 would authorize the holder of a mineral exploration or mine permit to intervene as of right in any covered civil action by a person affecting rights or obligations of the permit holder under the permit.〔 It also bars a civil action claiming legal wrong caused by an agency action unless it is filed by the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of the final federal agency action to which it relates.〔 It would require the court to hear and determine any covered civil action as expeditiously as possible.〔 It prohibits the court, in a covered civil action, from granting or approving prospective relief unless it finds that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct such violation.〔 It declares inapplicable to such a civil action specified requirements of the Equal Access to Justice Act relating to award of costs and fees to a prevailing plaintiff.〔 Finally, the bill would prohibit payment from the federal government for court costs of a party in such a civil action, including attorneys’ fees and expenses.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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