Should the Mining Permitting Process be Shortened to Encourage Domestic Production of Critical Minerals? (H.R. 2531)

What is H.R. 2531?

(Updated August 8, 2020)

This bill — the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act — aims to support domestic production of minerals that are of strategic and critical importance to the  economic and national security, energy infrastructure, and manufacturing competitiveness of the U.S..

Specifically, this bill would:

• Allow projects that provide minerals vital to job creation, energy infrastructure, American economic competitiveness and national security to be considered “infrastructure projects” as described in Obama-era Executive Order 13604, which directed federal agencies to significantly reduce the time required to make permitting and review decisions on infrastructure projects;
  
• Limit the total time to authorize a critical minerals project to 30 months (versus the current 7-10 year length of time);
  
• Set forth general requirements for an existing mineral exploration or mine permit application;
  
• Charge the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the Forest Service to appoint a project lead for the mine permitting process to coordinate with other agencies to ensure that the agencies minimize delays, set and adhere to timelines for completion of the permitting process, set clear permitting goals and track progress against goals; and
  
• Exempt National Forest System land from regulations prohibiting timber tree cutting and road construction in areas without roads.

This bill would also allow for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969’s requirements to be satisfied if the BLM or the Forest Services determines that the agency issuing the permit would address specified factors such as environmental impact, alternatives to issuance of the permit, or any irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources that would be involved in the proposed action.

Finally, this bill would define strategic and critical minerals as those are necessary:

• For national defense and national security requirements;
  
• For energy infrastructure and renewable energy production;
  
• To support domestic manufacturing, agriculture, housing, telecommunications, healthcare and transportation infrastructure; and
  
• For economic security and the balance of trade.

Argument in favor

The current mining permitting process is slow, burdensome and inefficient — in some cases taking a decade for a final decision to be made. Shortening the process and clarifying the federal agencies that are responsible for managing it will help new mining projects gain approval more quickly so they can produce critical and strategic minerals domestically.

Argument opposed

The GAO reports that the average time to approval for new mining projects in the U.S. is two years — roughly on par with over developed nations. There’s no need to expedite the approval process for new mining projects beyond the current standard and risk allowing business interests to supersede environmental considerations.

Impact

Domestic mining; U.S. mining companies; strategic and critical minerals; domestic production of strategic and critical minerals; mining project approvals; Bureau of Land Management (BLM); Forest Service; National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969; and Executive Order 13604.

Cost of H.R. 2531

Last Congress, the CBO estimated that implementing this bill would cost less than $300,000 a year.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) reintroduced this bill from the 115th and prior Congresses to streamline the mining permitting process to end the United States’ current reliance on foreign sources of minerals that are critically important to the U.S. economy and national defense:

“Critical and strategic minerals are essential to the technologies, products, and infrastructure that make our daily lives work. Unfortunately, when it comes to mining critical and strategic minerals in America, duplicative regulations and bureaucratic inefficiencies have forced us to rely on foreign adversaries and competitors for critical minerals, a dependency that threatens the security of our nation and economy. Permitting delays stand in the way of high-paying jobs and revenue for local, often rural, communities. In fact, since the 1990’s, mineral exploration has stagnated and even declined in some cases because regulatory changes have caused the permit approvals process to take as long as ten years. The bill I introduced will decrease our dependency on foreign sources of minerals by streamlining the permitting process, allowing us to leverage our nation’s vast mineral resources while paying respect to economic, national security, and environmental concerns. This common-sense legislation has already passed the House the last four Congresses and will not change any environmental regulations, protections, or opportunity for public input. I’m pleased to have several of my House colleagues join me in introducing this bill and look forward to working together to modernize the outdated, job-crushing policies that are hamstringing our economy and jeopardizing our national security.”

When this bill was under consideration in the 115th Congress, Rep. Amodei said:

"Critical and strategic minerals are essential to the technologies that make our daily lives and economy work. Unfortunately, when it comes to mining strategic and critical minerals domestically, duplicative regulations, bureaucratic inefficiency, and lack of coordination between federal agencies unnecessarily threaten our economy and jeopardize our national security.”

The National Mining Association expressed its support for this bill in 2018. In a press release, its president and CEO, Hal Quinn, said:

“While America is home to $6.2 trillion worth of mineral resources, a lengthy and duplicative federal permitting process that can last upwards of a decade discourages investment and jeopardizes the growth of downstream industries. High-wage jobs and technological innovation depend on a secure and reliable domestic mineral supply chain, and this bill gets us closer to delivering that security. With significant delays in the permitting system, it is no small wonder America’s dependence on mineral imports has doubled over the past 20 years. Today, less than half of the mineral needs of U.S. manufacturing are met from domestically mined minerals. These trends will only worsen if we do not advance policies that enable U.S. mining to perform to its full potential. We can do better – and we must for our country to realize its full mineral supply potential. When U.S. mining thrives, so does American industry. NMA applauds… this legislation, which will improve coordination among state and federal agencies, clarify responsibilities, avoid duplication, set timeframes for completion, and bring badly needed accountability to the process – all without compromising our rigorous environmental standards.”

