HR5929-119

What This Bill Does

This bill gives specified Defense Production Act critical-minerals actions access to the federal FAST-41 permitting coordination process. It says actions taken by the Secretary of Defense under Presidential Determination 2022-11 to create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore domestic production capabilities for strategic and critical materials must be treated as covered projects under the FAST Act, without having to satisfy the usual covered-project definition. Those actions must also be placed on the federal Permitting Dashboard.

Covered actions include feasibility studies for mature mining, beneficiation, and value-added processing projects; by-product and co-product production at existing mining, mine-waste reclamation, and other industrial facilities; modernization of mining, beneficiation, and value-added processing to improve productivity, environmental sustainability, and workforce safety; and other Defense Production Act section 303(a)(1) activities. A project sponsor can opt out by asking not to be treated as a FAST-41 covered project or listed on the dashboard.

Who Benefits and How

Defense Production Act critical minerals project sponsors benefit because FAST-41 treatment gives their projects a coordinated federal permitting timetable and public dashboard visibility. Domestic mining companies benefit when mature mining or mine-waste reclamation projects receive clearer federal review coordination. Critical materials processors benefit when beneficiation and value-added processing projects are included. The Department of Defense industrial-base office benefits because projects tied to Presidential Determination 2022-11 can move through a more structured permitting process. Federal supply-chain planners benefit from faster visibility into projects meant to strengthen domestic strategic-materials capacity.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Federal permitting agencies must coordinate reviews, timetables, and dashboard entries for qualifying critical-materials projects. Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council staff must administer covered-project treatment even when projects would not otherwise satisfy the regular FAST-41 definition. Environmental review staff must integrate mining, processing, reclamation, and modernization projects into coordinated permitting schedules. Project sponsors that accept FAST-41 treatment must meet dashboard, timetable, and permitting-process expectations, although they can opt out. Communities near mining or processing sites may face earlier and more visible federal review activity for projects in their region.

Key Provisions

• Requires specified Presidential Determination 2022-11 critical-materials actions to be treated as FAST-41 covered projects.
• Requires those actions to be included on the federal Permitting Dashboard.
• Provides covered treatment for mature mining, beneficiation, value-added processing, by-product production, co-product production, mine-waste reclamation, and modernization projects.
• Provides an opt-out if a project sponsor requests that the action not receive FAST-41 covered-project treatment.
• Expands permitting coordination for domestic strategic and critical materials projects tied to Defense Production Act section 303 authority.