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H.R. 9616 · House bill · 119th Congress
This provides statutory authority for an initiative within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that recovers critical materials from contaminated sites.
A critical material means (1) any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Department of Energy determines has a high risk of a supply chain disruption and serves an essential function in energy technologies; and (2) any critical mineral. A critical mineral means any mineral, element, substance, or material designated as critical by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Under the program, the EPA must investigate, evaluate, and support processes, methods, and systems which may be used to identify sources of critical materials at contaminated sites and recover such critical materials from those sites. In carrying out the program, the EPA may provide assistance (e.g., awards) to persons, nonprofit organizations, and state, local, and tribal government entities.
The bill prohibits the EPA from providing assistance (1) in an amount that exceeds $10 million in any fiscal year in the aggregate; or (2) to any person, nonprofit organization, or government entity, in an amount that exceeds $3 million.
The bill terminates the program after 10 years.
This Act may be cited as the “Environmental Monitoring and Remediation Technology Assessment Initiative Authorization Act of 2026” or the “EMRTAI Authorization Act of 2026”.
(a) Establishment.— The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall carry out a program to investigate, evaluate, and support processes, methods, and systems which may be utilized in—
(1) the identification of sources of critical materials at contaminated sites, including contaminated media and solid waste sources at such sites; and
(2) the recovery of such critical materials from such sites.
(b) Assistance.— In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Administrator may provide assistance, including by entering into contracts and cooperative agreements and making awards, to persons, State, local, and Tribal government entities, and nonprofit organizations.
(c) Limitation.— The Administrator may not, under such program, provide assistance—
(1) in the aggregate, in an amount that exceeds $10,000,000 in any fiscal year; or
(2) to any person, State, local, or Tribal government entity, or nonprofit organization, in an amount that exceeds $3,000,000.
(d) Evaluation of applications.— The Administrator shall establish a system for evaluating applications for assistance provided under subsection (b) that includes the following criteria:
(1) The extent to which the assistance furthers the identification of nontraditional, domestic sources of critical materials at contaminated sites pursuant to subsection (a).
(2) The extent to which the assistance advances processes, methods, and systems for—
(A) recovering critical materials from sources at contaminated sites that may be identified pursuant to subsection (a); and
(B) monitoring environmental contamination and remediation of such contaminated sites in the recovery of such critical materials.
(3) The extent to which the assistance strengthens national security through the development of domestic critical material supply chains.
(4) The extent to which the assistance supports remediation of one or more contaminated sites, especially such sites that are on the National Priorities List.
(5) The extent to which the assistance protects human health and the environment.
(e) Critical material defined.— In this section, the term critical material has the meaning given such term in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)).
(f) Sunset.— The program under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that is 10 years after the date of enactment of this section.