Enrolled SJR 8: Supporting the continued and increased exploration, extraction, processing, and production of rare earth elements in the state; and urging the United States Congress to support efforts of the state to develop rare earth elements in the state for the benefit of the economic and national security of the United States.
00Enrolled SJR 8 01 Supporting the continued and increased exploration, extraction, processing, and production of 02 rare earth elements in the state; and urging the United States Congress to support efforts of the 03 state to develop rare earth elements in the state for the benefit of the economic and national 04 security of the United States. 05 _______________ 06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 WHEREAS rare earth elements, those elements consisting of lanthanum through 08 lutetium on the periodic table, plus scandium and yttrium, possess unique chemical, electrical, 09 and physical properties that make them indispensable for a wide variety of emerging critical 10 technologies needed for defense, clean energy, and other consumer and industrial uses; and 11 WHEREAS dysprosium and terbium are among the scarcest, most valuable, and most 12 sought-after rare earth metals needed for green technology and military applications; and 13 WHEREAS, in the past, the United States was largely self-sufficient in rare earth 14 elements but today has become almost entirely dependent on foreign sources of yttrium, 15 niobium, tantalum, zirconium, and other rare earth elements; and 16 WHEREAS the value-added technology and skill to allow both the recovery of rare 17 earth elements from mineral forms in ore and the manufacture of finished products, including
01 powerful magnets, from rare earth elements has almost entirely migrated to China along with 02 the actual mining of rare earth element ores; and 03 WHEREAS China currently produces 95 percent of the world's rare earth elements 04 but reduced the export of rare earth elements by 54 percent from 2005 to 2010 and by nearly 05 percent from 2010 to 2011; and 06 WHEREAS a future in which manufacturing of high-tech military equipment takes 07 place only outside of the United States poses a risk to national security, and the manufacturing 08 of wind turbines, solar panels, advanced batteries, and geothermal steam turbines produced 09 only outside of the United States poses a risk to energy security; and 10 WHEREAS the development and expansion of extraction, processing, refining, and 11 production are needed to provide the United States with self-reliance in technologies that 12 depend on rare earth elements; and 13 WHEREAS mineral resources make up a major portion of the state's economic assets, 14 and the deposits discovered at Bokan Mountain on the southern end of Prince of Wales Island 15 are rich in the heavy rare earth elements of europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, 16 thulium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lutetium, and yttrium; and 17 WHEREAS the Bokan Mountain deposits are the only known deposits in the world 18 that have deep water access, accessible labor, and prospective power sources; and 19 WHEREAS the Tongass National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 20 designates the Bokan Mountain area for mineral development, and the state's Prince of Wales 21 Island Area Plan classifies the Kendrick Bay area for mineral and forestry access and 22 development; and 23 WHEREAS economic opportunities on Prince of Wales Island and throughout the 24 state have significantly decreased; and 25 WHEREAS increased exploration for rare earth elements along with the 26 establishment of secondary processing and research facilities related to rare earth elements in 27 the state will create new career opportunities for Alaskans; and 28 WHEREAS development of rare earth element deposits in the state is critical to the 29 economic and military security of the state and the nation; 30 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the continued and 31 increased exploration, extraction, processing, and production of rare earth elements in the
01 state; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges agencies that 03 administer permits required for the development of the rare earth elements in the state to 04 expedite consideration and issuance of permits required for the development of rare earth 05 element deposits in the state; and be it 06 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 07 Geological Survey, the United States Department of Commerce, and the United States 08 Department of Defense to work closely with the governor and the director of the division of 09 geological and geophysical surveys in the Department of Natural Resources to explore for and 10 identify deposits of rare earth elements in the state, develop an information database on rare 11 earth elements in the state, and promote the development of the rare earth elements extraction, 12 processing, and production industry in the state; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 14 Congress to support the efforts of the state to develop rare earth elements in the state for the 15 benefit of the economic and national security of the United States. 16 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 17 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 18 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Sally Jewell, United States Secretary of the 19 Interior; the Honorable Chuck Hagel, United States Secretary of Defense; the Honorable John 20 Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, 21 Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority 22 Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the U.S. 23 Senate; the Honorable Ron Wyden, Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee of 24 the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. 25 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 26 delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 113th United States Congress.