Ciscomani Celebrates House Passage of His Bill, the Critical Mineral Consistency Act

November 14, 2024

WASHINGTON - U.S. Congressman Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06) celebrated the bipartisan House passage of his legislation to ensure parity between Critical Materials, as defined by the Department of Energy (DOE), and Critical Minerals, as defined by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to eliminate confusion, confer the same benefits to both lists moving forward, and end U.S. reliance on foreign adversaries for critical minerals and materials. This bill passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 245-155.

Ciscomani’s legislation, H.R. 8446, the Critical Mineral Consistency Act, would add the DOE’s list of Critical Materials to USGS’ list of Critical Minerals. This would remove the DOE Critical Materials from the disadvantage of not being eligible for the more extensive energy-focused benefits conferred to the USGS Critical Mineral list instead conveying the same benefit to both lists. 

"Critical Minerals are essential for our economy, national security, and clean energy technologies,” said Ciscomani. “As demand for these strategic resources continues to increase, the United States must ensure access to a reliable supply. My legislation, the Critical Mineral Consistency Act, will ensure parity between U.S. Geological Survey Critical Minerals and Department of Energy materials lists to strengthen our domestic supply chain and include copper, electrical steel, fluorine, silicon, and silicon carbide on the Critical Minerals list, a long overdue classification. I am proud to see my legislation pass out of the House of Representatives and look forward to its consideration in the Senate."

“I am proud to support Representative Ciscomani’s ‘Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2024,’ to help harmonize the federal government’s critical minerals lists,” said Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse. “This important legislation ensures the USGS and DOE remain in sync, giving clarity to industry and improving interagency coordination. We should be relying on the most up-to-date information when determining the elements and minerals for U.S. national and energy security, and this legislation ensures just that.”

Supporting organizations include the National Mining Association (NMA), Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), National Electrical Manufacturing Association (NEMA), Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA), Transformer Manufacturing Association of America (TMAA), Copper Development Association (CDA), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mint Innovation, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

Watch Ciscomani’s remarks in support of his legislation here.

Background:  

While the statutory definition of Critical Minerals and Critical Materials are similar, the DOE and USGS created very different methodologies when developing their lists.
The USGS finalized the Critical Mineral methodology and list in 2022, focused solely on the supply and relied on old data from 2015-2018.
On the other hand, when DOE announced the Critical Material list in 2023, they balanced essentiality and supply risk and looked at projections into the short and medium-term future, rather than looking in the past.
Copper, electrical steel, fluorine, silicon and silicon carbide are all Critical Materials and not Critical Minerals.

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