Illustration: Tiffany Herring/Axios
Two developments on potential mining legislation are worth your attention.
Why it matters: A grand bargain to speed up environmental reviews for energy transition minerals projects likely isn't happening this year, but lame duck tinkering is a real possibility.
1. Copper goes critical: House Natural Resources on Wednesday advanced legislation to make the USGS designate copper as a "critical" mineral.
- Copper's important for wind, solar and EVs. The formal designation opens copper projects up to IRA and infrastructure law funding.
- DOE included copper on its "critical minerals" list — but the USGS left it off, prompting something of a bipartisan outcry.
- While the bill moved out of committee in a largely partisan 19-13 vote, it's a prime candidate to ride on a larger bill.
2. Good Sam rider: Sen. Martin Heinrich told Axios Thursday he's keeping up the push to get his Good Samaritan mine cleanup bill attached to a vehicle, possibly the NDAA.
- "We'll be looking for any place we can hitch a ride with that. I think we've got pretty good consensus at this point," he said.
- Trout Unlimited, the bill's chief supporter off the Hill, has been trying to convince lawmakers there's a defense nexus for inclusion in the NDAA.
- The biggest hurdle is that the House bill crosses three committees' jurisdictions. Supporters will likely need the OK from all three to get it into the defense bill.