Some Democrats note this bill doesn’t limit what can be a “critical mineral,” thus allowing mining activities to receive less-burdensome Interior Dept. reviews. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) criticized this bill for being overly broad in 2018. He argued, “I don't doubt the importance of sand and gravel, but we are not at risk of a strategic sand deficit or foreign companies imposing a gravel embargo. This bill really has nothing to do with strategic or critical minerals as it's defined."

The Patagonia Area Resource Alliance expressed its opposition to this bill in 2013. It argued that this bill “would require less public review and environmental protection for all hardrock mines proposed anywhere in this country… [taking] an already privileged industry and gives them even more, while harming rural communities and putting clean water at risk.” It characterized this bill as “aimed at streamlining U.S. mining project permitting and limiting citizen lawsuits against mining projects” at the cost of the public interest.

In December 2017, President Trump issued an executive order calling on federal agencies to devise a strategy to ensure that the U.S. has a reliable supply of critical minerals. The order reads, “It shall be the policy of the federal government to reduce the nation's vulnerability to disruptions in the supply of critical minerals, which constitutes a strategic vulnerability for the security and prosperity of the United States.”

This bill has 33 Republican cosponsors in the 116th Congress. In the 115th Congress, it passed the House Natural Resources Committee by a 21-16 vote with the support of 36 Republican cosponsors. Rep. Amodei has introduced this bill for five years running.

The National Mining Association, National Stone, Sand, & Gravel Association (NSSGA), American Exploration & Mining Association, Americans for Limited Government, Citizens Against Government Waste, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, CEMEX, Pershing Gold, Women’s Mining Coalition, Alaska Miners Association, Coeur Mining, Colorado Mining Association, Idaho Mining Association, Jobs For Minnesotans, MiningMinnesota, Nevada Mining Association, Reshoring Initiative, Up North Jobs, Utah Mining Association and Wyoming Mining Association supported this bill in past Congresses.

Of Note: The U.S. Geological Survey believes 35 minerals, most of which are found in Alaska, qualify as critical minerals:

• Aluminum (bauxite), used in almost all sectors of the economy;
  
• Antimony, used in batteries and flame retardants;
  
• Arsenic, used in lumber preservatives, pesticides, and semi-conductors;
  
• Barite, used in cement and petroleum industries;
  
• Beryllium, used as an alloying agent in aerospace and defense industries;
  
• Bismuth, used in medical and atomic research;
  
• Cesium, used in research and development;
  
• Chromium, used primarily in stainless steel and other alloys;
  
• Cobalt, used in rechargeable batteries and superalloys;
  
• Fluorspar, used in the manufacture of aluminum, gasoline, and uranium fuel;
  
• Gallium, used for integrated circuits and optical devices like LEDs;
  
• Germanium, used for fiber optics and night vision applications;
  
• Graphite (natural), used for lubricants, batteries, and fuel cells;
  
• Hafnium, used for nuclear control rods, alloys, and high-temperature ceramics;
  
• Helium, used for MRIs, lifting agent, and research;
  
• Indium, mostly used in LCD screens;
  
• Lithium, used primarily for batteries;
  
• Magnesium, used in furnace linings for manufacturing steel and ceramics;
  
• Manganese, used in steelmaking;
  
• Niobium, used mostly in steel alloys;
  
• Platinum group metals, used for catalytic agents;
  
• Potash, primarily used as a fertilizer;
  
• Rare earth elements group, primarily used in batteries and electronics;
  
• Rhenium, used for lead-free gasoline and superalloys;
  
• Rubidium, used for research and development in electronics;
  
• Scandium, used for alloys and fuel cells;
  
• Strontium, used for pyrotechnics and ceramic magnets;
  
• Tantalum, used in electronic components, mostly capacitors;
  
• Tellurium, used in steelmaking and solar cells;
  
• Tin, used as protective coatings and alloys for steel;
  
• Titanium, overwhelmingly used as a white pigment or metal alloys;
  
• Tungsten, primarily used to make wear-resistant metals;
  
• Uranium, mostly used for nuclear fuel;
  
• Vanadium, primarily used for titanium alloys; and
  
• Zirconium, used in the high-temperature ceramics industries.

Tim Petty, assistant secretary of the Interior for water and science, says “[a]ny shortage of these resources constitutes a strategic vulnerability for the security and prosperity of the United States.”

In a 2018 op-ed in The Hill, University of Colorado Law School professor and Earthworks board member Mark Squillace argued that the U.S. is already “one of the most mine-friendly countries in the world.” Citing a GAO report concluding that “mine permitting takes, on average, just two years — similar to other major developed countries” and delays “are primarily attributed to mining companies, not the government,” Squillace argued that there’s no need to “loosen the already weak programs that are supposed to protect our communities.”

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) Press Release
  
• Congressional Western Caucus Press Release
  
• CBO Cost Estimate
  
• Mining News North
  
• National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) Press Release (In Favor, Previous Congress)
  
• National Mining Association (NMA) Press Release (In Favor, Previous Congress)
  
• Patagonia Area Resource Alliance (Opposed, Previous Congress)
  
• Washington Examiner