House Republicans have introduced a measure that would speed up permitting for mining projects in the U.S. in order to avoid importing critical minerals from countries like China.
The bill would require agencies to set strict timetables for reviewing permitting requests for new projects mining critical minerals used in products ranging from batteries to medical supplies to electronics.
“The status quo that we are dealing with is relying on really horrible environmental and labor standards in China and other places. I think this is one of the things and has to be acknowledged by everybody,” said House Natural Resources Ranking Member Rob Bishop
Robert (Rob) William BishopTensions emerge on Natural Resources panel over virtual meetings House committees move toward virtual hearings for COVID-19 era OVERNIGHT ENERGY: States sue Trump over rollback of water protections | Fossil fuel companies get coronavirus aid | Conservative group sues Trump over mileage standards MORE (R-Utah), one of the sponsors of the bill.
A number of countries mine cobalt, graphite, copper, uranium and other essential metals, including some U.S. allies. Republican lawmakers on Natural Resources as well as the Science Committee hope the permitting changes would decrease the process from 7-10 years to two or three years.
The bill also reinforces the Department of the Interior’s role in establishing a critical minerals list, designating any mineral “essential to the economic or national security of the United States.”
Any short-circuiting of the environmental review process would be unlikely to advance in the Democrat-led House.
But the legislation is the latest effort from Republicans to shore up the domestic mining industry, following a report from the Department of Energy in April promoting a surge in the American uranium mining industry as a way to jumpstart the domestic nuclear energy business.
The legislation also bars the Secretary of the Interior from blocking mining projects on federal lands without congressional approval, a measure that would have stopped the Obama administration from barring a uranium mining project near the Grand Canyon.
Energy Fuels Resources, which owns one of the few mining projects exempted from the declaration, won a court battle with environmentalists last week which sought to block its mining project.
However, the company has not begun mining due to low uranium prices.
“A drop in profits is not enough to defeat valid existing rights if the mine remains profitable,” U.S. District Judge David Campbell in Arizona wrote in the decision last week.
