I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2604 

To improve the permitting process for critical mineral projects, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2021 

Mr. STAUBER (for himself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mrs. 

CAMMACK, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. 

GROTHMAN, Mr. EMMER, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. 

STEWART, Mr. BAIRD, and Mr. TIFFANY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To improve the permitting process for critical mineral 

projects, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accessing America’s 

5 Critical Minerals Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PERMITTING. 

2 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con3 gress that— 

4 (1) critical minerals are fundamental to the 

5 economy, competitiveness, and security of the United 

6 States; 

7 (2) to the maximum extent practicable, the crit8 ical mineral needs of the United States should be 

9 satisfied by minerals, elements, substances, and ma10 terials responsibly produced and recycled in the 

11 United States; and 

12 (3) the current Federal permitting process is an 

13 impediment to mineral production and the mineral 

14 security of the United States. 

15 (b) COORDINATION ON PERMITTING PROCESS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta17 tion with appropriate Federal agencies, shall, to the 

18 maximum extent practicable, with respect to the 

19 Federal permitting and review process for critical 

20 mineral projects on Federal land— 

21 (A) establish and adhere to timelines and 

22 schedules for the consideration of, and final de23 cisions regarding, applications, operating plans, 

24 leases, licenses, permits, and other use author25 izations for mineral-related activities on Federal 

26 land; 


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1 (B) establish clear, quantifiable, and tem2 poral permitting performance goals and track3 ing progress against those goals; 

4 (C) engage in early collaboration among 

5 agencies, project sponsors, and affected stake6 holders— 

7 (i) to incorporate and address the in8 terests of each such agency, sponsor, and 

9 stakeholder; and 

10 (ii) to minimize delays; 

11 (D) ensure transparency and accountability 

12 by using cost-effective information technology to 

13 collect and disseminate information regarding 

14 individual critical mineral projects and agency 

15 performance; 

16 (E) engage in early and active consultation 

17 with State and local governments and Indian 

18 Tribes to avoid conflicts or duplication of effort, 

19 resolve concerns, and allow for concurrent, 

20 rather than sequential, State, local, Tribal, and 

21 Federal environmental and regulatory reviews; 

22 (F) meet or exceed the performance 

23 metrics contained in subsection (g); 


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1 (G) expand and institutionalize permitting 

2 and review process improvements that have 

3 proven effective; 

4 (H) develop mechanisms to better commu5 nicate priorities and resolve disputes among 

6 agencies at the national, regional, State, and 

7 local levels; and 

8 (I) develop other practices to improve the 

9 regulatory processes, such as preapplication 

10 procedures. 

11 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out para12 graph (1), the lead agency shall consider deferring 

13 to, and relying on, baseline data, analyses, and re14 views performed by State agencies with jurisdiction 

15 over the proposed critical mineral project. 

16 (3) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—The lead 

17 agency with respect to a critical mineral project on 

18 Federal land, in consultation with any other Federal 

19 agency with jurisdiction over such project, shall, 

20 upon request of the project sponsor, a State or local 

21 government, an Indian Tribe, or other entity such 

22 lead agency determines appropriate, establish a 

23 memorandum of agreement with the project sponsor, 

24 a State or local government, an Indian Tribe, or an25 other entity such lead agency determines appropriate 


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1 to carry out the activities described in this sub2 section. 

3 (4) TIME LIMIT FOR PERMITTING PROCESS.— 

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and ex5 cept with agreement of the project sponsor, the total 

6 period for all necessary Federal reviews and permit 

7 consideration for a critical mineral project on Fed8 eral land reasonably expected to produce critical 

9 minerals may not exceed— 

10 (A) with respect to a project that requires 

11 an environmental assessment under section 

12 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 

13 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331(2)(C)), 18 

14 months; or 

15 (B) with respect to a project that requires 

16 an environmental impact statement under such 

17 section, 24 months. 

