BLOG: US President Signs Law Requiring Report On Rare Earths In The US Defense Supply Chain

As I mentioned elsewhere earlier this year, the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 contained language that required that the Federal government look at the role of rare earth materials in the US defense supply chain.  Earlier this week, President Obama signed this bill into law as Public Law 111-84.

Section 843 of the law requires that "not later than April 1, 2010, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on rare earth materials in the supply chain of the Department of Defense".  The law further requires the following to be included in the report:

• An analysis of the current and projected domestic and worldwide availability of rare earths for use in defense systems, including an analysis of projected availability of these materials in the export market;

• An analysis of actions or events outside the control of the Government of the United States that could restrict the access of the Department of Defense to rare earth materials, such as past procurements and attempted procurements of rare earth mines and mineral rights;

• A determination as to which defense systems are currently dependent on, or projected to become dependent on, rare earth materials, particularly neodymium iron boron magnets, whose supply could be restricted:
• • by actions or events identified pursuant to [the last] paragraph [...] or
  • by other actions or events outside the control of the Government of the United States.

• The risk to national security, if any, of the dependencies (current or projected) identified pursuant to [the last] paragraph [...];

• Any steps that the Department of Defense has taken or is planning to take to address any such risk to national security;

• Such recommendations for further action to address the matters covered by the report as the Comptroller General considers appropriate.

The law goes on to state that "[t]he term `rare earth' means the chemical elements, all metals, beginning with lanthanum, atomic number 57, and including all of the natural chemical elements in the periodic table following lanthanum up to and including lutetium, element number 71. The term also includes the elements yttrium and scandium". It also says that "[t]he term `rare earth material' includes rare earth ores, semi-finished rare earth products, and components containing rare earth materials".

April 1, 2010 is only 5 months away.  Is this going to be enough time to do a thorough-enough job to get Congress the information it needs?

We shall see.

-- Gareth Hatch