Biden official offers support for reworked minerals list

Lawmakers want to expand the U.S. Geological Survey's list of minerals considered critical.

June 05, 2024

A senior U.S. Geological Survey official Tuesday voiced support for legislation that would expand the federal government’s list of critical minerals to include materials like copper.

Colin Williams, who leads the agency's mineral resources program, said the administration would work with lawmakers to make sure H.R. 8446 protects the integrity of two federal critical minerals lists — one from the USGS and a second from the Department of Energy.

“As a possible way to manage the two lists, the USGS supports this bill,” Williams wrote in prepared remarks for the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

“We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to work with the subcommittee to ensure the legislation protects the scientific basis of the component lists," he said.

Lawmakers have for months clashed over the existence of two lists. The USGS one includes minerals essential to economic growth or national security that are also vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. Copper is not on it.

The "Critical Mineral Consistency Act" from Republican Reps. Juan Ciscomani and Eli Crane of Arizona and Dan Newhouse of Washington would combine the USGS list with DOE's, which focuses on the energy transition and does include copper.

Williams defended the USGS's decision not to include copper as a critical mineral in its latest list, noting that the U.S. has a robust domestic industry, has a significant amount of copper is recycled, and imports come from reliable trade partners like Chile and Canada.

The DOE and the USGS, Williams added, already work well together but are open to anything that would lead to an “increase in coherence of government policy.”

Ciscomani said his bill would expand the USGS list to include copper, as well as electrical steel, silicon and silicon carbide.

"This legislation will improve interagency coordination, help to secure our domestic supply chains, and improve American energy and national security outcomes," he said.

Environmental concerns

Democrats on Tuesday argued mining companies and their lobbyists are attempting to broaden the USGS list to access to federal incentives and faster permitting.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said the bill “may sound innocuous” but the critical mineral label drives billions of dollars in federal investment and has cascading effects throughout the economy and environment.

"This is a thinly veiled effort to add copper to the critical minerals list despite USGS’s repeated explanations that it doesn't currently fit the peer-reviewed, scientific criteria for that list," said Huffman.

Environmental groups like Earthworks and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which oppose the legislation, argued in a letter Tuesday that the lists have different purposes.

Roopali Phadke, a professor of environmental studies at Macalester College in Minnesota, said the need for minerals for renewable energy has given mining sector a “green halo,” but that the real focus needs to be on developing a circular economy for such materials.

But Misael Cabrera, director of the School of Mining and Mineral Resources at University of Arizona, called DOE’s list forward-looking while the USGS one is based on production data.

“That data is dated,” said Cabrera. “Merging the two lists puts us in a better position to meet that forecasted demand. … There’s not enough copper for energy transition, including recycling.”

Added Cabrera: “We simply have to mine more.”

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By:  Hannah Northey
Source: Politico E&E Daily