The House approved legislation Wednesday that would accelerate mining on federal land despite objections from many Democrats and conservation groups.
Lawmakers voted 224-195 on H.R. 4090, the “Critical Mineral Dominance Act” from Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), chair of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. Ten Democrats voted in favor, and just one Republican against. The committee passed an amended version of the bill last year on a 26-16 vote.
The bill would codify certain provisions of President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at boosting domestic mining and processing of minerals important to energy, defense and other applications.
The measure would call on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to report all federal mining permit applications to Congress, and would give the administration 10 days for identifying and fast-tracking approvals of “priority projects.”
The administration would have to survey and prioritize development of federal land for hardrock mining and to identify — and quickly rescind — any “unduly burdensome” rules.
“Nothing in this bill … greenlights any mining project without necessary scrutiny,” said Stauber. “This bill is a strong signal from Congress to the executive branch that we need to get serious about our critical mineral strategy.”
Rich Nolan, CEO of the National Mining Association, said the Trump administration has made moves to support the domestic mining sector and that it’s time for Congress to codify that work with Stauber’s bill.
But the bill, which is co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Nick Begich of Alaska and Brad Finstad of Minnesota, has drawn the ire of many Democrats and environmental groups that argue it would scrap environmental protection and open public lands to mining.
“This is a blank check to foreign-owned mining corporations that will just export raw critical minerals to be refined in China,” Ashley Nunes, a public lands policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said on the House floor that the bill would enrich mining behemoths and billionaires while doing little to keep domestically mined materials in the U.S.
Huffman said the bill would also cut out consultation with tribes and the public, give companies unfettered access to public land, and leave out protections for sensitive lands and national parks.
“Time and again, we’ve suggested guardrails that could be included in bills like this to make sure foreign adversaries don’t end up taking advantage of all these corporate giveaways,” Huffman said.
Andres Picon contributed to this report.
