Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 755) to amend the Energy Act of 2020 to include critical materials in the definition of critical mineral, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 755

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. CRITICAL MINERALS AND MATERIALS LIST.

Section 7002 of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606) is amended--

(1) in subsection (c)(4)(C), by inserting ``minerals or materials'' after ``critical'';

(2) by redesignating subsection (o) as subsection (p); and

(3) by inserting after subsection (n) the following:

``(o) Critical Minerals and Materials List.--

``(1) In general.--Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of the Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025, the Secretary shall publish a Critical Minerals and Materials List, which shall include--

``(A) any critical mineral designated by the Secretary under subsection (c); and

``(B) any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Secretary of Energy has determined to be a critical material under subsection (a)(2) as of that date of enactment.

``(2) Updates.--The Secretary shall update the Critical Minerals and Materials List published under paragraph (1)--

``(A) not later than 45 days after the date on which the Secretary updates a critical mineral designation under subsection (c); and

``(B) not later than 45 days after the date on which the Secretary of Energy updates a critical material designation under subsection (a)(2).

``(3) Publication alignment.--To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary and the Secretary of Energy shall coordinate when updates to the Critical Minerals and Materials List may be required under paragraph (2).

``(4) Administration.--For the purposes of administering programs involving critical minerals or critical materials, the Secretary, the Secretary of Energy, and the heads of other Federal departments and agencies where such department or agency has incorporated by reference the definition of `critical mineral' or `critical material' from this section, as applicable, shall use the most recently published version of the Critical Minerals and Materials List published under paragraph (1).''.

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Mr. WESTERMAN. 755, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 755, the Critical Mineral Consistency Act, which accomplishes the important task of unifying the U.S. Geological Survey's list of critical minerals and the Department of Energy's list of critical materials.

The Energy Act of 2020 defined ``critical minerals'' and directed the United States Geological Survey, or USGS, to publish a list of critical minerals every 3 years. The same act directed the Secretary of Energy to develop a critical materials list that includes all of the same minerals on the USGS list but adds: ``any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Secretary of Energy determines: (i) has a high risk of supply chain disruption; and (ii) serves an essential function in one or more energy technologies, including technologies that produce, transmit, store, and conserve energy.''

The discrepancies between the lists make it difficult for regulators and producers to determine what emphasis to place on each resource and how to allocate efforts toward resource recovery.

Under H.R. 755, each agency would determine what to include in its own list, but a new, combined list called the ``critical minerals and materials list'' would be published by the Department of the Interior.

Moving forward, all Federal agencies would be required to use this unified list when administering programs involving critical minerals or critical materials. These changes promote accessibility, clarity, and consistency for regulators, producers, and members of the public.

I thank Representative Ciscomani for his work on this important legislation. I support this commonsense bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, back to H.R. 755. This bill will provide the certainty needed to grow domestic production of minerals like lithium, graphite, copper, and many other minerals necessary for the advanced technologies that will ensure national security, energy security, and economic competitiveness.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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