H.R. 4090 — Critical Mineral Dominance Act

This section declares it to be the policy of the United States to become the leading producer of hardrock minerals, including rare earth minerals, in order to create jobs and prosperity at home, strengthen supply chains for the United States and its allies, safeguard national security, and reduce the global influence of malign and adversarial states.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to submit to the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, within 90 days of enactment, (1) the dollar value of U.S. net import reliance for each mineral commodity listed in the U.S. Geological Survey's *Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025* (Version 1.2; March 2025) where the United States relies on imports, and (2) the overall economic impact of imports and exports of such minerals. (As background, *Mineral Commodity Summaries* is the USGS's annual report on global production, consumption, recycling, and trade of approximately 90 nonfuel mineral commodities.) Beginning in 2026, the Secretary, acting through the USGS Director, must include this information in each subsequent *Mineral Commodity Summaries*.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, to submit to the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, within 10 days of enactment and annually thereafter, a list of each mining project on federal land for which a plan of operations, permit application, or other approval has been submitted to the Department of the Interior; and, within 10 days after each such list, to identify priority projects eligible for immediate approval and to take all necessary actions to expedite and approve them. The section further directs the Secretary to submit to the committees, within 10 days of enactment, a list of each mining project on federal land—whether active, inactive, or proposed—that has potential to (1) increase production of hardrock minerals or their byproducts, (2) expand operations to include such byproducts, (3) produce hardrock minerals from mine tailings, or (4) produce hardrock minerals from coal ash or other coal byproducts. Additionally, the section requires the Secretary to submit to the committees, not later than one year after enactment, a report on barriers to byproduct production from mining projects on federal land, including recommendations to Congress for reducing those barriers.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to identify all federal lands managed by the Departments of the Interior or Agriculture that may be leased for hardrock mineral exploration, development, or production or are open to location under the Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.)—including lands where such exploration is occurring, minerals may be present per U.S. Geological Survey consultation but lack thorough exploration, or known economically recoverable deposits exist. In doing so, the Secretary must prioritize lands where a mining project can most quickly be fully permitted and operational and would most bolster the domestic mineral supply chain; the Secretary must submit an annual list of identified lands to the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, within 90 days of enactment to (1) review all existing agency actions (i.e., regulations, orders, guidance, policies, settlements, consent orders, public land withdrawals, and similar actions) to identify those imposing undue burdens on domestic mining projects; (2) solicit industry feedback on regulatory bottlenecks and strategies to expedite mining approvals on federal land; and (3) begin implementing an action plan to address such feedback and suspend, revise, or rescind identified burdensome actions expeditiously. Within 180 days of enactment, the Secretaries must submit to Congress a report with (1) recommendations for legislative changes to further the Act's policy objectives and (2) a nationwide review of state and local laws impeding domestic mining and mineral exploration.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to prioritize accelerating ongoing detailed geologic mapping of the United States, focusing on previously unknown deposits of hardrock minerals. It further requires the Secretary to submit to the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, not later than one year after enactment, a report on the progress and estimated completion date of the comprehensive national modern surface and subsurface mapping and data integration effort (i.e., Earth Mapping Resources Initiative) established by sec. 40201 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act. Those terms include (1) Federal land, meaning National Forest System land, public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C. 1702), and land leasable for hardrock mineral exploration, development, or production; (2) hardrock mineral, meaning deposits of minerals in sedimentary or other rocks, base metals, precious metals, industrial minerals, and precious and semiprecious gemstones, but excluding coal, oil, oil shale, gas, sodium, potassium, sulfur, and mineral materials under the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); (3) mining project, meaning a project involving exploration for or development, extraction, or processing of a hardrock mineral; (4) public lands, having the meaning given in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702); and (5) Secretary, meaning the Secretary of the Interior.