Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Joni Ernst of Iowa on Wednesday floated legislation that would automatically move federally backed domestic critical mineral projects through an existing process to speed up permit reviews.
The “Permit Reform in Mining for Energy and Defense (PRIMED) Act” would ensure projects backed by the Department of Defense or those receiving funding under the Defense Production Act — including those supporting mining and mineral processing — would qualify as a “covered project” under the FAST-41 process.
Reps. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) are leading a companion bill in the House.
“We cannot allow China to have a veto on our manufacturing and national security by continuing to dominate critical mineral production,” Slotkin said in a statement.
