the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 
et seq.) and other relevant Federal laws; 
(8) the cost-effectiveness, growth potential, and 
viability of secondary or alternative critical materials 
processing to help meet expected domestic demand 
for processed critical materials, including reprocess-
ing or recycling of— 
(A) coal or coal waste; 
(B) mine tailings; 
(C) post-consumer electronic waste devices; 
(D) smelter and refinery slags and residu-
als; and 
(E) materials or waste recovered from sites 
designated as Superfunds pursuant to the Com-
prehensive Environmental Response, Compensa-
tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 
et seq.); 
(9) a review of the existing efforts by the De-
partment of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and 
Energy, or other efforts within the membership of 
the interagency task force convened under sub-
section (b), to advancing secondary or alternative 
critical materials processing; 
(10) how the expected trend in the demand for 
processed critical materials is affected by the role 
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that midstream critical material processing in the 
United States plays in aiding domestic manufac-
turing; 
(11) barriers to foreign direct investment from 
allied nations and Free Trade Agreement countries 
into the United States for critical material proc-
essing, including workforce challenges, infrastructure 
needs, permitting timeframes, and pricing trans-
parency risks; 
(12) an identification and measure of the con-
trol the Peoples’ Republic of China and the Russian 
Federation have of processed critical materials for 
countries that are parties with the United States in 
a free trade agreement; 
(13) the national security implications posed to 
the United States by continued control of midstream 
critical material processing industry by the Peoples’ 
Republic of China or other geopolitical adversaries; 
and 
(14) any anti-competitive practices by the Peo-
ples’ Republic of China and any other geopolitical 
adversaries of the United States, and other non-mar-
ket state owned enterprises to control the midstream 
critical materials processing industry by— 
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(A) depressing domestic prices through 
dumping refined critical materials onto United 
States markets; 
(B) manipulating critical material prices to 
discourage United States investment and under-
mine long-term stability for United States mar-
kets; 
(C) purposefully disrupting supply chains 
for United States industries; 
(D) manipulation of greenfield investment 
into Free Trade Agreement countries; and 
(E) establishment of commodity-specific 
trading platforms to further entrench the Peo-
ples’ Republic of China’s market dominance. 
(e) ADVISORY PANEL.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy 
shall establish an advisory panel to provide input, 
technical analysis, and feedback for and on the re-
port required under subsection (a). 
(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The advisory panel shall in-
clude— 
(A) 5 representatives from the domestic 
critical materials processing industry, includ-
ing— 
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(i) a diversity of processed critical ma-
terials; and 
(ii) participants in critical material re- 
processing or recycling; and 
(B) 5 individuals from academia that have 
a diversity of perspectives and relevant exper-
tise in— 
(i) in domestic critical materials proc-
essing industries; and 
(ii) research into national security im-
plications of the impact of the Peoples’ Re-
public of China and other foreign adver-
saries’ engaging in anti-competitive behav-
iors in the critical materials processing in-
dustry. 
(3) MEETINGS.—The advisory panel shall meet 
not less than 2 times before the task force issues the 
report required under subsection (a). 
SEC. 4. GAO REPORT. 
The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit to Congress a report regarding how current Fed-
eral policies and permitting processes inhibit investment 
in midstream critical materials processing, including— 
(1) how Public Law 117–169 (commonly known 
as the ‘‘Inflation Reduction Act’’) may have affected 
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greenfield foreign-directed investments in free trade 
agreement countries from the Peoples’ Republic of 
China; 
(2) how regulations issued pursuant to the 
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) and the 
Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) 
or other relevant laws inhibit new investments into 
midstream critical materials processing; 
(3) the role of regulation and permitting, in-
cluding that of litigation, in inhibiting and discour-
aging investment; 
(4) a review of— 
(A) the effectiveness of Federal policies in 
encouraging the utilization of secondary or al-
ternative critical materials sources, including 
material re-use, recycling, and materials or 
waste recovered from sites identified on the Na-
tional Priorities List as subject to the Com-
prehensive Environmental Response, Compensa-
tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 
et seq.); and 
(B) whether Federal investments allow for 
commercialization by private industry; 
(5) a review of the policies of comparable allied 
nations that have midstream critical materials proc-
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essing industries to site, permit, and regulate facili-
ties; 
(6) a review of the benefits to producers and 
consumers of materials used in United States manu-
facturing and finished goods, including— 
(A) minerals included on the list published 
by the United States Geological Survey pursu-
ant to section 7002(c) of the Energy Act of 
2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)); 
(B) materials included on the list of crit-
ical materials published by the Department of 
Energy pursuant to section 7002(a) of the En-
ergy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)); and 
(C) materials of interest designated as 
such by the Defense Logistics Agency; and 
(7) a review of the role of all Federal agencies 
engaged in midstream critical materials processing 
and opportunities to improve interagency collabora-
tion and create synergies to leverage individual ex-
pertise. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) ADVISORY
PANEL.—The term ‘‘advisory 
panel’’ means the advisory panel established under 
section 3(e). 
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(2) CRITICAL
MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘critical 
material’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
7002(a)(2) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 
1606(a)(2)). 
(3) CRITICAL
MATERIAL
PROCESSING.—The 
term ‘‘critical material processing’’ means any proc-
ess that transforms, refines, separates, alloys, con-
centrates, smelts, or beneficiates raw extracted crit-
ical materials into value added inputs. 
(4) TASK
FORCE.—The term ‘‘task force’’ 
means the interagency task force convened under 
section 3(b). 
Æ 
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