H.R. 7126 — SECURE Minerals Act of 2026

This section establishes the Strategic Resilience Reserve Corporation of the United States as a wholly owned government corporation. The corporation's purposes include (1) supporting free markets, domestic and partner country production, processing, recycling, stable prices, responsible standards, and adequate supplies of critical minerals and materials; (2) requiring, to the maximum extent practicable, production rates of at least 25% from domestic/partner sources and dependence rates of no more than 75%; and (3) prioritizing domestic projects, recycling/reuse from waste, and minerals with 100% dependence. This section authorizes $2,500,000,000 for the corporation, to remain available until expended.

This section establishes a seven-member Board of Governors for the Reserve, with members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, within 180 days of enactment, including designations of one Chairperson and one Vice Chairperson each for four-year terms. It specifies member qualifications (expertise in critical minerals or materials production, trade, financing, usage, recycling, or related fields, without direct financial interests therein), 14-year terms (initial terms staggered to expire January 31 of 2028 through 2040), compensation at level III of the Executive Schedule under 5 U.S.C. 5314, and requirements for filling vacancies within 180 days. It further prohibits Board members from holding financial interests in or employment with entities receiving or pursuing Reserve financial support during their term and for two years thereafter (with a 30-day cure period extendable by the Board to 120 days, Comptroller General enforcement, removal for noncompliance, and potential criminal referral under 18 U.S.C. 207(a)(2)).

This section authorizes the Reserve, to the extent necessary to develop, operate, or maintain it, to—(1) issue rules, regulations, or orders; (2) acquire by purchase land or interests in land for storage and related facilities; (3) construct, purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire such facilities; (4) use, lease, maintain, sell, or otherwise dispose of such land, interests, or facilities; (5) acquire critical minerals or materials for storage; (6) store them in U.S.-owned and -controlled facilities or in facilities owned by authorized intermediaries (subject to U.S. audit and contractual access certainty); (7) execute contracts with private entities for storage in privately owned facilities (subject to the same conditions); (8) partner with the private sector, academia, and federal agencies to advance responsible reuse and recycling of critical minerals and materials; and (9) execute any necessary contracts.

This section directs the Reserve, in consultation with specified federal agency heads, to establish and maintain a list of critical minerals and materials eligible for financing or acquisition support, with annual publication and updates. The list may include only non-fuel minerals or materials that (1) appear on the U.S. Geological Survey's critical minerals list (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)), the Department of Energy's critical materials list (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)), or as a material of interest designated by the Defense Logistics Agency and (2) are determined by the Reserve to have a vulnerable or highly concentrated supply chain and to be necessary for national defense, energy infrastructure (i.e., pipelines, refining, power generation/storage/transmission/distribution, renewables, energy storage), domestic manufacturing/agriculture/housing/telecom/health care/transportation, or economic security. The Reserve may add minerals or materials meeting updated lists and requirements; must remove those off relevant lists for at least three years or no longer meeting requirements; must exclude oil, oil shale, natural gas, coal, uranium, water/ice/snow, or common varieties of sand/gravel/stone/pumice/cinders/clay; and must consider supply assessments, market infrastructure/substitutability/demand, and other relevant factors. Annual publications must separately list (1) items removed within the prior three years and (2) items with active Reserve positions/contracts/transactions but not on the main list.

This section establishes within the Reserve the Division of Data Collection, led by a Director selected by the Board, which, to the extent practicable, shall (1) develop and maintain a proprietary dataset for thorough analysis of global critical minerals and materials markets; (2) collect and maintain datasets on global, domestic, and partner country markets—including from individual projects—to inform and estimate production, extraction, infrastructure, repurposing, and recycling costs; collection and recycling rates; and supply and demand forecasts; (3) collect actual transaction price data (including geographic data) and other necessary datasets, such as modeled data and those derived from the People's Republic of China; (4) use current data to support activities described in §§204 and 206; (5) consult with specified federal agency heads (i.e., Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, State, and Treasury; CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation; Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Geological Survey; President of the Export-Import Bank; and others as determined necessary); (6) establish data collection mechanisms in loan terms, contracts, and agreements under the Act; and (7) use existing government data and information.

This section establishes within the Reserve the Division of Risk and Vulnerability Evaluation, led by a Director selected by the Board, to (1) develop or use existing models to evaluate threats and risks in critical mineral and material markets across U.S. industrial sectors (e.g., defense, energy, agriculture); (2) maintain a database of price movements, supply chain vulnerabilities, production capacities, and consumption patterns; (3) identify dependencies threatening national security or economic stability; (4) assess potential impacts from geopolitical events, disasters, or market failures; (5) model economic effects of shocks; (6) evaluate vulnerabilities such as price spikes and supply disruptions; (7) analyze cross-sectoral impacts on inflation, employment, and consumer welfare; (8) assess effects on infrastructure and national security assets; and (9) use existing government data where practicable. The section further requires the Reserve to submit biennially to the appropriate congressional committees, the President, and specified agency heads a comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessment for critical minerals and materials—including threats to supply and prices, market conditions, substitution options, and mitigation recommendations—in unclassified form, with a possible classified annex and required unclassified summary.

This section establishes within the Reserve the Division of Production Standards, led by a Director selected by the Board. The division must (1) develop methodologies for evaluating relative risk in global environmental and labor standards and practices for the production, extraction, processing, reuse, repurposing, and recycling of critical minerals and materials—including transparency, traceability, and forced labor risk, incorporating existing research as appropriate; (2) conduct periodic risk-based assessments of such standards and practices in foreign countries producing critical minerals and materials, and to the extent practicable, significant production projects; and (3) publish an annual report summarizing the methodologies used, results of the most recent assessments for each foreign country and significant production project, and mitigation measures used in Reserve transactions and loans (without identifying proprietary or sensitive commercial information).

This section authorizes the Reserve to deploy financing and acquisition tools to support producers and processors of critical minerals and materials, subject to prohibitions on benefiting foreign entities of concern and requirements to consider specified factors (e.g., supply assessments under §205, resource efficiency, diversification, market developments, and producer financial condition). It directs the Reserve, to the maximum extent practicable, to consult and leverage existing federal investments, including those of the Export-Import Bank, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Department of Energy loan programs, and Department of Defense offices. The tools include (1) loans to authorized intermediaries for financing and purchasing agreements with producers and processors, with adjustable terms, possible preferential rates (e.g., Federal funds rate), U.S. supply chain priorities, application requirements, and default remedies such as inventory recoupment, conservatorship or receivership with FDIC-like powers, liens, and bankruptcy preclusion; (2) acquisitions through direct contracting, physically cleared financial instruments (e.g., futures contracts), or options contracts; and (3) non-recourse lending to projects secured by expected production.

This section authorizes the Reserve to sell critical minerals or materials stored in the Reserve if the Board determines that a supply shortage or potential shortage threatens U.S. national or economic security or price stability in the mineral's value chain, or if the sale otherwise supports the purposes of the Reserve. It further authorizes sales of non-critical minerals if the Board determines they are unlikely to be re-added to the critical minerals list, are in sufficient supply or no longer needed in large quantities for economic or national security purposes, face a supply shortage threatening security or price stability, or if the sale otherwise supports the Reserve's purposes; for non-critical minerals lacking substantial market value, it allows transfers for research purposes to federal departments and agencies, state governments, National Laboratories, and institutions of higher education (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1001(a), i.e., public or nonprofit institutions providing bachelor's degrees, two-year programs acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor's, or graduate-admissible degrees). Sales may occur via direct contracting, financial instruments such as futures or options contracts, public auctions, or other Board-determined transactions but are prohibited to foreign entities of concern.

This section authorizes the Reserve to exercise specified corporate powers, including (1) adopting, altering, and using a seal; (2) entering contracts, grants, and agreements—including no-cost contracts—notwithstanding certain procurement laws; (3) acquiring, improving, and using real property; (4) using U.S. mails like executive departments; (5) contracting for personal services without treating contractors as federal employees; (6) hiring passenger motor vehicles; (7) acquiring, holding, or disposing of any property or interests therein; (8) leasing office space; (9) indemnifying directors, officers, employees, and agents; (10) representing itself in legal or arbitral proceedings notwithstanding other laws; (11) exercising federal priority in collecting debts; (12) collecting or compromising obligations notwithstanding specified debt-collection laws; (13) selling direct investments to private investors; and (14) exercising other necessary powers. The section further authorizes the Reserve to manage property acquired under the Act—including completing, reconditioning, operating, or selling it—notwithstanding other federal property laws.

This section authorizes the Board to (1) require any person to prepare and maintain records or accounts, as determined by Board rule, necessary to carry out the Act; (2) audit operations of storage facilities holding critical minerals or materials acquired or required to be stored under the Act; and (3) access and inspect, at reasonable times, such records or accounts and storage facilities.

This section directs the Reserve to establish, not later than one year after the date of enactment, (1) a risk committee responsible for formulating risk management policies, reviewing the global risk management framework, developing policies and a risk profile for enterprise-wide risks (including strategic, reputational, regulatory, operational, developmental, responsible production, and financial risks), monitoring participants to prevent designation as foreign entities of concern, and creating a mechanism to remove participants owned, controlled, directed, financed, or influenced by more than 25% by the government of a foreign entity of concern; and (2) an audit committee responsible for the integrity of financial reporting, internal controls, and financial statements; the performance of the internal audit function; and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements relating to the Reserve's finances.

This section requires (1) an annual independent audit of the Reserve's financial statements by a qualified public accountant selected by the Board—not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter—with results publicly available; and (2) a biennial review by the Comptroller General of the United States that examines the Reserve's most recent annual report under §403(a), its operations and functions as managed by the Board, and the Board's performance in fulfilling the Reserve's purposes. The auditing accountant must be state-licensed, independent per 17 C.F.R. §210.2–01, and registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

This section establishes reporting and transparency requirements for the Board and Reserve. Specifically, it (1) requires the Board to submit an annual report to the President, Comptroller General, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and appropriate congressional committees describing the Reserve's prior-year operations, including Board administration and recommendations, compliance assessments, transaction and loan summaries, and vulnerabilities, risks, and audits; (2) requires the Chairperson to testify before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and House Committee on Natural Resources within 30 calendar days after each report's submission; and (3) requires the Reserve to maintain a user-friendly, publicly available database of all section 206 transactions with project support descriptions, except for any national security-sensitive subset (which must be accessible to appropriate congressional committees and publicly released no later than three years after the transaction).