The House of Representatives passed the Protecting Domestic Mining Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Blake Moore of Utah and U.S. Representative Jefferson Shreve of Indiana. The bill seeks to boost domestic mining and mineral processing capacity by expediting environmental reviews for mining infrastructure projects under the FAST-41 process.
According to a press release from Congressman Moore's office, the legislation aims to create a more streamlined and coordinated approval process for new mines. Moore noted that mining contributes over $5 billion to Utah's annual GDP and stated that increasing domestic production helps reduce reliance on foreign adversaries.
Representative Shreve stated that the bill aims to bring critical mineral production back to the United States and strengthen American manufacturing by reducing government red tape. The legislation codifies mining and mineral processing as covered projects under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.
Additionally, the bill prohibits the implementation of a proposed rule from the Biden administration that would have limited FAST-41 coverage for mining projects strictly to critical-mineral mining projects.
The Protecting Domestic Mining Act of 2025 now heads to the Senate for consideration. The bill has received support from several organizations, including the National Mining Association and the Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions.