18 (c) DETERMINATION UNDER NATIONAL ENVIRON19 MENTAL POLICY ACT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that the Na21 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

22 4321 et seq.) applies to the issuance of any mineral 

23 exploration or mine permit relating to a critical min24 eral project, the lead agency may deem the require25 ments of such Act satisfied if the lead agency deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2604.IH H2604

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1 mines that a State or Federal agency acting under 

2 State or Federal law has addressed the following 

3 factors: 

4 (A) The environmental impact of the ac5 tion to be conducted under the permit. 

6 (B) Possible alternatives to issuance of the 

7 permit. 

8 (C) The relationship between long- and 

9 short-term uses of the local environment and 

10 the maintenance and enhancement of long-term 

11 productivity. 

12 (D) Any irreversible and irretrievable com13 mitment of resources that would be involved in 

14 the proposed action. 

15 (2) PUBLICATION.—The lead agency shall pub16 lish a determination under paragraph (1) not later 

17 than 90 days after receipt of an application for the 

18 permit. 

19 (3) VERIFICATION.—The lead agency shall pub20 lish a determination that the factors under para21 graph (1) have been sufficiently addressed and pub22 lic participation has occurred with regard to any au23 thorizing actions before issuing any mineral explo24 ration or mine permit for a critical mineral project. 


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1 (d) SCHEDULE FOR PERMITTING PROCESS.—For 

2 any critical mineral project for which the lead agency can3 not make the determination described in subsection (c), 

4 at the request of a project sponsor, the lead agency, co5 operating agencies, and any other agencies involved with 

6 the mineral exploration or mine permitting process shall 

7 enter into an agreement with the project sponsor that sets 

8 time limits for each part of the permitting process, includ9 ing— 

10 (1) the decision on whether to prepare an envi11 ronmental impact statement or similar analysis re12 quired under the National Environmental Policy Act 

13 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

14 (2) a determination of the scope of any environ15 mental impact statement or similar analysis required 

16 under such Act; 

17 (3) the scope of, and schedule for, the baseline 

18 studies required to prepare an environmental impact 

19 statement or similar analysis required under such 

20 Act; 

21 (4) preparation of any draft environmental im22 pact statement or similar analysis required under 

23 such Act; 


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1 (5) preparation of a final environmental impact 

2 statement or similar analysis required under such 

3 Act; 

4 (6) any consultations required under applicable 

5 law; 

6 (7) submission and review of any comments re7 quired under applicable law; 

8 (8) publication of any public notices required 

9 under applicable law; and 

10 (9) any final or interim decisions. 

11 (e) ADDRESSING PUBLIC COMMENTS.—As part of 

12 the review process of a critical mineral project under the 

13 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

14 4321 et seq.), the lead agency may not address any agency 

15 or public comments that were not submitted— 

16 (1) during a public comment period or consulta17 tion period provided during the permitting process; 

18 or 

19 (2) as otherwise required by law. 

20 (f) REVIEW AND REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and 

22 the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a 

23 report that— 

24 (1) identifies additional measures (including 

25 regulatory and legislative proposals, as appropriate) 


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1 that would increase the timeliness of permitting ac2 tivities for the exploration and development of do3 mestic critical minerals; 

4 (2) identifies options (including cost recovery 

5 paid by permit applicants, as appropriate) for ensur6 ing adequate staffing and training of Federal enti7 ties and personnel responsible for the consideration 

8 of applications, operating plans, leases, licenses, per9 mits, and other use authorizations for critical min10 eral projects on Federal land; 

11 (3) quantifies the amount of time typically re12 quired (including a range derived from minimum 

13 and maximum durations, mean, median, variance, 

14 and any other statistical measure or representation 

15 the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture de16 termine appropriate) to complete each step (includ17 ing those aspects outside the control of the executive 

18 branch, such as judicial review, applicant decisions, 

19 or State and local government involvement) associ20 ated with the development and processing of applica21 tions, operating plans, leases, licenses, permits, and 

22 other use authorizations for a mineral exploration or 

23 mine permit for a critical mineral project; and 

24 (4) describes actions carried out pursuant to 

25 subsection (b). 


