Critical Mineral Dominance Act

The bill would require the Secretary of the Interior, working with the Secretary of Agriculture, to compile lists of mining projects on federal land awaiting permits, identify which can be approved immediately, and take all necessary steps to expedite them. It would also require Interior to identify projects with potential to expand hardrock mineral or byproduct production, including from mine tailings or coal byproducts, and to identify federal lands with the greatest untapped mining potential, prioritizing those that could be permitted fastest and would most strengthen the domestic mineral supply chain. Separately, the bill would require Interior to review existing regulations for undue burdens on mining, suspend or rescind those found burdensome, recommend legislative changes, and review state and local laws that impede mining. It would also require an annual accounting of the cost of U.S. mineral import reliance and a push to accelerate geologic mapping nationwide. The bill directs studies, reports, and internal agency action rather than authorizing new spending or granting new permitting authority beyond existing law.

Mining companies with pending or potential hardrock mineral projects on federal land, the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture (which manage that land), the U.S. Geological Survey, and communities and industries reliant on domestic supplies of critical minerals such as rare earths used in defense and manufacturing.

If enacted, mining companies could see faster federal permitting decisions and fewer regulatory obstacles, potentially accelerating new mines and expanded operations. Policymakers and the public would gain clearer data on the economic cost of mineral import dependence, informing future decisions on trade, national security, and industrial policy tied to critical minerals.

Interior would work on a series of statutory deadlines: submitting project lists within 10 days of enactment and annually thereafter, approving or expediting priority projects within 10 days after that, reporting on import-reliance costs within 90 days, completing a regulatory burden review within 90 days and a related report within 180 days, and reporting on byproduct-production barriers and geologic mapping progress within one year. Interior must also begin implementing an action plan to suspend or rescind burdensome agency actions and would add import-reliance cost data to the U.S. Geological Survey's annual Mineral Commodity Summaries starting in 2026.