Trump admin expands mining in ‘first wave’ of ‘critical mineral production’

Under President Donald Trump’s administration, the permitting process for “critical mineral” mining is set to be more “transparent” as the greenlit projects will have a public review process.

The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) announced this adjustment on Friday to bring “increased transparency, accountability, and predictability” to the review process. This comes after the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) selected its “first wave” of “critical mineral” projects in accordance with Trump’s March 20 executive order on expanding “American mineral production.”

“This is just the beginning — many more projects are expected to be added to the list on a rolling basis over the next few weeks,” the announcement reads. NEDC flagged 10 initial projects in this “first wave” of domestic mining operations, outlined in the announcement.

“This is the first use of the Permitting Council’s transparency authority, and we look forward to showcasing the many benefits the Federal Permitting Dashboard can bring to critical infrastructure projects as part of President Trump’s Executive Order on increasing American mineral production,” Manisha Patel, Acting Executive Director at the Permitting Council, said in the statement.

The Permitting Council stated that adjusting its permitting process works to advance Trump’s “directive to take immediate action to facilitate domestic production of America’s vast mineral resources to create jobs, fuel prosperity, and significantly reduce our reliance on foreign nations” in the announcement.

“It’s a good start,” Steve Milloy, a senior legal fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute and creator of Junk Science, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Though Milloy stated that the U.S. has “got a long way to go” when it comes to expanding domestic mineral mining, he noted that China dominates much of the critical mineral industry and hosts the processing plants necessary for the refinement process.

“I’d like to see a whole strategy for building facilities to process these things,” Milloy continued. “But again, you’ve got to start someplace.”

He also referenced the National Environmental Policy Act, which “allows for endless challenges,” he said, as it often slows down or extends the permitting process. Several hurdles would need to be cleared in order to build new refining facilities on U.S. soil, including getting air and water permits greenlit, Milloy said.

The White House, DOE, the EPA, and the Permitting Council did respond to the DCNF’s request for comment in time for publication.

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