This just in from Jamie Caswell of the National Mining Association.
I hope you are doing well. I wanted to follow up on H.R. 4402, the “National Strategic and Critical Mineral Production Act,” which would help create a more efficient permitting process for our domestic minerals resources.
Yesterday, H.R. 4402 was voted on in the House and passed by 256-160. The bill will help reduce our reliance on foreign sources of minerals by reducing waiting periods for mining permits, capping the permit review period for mining projects at 30 months and by making any domestic mine containing “strategic and critical minerals” an infrastructure project. However, despite the administration’s recent request for a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organization (WTO) after failing to resolve a battle over China’s export restrictions on rare earth minerals, the White House has come out against the bill, citing the removal of environmental safeguards. At a time when China has started strategic stockpiling of rare-earth minerals, which are crucial to the manufacturing of many high-tech products, it is even more critical to support domestic minerals mining.
We need your help spreading the word about the importance of common sense legislation to help keep the U.S. competitive in the global marketplace and ensure economic and national security. We would appreciate it if you would encourage your readers to share information about domestic minerals mining.
National Mining Association