# What This Bill Does: Pushing for More Domestic Mining

This bill is designed to make it easier and faster to mine for minerals like copper, gold, rare earth elements, and other hardrock minerals on federal land in the United States. The basic idea is that the government wants America to produce more of these minerals domestically rather than relying on imports from other countries. The bill treats this as a national priority, arguing that domestic mining will create jobs, strengthen supply chains, protect national security, and reduce dependence on other nations—particularly ones the government views as adversarial.

The bill creates several concrete requirements. Within 10 days of the law passing, the Department of Interior must identify all mining projects that have pending applications and start fast-tracking approvals for projects it can immediately approve. The government also has to map out all federal land that could potentially be mined and prioritize areas where mining could happen quickly and have the biggest impact on mineral supplies. Within 90 days, the department must review all existing environmental rules, permits, and restrictions to identify which ones are slowing down mining projects, then begin suspending or changing those rules. The bill also requires the government to study the economic costs of importing minerals and to look at state and local laws that might be blocking mining projects.

The practical effect is that this bill would significantly streamline the mining approval process on public lands. Environmental reviews could move faster, permits could be issued more quickly, and regulations that currently protect land or require careful environmental assessment could be weakened or eliminated. This could lead to more mining operations opening on federal property, which means more mineral production domestically but potentially more environmental disruption in those areas. The bill essentially tells federal agencies that their job is to facilitate mining, not to slow it down.

Critical Mineral Dominance Act

Stauber, Pete

Critical Mineral Dominance ActThis bill directs the Department of the Interior to address mineral supply chain vulnerabilities, including by accelerating and expanding mineral production on federal land (i.e., National Forest System land, public lands, and any land that may be leased for the exploration, development, or production of hardrock minerals).Interior must (1) identify&nbsp;priority mining projects on federal lands that can be immediately approved, and (2) take all necessary and appropriate steps to expedite those projects.Interior must also identify active, inactive, or proposed mining projects on federal land that have the potential to (1) increase production of&nbsp;hardrock minerals or their byproducts, (2) expand existing operations to include such byproducts, or (3) produce hardrock minerals from mine tailings or&nbsp;coal byproducts.&nbsp;Further, Interior must identify certain federal land with potential for&nbsp;hardrock mining. Interior must prioritize identifying land where a mining project (1) can most quickly be fully permitted and operational, and (2) would have the greatest potential effect on the robustness of the domestic mineral supply chain. Interior must (1) suspend, revise, or rescind agency actions that place undue burdens on mining projects; (2) recommend changes to current law necessary to expand U.S. production of hardrock minerals; and (3) review state and local laws that impede development of domestic mining and mineral exploration projects.Interior must also report on the dollar value and overall economic impact of the United States' reliance on imports of certain mineral commodities.Finally, Interior must prioritize efforts to accelerate geologic mapping.