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1 (g) PERFORMANCE METRIC.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after the date of submission of the report under subsection 

3 (e), the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture, after 

4 providing public notice and an opportunity to comment, 

5 shall develop and publish a performance metric for evalu6 ating the progress made by the executive branch to expe7 dite the permitting of critical mineral projects. 

8 (h) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Beginning with the first 

9 budget submission by the President under section 1105 

10 of title 31, United States Code, after publication of the 

11 performance metric required under subsection (f), and an12 nually thereafter, the Secretary and the Secretary of Agri13 culture shall jointly submit to Congress a report that— 

14 (1) summarizes the implementation of rec15 ommendations, measures, and options identified in 

16 paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (f); 

17 (2) using the performance metric under sub18 section (d), describes progress made by the executive 

19 branch, as compared to the baseline established pur20 suant to subsection (c)(3), on expediting the permit21 ting of activities that will increase exploration for, 

22 and development of, domestic critical minerals; and 

23 (3) compares the United States to other coun24 tries in terms of permitting efficiency and any other 


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1 criteria relevant to the globally competitive critical 

2 minerals industry. 

3 (i) INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS.—Using data from the 

4 Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary generated 

5 under subsection (g), the Director of the Office of Man6 agement and Budget shall prioritize inclusion of individual 

7 critical mineral projects on the website operated by the 

8 Office of Management and Budget in accordance with sec9 tion 1122 of title 31, United States Code. 

10 (j) REPORT OF SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRA11 TION.—Not later than 1 year and 300 days after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small 

13 Business Administration shall submit to the Committees 

14 on Small Business and Natural Resources of the House 

15 of Representatives and Small Business and Entrepreneur16 ship and Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a 

17 report that assesses the performance of Federal agencies 

18 with respect to— 

19 (1) complying with chapter 6 of title 5, United 

20 States Code, in promulgating regulations applicable 

21 to the critical minerals industry; and 

22 (2) performing an analysis of regulations appli23 cable to the critical minerals industry that may be 

24 outmoded, inefficient, duplicative, or excessively bur25 densome. 


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1 (k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) BYPRODUCT.—The term ‘‘byproduct’’ has 

3 the meaning given such term in section 7002 of the 

4 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 

5 116–260). 

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

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

8 7002 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

9 (Public Law 116–260) except that such term shall 

10 not exclude materials described in subsection 

11 (a)(3)(B)(iii) of such section. 

12 (3) CRITICAL MINERAL PROJECT.—The term 

13 ‘‘critical mineral project’’ means a project— 

14 (A) located on— 

15 (i) a mining claim, millsite claim, or 

16 tunnel site claim for any locatable mineral; 

17 (ii) lands open to mineral entry; or 

18 (iii) a Federal mineral lease; and 

19 (B) for the purpose of producing a critical 

20 mineral, including— 

21 (i) as a byproduct, or a product of a 

22 host mineral, or from tailings; or 

23 (ii) through an exploration project 

24 with respect to which the presence of a by25 product is a reasonable expectation, based 


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1 on known mineral companionality, geologic 

2 formation, mineralogy, or other factors. 

3 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

4 has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 

5 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

6 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

7 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

10 (A) a State; 

11 (B) the District of Columbia; 

12 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

13 (D) Guam; 

14 (E) American Samoa; 

15 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

16 Mariana Islands; and 

17 (G) the United States Virgin Islands. 

18 (7) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 

19 means the agency with primary responsibility for 

20 issuing a mineral exploration or mine permit for a 

21 project. 

22 (8) MINERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER23 MIT.—The term ‘‘mineral exploration or mine per24 mit’’ means— 


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1 (A) an authorization of the Bureau of 

2 Land Management or the Forest Service, as ap3 plicable, for a premining activity that requires 

4 analysis under the National Environmental Pol5 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

6 (B) a plan of operations issued by the Bu7 reau of Land Management or the Forest Serv8 ice; and 

9 (C) a permit for a project located in an 

10 area for which a hardrock mineral permit or 

11 lease is available. 

Æ 


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