October 22, 2015

The House passed the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2015 (H.R. 1937) on October 22. The bill calls for faster permitting timelines for mines located on federal lands and for the development of domestic sources of strategic and critical minerals. 

The bill endorses judicial review of mining permits, but would bar civil action against mineral exploration or mining permits filed more than 60 days after the federal agency request. It also requires courts to hear civil actions as promptly as possible.

H.R. 1937 will now be referred to the Senate so that the two chambers can agree a final version of the legislation. S. 883, The American Mineral Security Act of 2015, was introduced by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) on May 12, 2015. Sen. Murkowski’s bill also calls for the acquisition of faster permitting with respect to the mining of critical minerals, but has a much narrower definition of which minerals qualify as critical.

Sources: congress.gov, eenews

Updated 11/11/2015