Sec. 104. Permitting
1,523 words·~7 min read·
/bill/116/hr/7061/ih/section-104·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the sense of Congress that— critical minerals are fundamental to the economy, competitiveness, and security of the United States; to the maximum extent practicable, the critical mineral needs of the United States should be satisfied by minerals, elements, substances, and materials responsibly produced and recycled in the United States; and the Federal permitting process has been identified as an impediment to mineral production and the mineral security of the United States.
To improve the quality and timeliness of decisions, the lead agency shall, to the maximum extent practicable, with respect to a project on Federal land described in paragraph (2), complete Federal permitting and review processes with maximum efficiency and effectiveness, while supporting vital economic growth, by— establishing and adhering to timelines and schedules for the consideration of, and final decisions regarding, applications, operating plans, leases, licenses, permits, and other use authorizations for mineral-related activities on Federal land; establishing clear, quantifiable, and temporal permitting performance goals and tracking progress against those goals; engaging in early collaboration among agencies, project sponsors, and affected stakeholders— to incorporate and address the interests of those parties; and to minimize delays; ensuring transparency and accountability by using cost-effective information technology to collect and disseminate information regarding individual projects and agency performance; engaging in early and active consultation with State, local, and Indian Tribal governments to avoid conflicts or duplication of effort, resolve concerns, and allow for concurrent, rather than sequential, State, local, Tribal, and Federal environmental and regulatory reviews; providing demonstrable improvements in the performance of Federal permitting and review processes, including lower costs and more timely decisions; expanding and institutionalizing permitting and review process improvements that have proven effective; developing mechanisms to better communicate priorities and resolve disputes among agencies at the national, regional, State, and local levels; and developing other practices to improve regulatory processes, such as preapplication procedures.
A project is described by this paragraph if such project is— a project to produce a critical mineral, including as a byproduct or from tailing; an exploration project with respect to which the presence of a byproduct is a reasonable expectation, based on known mineral companionality, geologic formation, mineralogy, or other factors; or a project that demonstrates that the byproduct is of sufficient grade that, if combined with the production of a host mineral, is economical to recover, as determined by the applicable Secretary.
In carrying out paragraph (1), the lead agency shall consider deferring to, and relying on, baseline data, analyses, and reviews performed by State agencies with jurisdiction over the proposed project. The lead agency with respect to a critical mineral project, in consultation with any other Federal agency with jurisdiction over such project, may establish a memorandum of agreement with the project sponsor, State and local governments, and other entities such lead agency determines appropriate to carry out the activities described in this subsection.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and except with agreement of the project sponsor, the total period for all necessary Federal reviews and permit consideration for a project reasonably expected to produce critical minerals may not exceed 30 months. To the extent that the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) applies to the issuance of any mineral exploration or mine permit, the lead agency may deem the requirements of such Act satisfied if the lead agency determines that a State or Federal agency acting under State or Federal law has addressed the following factors:
The environmental impact of the action to be conducted under the permit. Possible adverse environmental effects of actions under the permit. Possible alternatives to issuance of the permit. The relationship between long- and short-term uses of the local environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity. Any irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources that would be involved in the proposed action. The lead agency shall publish a determination under paragraph
(1)not later than 90 days after receipt of an application for the permit. The lead agency shall publish a determination that the factors under paragraph
(1)have been sufficiently addressed and public participation has occurred with regard to any authorizing actions before issuing any mineral exploration or mine permit. For any project for which the lead agency cannot make the determination described in (c), at the request of a project sponsor, the lead agency, cooperating agencies, and any other agencies involved with the mineral exploration or mine permitting process shall enter into an agreement with the project sponsor that sets time limits for each part of the permitting process, including— the decision on whether to prepare an environmental impact statement or similar analysis required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); a determination of the scope of any environmental impact statement or similar analysis required under such Act; the scope of, and schedule for, the baseline studies required to prepare an environmental impact statement or similar analysis required under such Act; preparation of any draft environmental impact statement or similar analysis required under such Act; preparation of a final environmental impact statement or similar analysis required under such Act; any consultations required under applicable law; submission and review of any comments required under applicable law; publication of any public notices required under applicable law; and any final or interim decisions. As part of the review process under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the lead agency may not address any agency or public comments that were not submitted— during a public comment period or consultation period provided during the permitting process; or as otherwise required by law. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a report that— identifies additional measures (including regulatory and legislative proposals, as appropriate) that would increase the timeliness of permitting activities for the exploration and development of domestic critical minerals; identifies options (including cost recovery paid by permit applicants, as appropriate) for ensuring adequate staffing and training of Federal entities and personnel responsible for the consideration of applications, operating plans, leases, licenses, permits, and other use authorizations for critical mineral-related activities on Federal land; quantifies the amount of time typically required (including range derived from minimum and maximum durations, mean, median, variance, and any other statistical measure or representation the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture determine appropriate) to complete each step (including those aspects outside the control of the executive branch, such as judicial review, applicant decisions, or State and local government involvement) associated with the development and processing of applications, operating plans, leases, licenses, permits, and other use authorizations for critical mineral-related activities on Federal land; and describes actions carried out pursuant to subsection (b). Not later than 90 days after the date of submission of the report under subsection (e), the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture, after providing public notice and an opportunity to comment, shall develop and publish a performance metric for evaluating the progress made by the executive branch to expedite the permitting of activities that will increase exploration for, and development of, domestic critical minerals, while maintaining environmental standards. Beginning with the first budget submission by the President under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, after publication of the performance metric required under subsection (f), and annually thereafter, the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior shall jointly submit to Congress a report that— summarizes the implementation of recommendations, measures, and options identified in paragraphs
(1)and
(2)of subsection (f); using the performance metric under subsection (d), describes progress made by the executive branch, as compared to the baseline established pursuant to subsection (c)(3), on expediting the permitting of activities that will increase exploration for, and development of, domestic critical minerals; and compares the United States to other countries in terms of permitting efficiency and any other criteria relevant to the globally competitive critical minerals industry. Using data from the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior generated under subsection (g), the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall prioritize inclusion of individual critical mineral projects on the website operated by the Office of Management and Budget in accordance with section 1122 of title 31, United States Code. Not later than 1 year and 300 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall submit to the Committees on Small Business and Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and Small Business and Entrepreneurship and Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that assesses the performance of Federal agencies with respect to— complying with chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code, in promulgating regulations applicable to the critical minerals industry; and performing an analysis of regulations applicable to the critical minerals industry that may be outmoded, inefficient, duplicative, or excessively burdensome. Section 41001(6)(A) of the FAST Act ( 42 U.S.C. 4370m(6)(A) ) is amended by inserting (including critical mineral manufacturing (as defined in section 2 of the after American Critical Mineral Exploration and Innovation Act )) manufacturing .
Connectionstraces to 2
Traces to 2 documents
Citation graph
cites case law
Cites 2Cited by 0 across 0 sources