EMA Applauds House Consideration of the Protecting Domestic Mining Act, Urges Swift Passage of H.R. 1501

Arlington, Va., Sept. 2, 2026 — The Essential Minerals Association (EMA) today reiterated its strong support for H.R. 1501, the Protecting Domestic Mining Act of 2025, as the bill moves through the House of Representatives. EMA sent a letter of support this week to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman and Ranking Member Jared Huffman, urging swift passage.

"Every day the United States remains dependent on hostile foreign nations for essential minerals is a day our national defense, our economy, and American jobs are at risk," said Chris Greissing, President of EMA. "This legislation is a commonsense, bipartisan step toward securing our domestic mineral supply chains. Congress should send this bill to President Trump's desk without delay."

EMA represents approximately 100 companies that extract, process, and support a critical group of minerals essential to the nation's defense, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, and technology sectors. Recent years have underscored the risks of relying on adversarial nations, including China, for mineral resources that can be cut off amid geopolitical or economic tensions.

H.R. 1501 would add mining and mineral processing to the categories of projects eligible for streamlined permitting under Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), placing them on the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council's (FPISC) permitting dashboard for faster, more coordinated review. The bill would also block FPISC from finalizing a proposed rule that would have limited FAST-41 eligibility to only those minerals meeting the narrow statutory definition of "Critical Minerals" under the Energy Act of 2020 — a restriction EMA says would have needlessly denied expedited permitting to minerals essential to national defense, the economy, and everyday life.

"Domestic mineral production shouldn't be an afterthought — it's the foundation everything else is built on," Greissing said. "This bill ensures that all vital mineral projects, not just a narrow federal list, can move forward faster here at home."

EMA calls on Congress to pass H.R. 1501 and looks forward to continuing to work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to strengthen America's domestic mineral supply chains.

The Essential Minerals Association (EMA) is a trade association representing industrial mineral producers in New York State and North America. EMA's membership includes producers of salt, anthracite, talc, bentonite, calcium carbonate, kaolin, silica, soda ash, zinc, and other critical minerals, as well as equipment manufacturers, transportation companies, and exploration-stage companies. For more information, visit essentialminerals.org.

#