1. (a) Development, mining, preparation, treatment, and utilization of ores and other mineral substances

   1. (1) The President shall make scientific, technologic, and economic investigations concerning the development, mining, preparation, treatment, and utilization of ores and other mineral substances that (A) are found in the United States, its territories or possessions, or in a reliable source ¹ (B) are essential to the national defense, industrial, and essential civilian needs of the United States, and (C) are found in known domestic sources in inadequate quantities or grades.
   2. (2) Such investigations shall be carried out in order to develop new sources of strategic and critical materials, develop substitutes, or conserve domestic sources and reliable sources of supply for such strategic and critical materials.
   3. (3) Investigations under paragraph (1) may be carried out on public lands and, with the consent of the owner, on privately owned lands for the purpose of exploring and determining the extent and quality of deposits of such minerals, the most suitable methods of mining and beneficiating such minerals, and the cost at which the minerals or metals may be produced.
2. (b) Development of sources of supplies of agricultural materials; use of agricultural commodities for manufacture of materials The President shall make scientific, technologic, and economic investigations of the feasibility of developing domestic sources of supplies of any agricultural material or for using agricultural commodities for the manufacture of any material determined pursuant to section 98b(a) of this title to be a strategic and critical material or substitutes therefor.

3. (c) Development of sources of supply of other materials; development or use of alternative methods for refining or processing materials in stockpile The President shall make scientific, technologic, and economic investigations concerning the feasibility of—

   1. (1) developing domestic sources of supply of materials (other than materials referred to in subsections (a) and (b)) determined pursuant to section 98b(a) of this title to be strategic and critical materials; and
   2. (2) developing or using alternative methods for the refining or processing of a material in the stockpile so as to convert such material into a form more suitable for use during an emergency or for storage.

4. (d) Grants and contracts to encourage conservation of strategic and critical materials The President shall encourage the conservation of domestic sources of any material determined pursuant to section 98b(a) of this title to be a strategic and critical material by making grants or awarding contracts for research regarding the development of—

   1. (1) substitutes for such material; or
   2. (2) more efficient methods of production or use of such material.

(June 7, 1939, ch. 190, § 8, as added Pub. L. 96–41, § 2(a), July 30, 1979, 93 Stat. 322; amended Pub. L. 101–189, div. C, title XXXIII, § 3311, Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1686; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XIV, § 1411(e)(2)(B), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 527.)

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 98g, act June 7, 1939, ch. 190, § 8, as added July 23, 1946, ch. 590, 60 Stat. 600; amended 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 2(b), eff. June 12, 1953, 18 F.R. 3375, 67 Stat. 634; 1958 Reorg. Plan No. 1, § 2, eff. July 1, 1958, 23 F.R. 4991, 72 Stat. 1799; Oct. 21, 1968, Pub. L. 90–608, § 402, 82 Stat. 1194; Ex. Ord. No. 11725, § 3, eff. June 29, 1973, 38 F.R. 17175, authorized appropriations for procurement, transportation, maintenance, rotation, storage, and refining or processing of materials acquired under this subchapter, prior to repeal by section 2(a) of Pub. L. 96–41. See section 98d(c) of this title.

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in former section 98f of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 96–41.

Amendments

2023—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 118–31, § 1411(e)(2)(B)(i), substituted “its territories or possessions, or in a reliable source” for “or in its territories or possessions,”.

Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 118–31, § 1411(e)(2)(B)(ii), substituted “in order to develop new sources of strategic and critical materials, develop substitutes, or conserve domestic sources and reliable sources of supply for such strategic and critical materials.” for “in order to—

“(A) determine and develop new domestic sources of supply of such ores and mineral substances;

“(B) devise new methods for the treatment and utilization of lower grade reserves of such ores and mineral substances; and

“(C) develop substitutes for such essential ores and mineral products.”

1989—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 101–189 added subsecs. (c) and (d).

Executive Documents

Delegation of Functions

Functions of President under subsec. (a) of this section delegated to Secretary of the Interior and functions of President under subsec. (b) of this section delegated to Secretary of Agriculture by section 1 of Ex. Ord. No. 12636, Feb. 25, 1988, 53 F.R. 6114, set out under section 98 of this title.

¹ So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma.