II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2965 

To establish a critical mineral environmental processing and mining cleanup 

program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2023 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a critical mineral environmental processing and 

mining cleanup program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. CRITICAL MINERAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROC4 ESSING AND MINING CLEANUP PROGRAM. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) CRITICAL MINERAL.—The term ‘‘critical 

7 mineral’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

8 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 

9 1606(a)). 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means an entity engaged in or intending to en3 gage in— 

4 (A) the mining or manufacturing of critical 

5 minerals or the reprocessing or recycling of 

6 mine tailings, smelter or refinery slags, or resi7 dues; or 

8 (B) any other value-added, mining-related, 

9 manufacturing-related, or processing-related use 

10 of critical minerals undertaken within the 

11 United States. 

12 (3) ELIGIBLE MINERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

13 mineral’’ means each of the minerals identified by 

14 the Secretary under subsection (b)(2)(A). 

15 (4) MANUFACTURE.—The term ‘‘manufacture’’, 

16 with respect to a mineral, means to process, refine, 

17 alloy, separate, smelt, concentrate, or beneficiate the 

18 mineral. 

19 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

20 the competitive grant program established under 

21 subsection (b)(1). 

22 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of the Interior. 

24 (b) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

2 a program to award competitive grants to eligible 

3 entities for the manufacturing of eligible minerals. 

4 (2) DETERMINATION; IDENTIFICATION.— 

5 (A) ELIGIBLE MINERALS.—Not later than 

6 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

7 the Secretary, in coordination with the National 

8 Economic Council, shall identify as eligible min9 erals— 

10 (i) the 10 critical minerals that are 

11 the most critical for manufacturing and 

12 energy independence; and 

13 (ii) the 10 minerals that are the most 

14 critical to the United States to reduce en15 ergy dependence on mineral imports. 

16 (B) SUITABLE LOCATIONS.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

18 identify Federal and non-Federal land for 

19 which it is economically feasible and envi20 ronmentally sound to mine the eligible 

21 minerals. 

22 (ii) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 

23 shall establish for each suitable location 

24 identified under clause (i) a mitigation 

25 plan to combat environmental and health 


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1 risks posed by the mining and manufac2 turing of eligible minerals to— 

3 (I) federally recognized Indian 

4 Tribes; 

5 (II) communities at risk of pollu6 tion from mining activities; and 

7 (III) clean drinking water 

8 sources. 

9 (C) NO DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.—To 

10 the maximum extent practicable, in carrying 

11 out subparagraphs (A) and (B), the Secretary 

12 shall use existing analyses of the Department of 

13 the Interior, including the United States Geo14 logical Survey. 

15 (3) SELECTION.— 

16 (A) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity 

17 seeking a grant under the program shall submit 

18 to the Secretary an application at such time, in 

19 such manner, and containing such information 

20 as the Secretary may require. 

21 (B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In awarding 

22 grants under the program, the Secretary shall 

23 only award grants to eligible entities that— 

24 (i) have documented interests in con25 structing, expanding, or modernizing faciliVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Oct 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2965.IS S2965

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1 ties that carry out an activity or use de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub3 section (a)(2); and 

4 (ii) demonstrate strong labor protec5 tions, including prevailing wage require6 ments. 

7 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant under the pro8 gram may be used for the environmental assessment, 

9 processing, mitigation, and cleanup necessary to 

10 mine or manufacture eligible minerals on the Fed11 eral and non-Federal land identified under para12 graph (2)(B)(i). 

13 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—In carrying out 

14 activities using a grant under the program, an eligi15 ble entity shall comply with— 

16 (A) all applicable environmental laws (in17 cluding regulations); and 

18 (B) any other environmental standards de19 termined to be necessary by the Secretary. 

20 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

22 the program $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

23 2024 through 2029. 

Æ 


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