House passes bill defining aggregates as strategic, critical

NSSGA reports a bill to speed development on federal lands of strategic and critical minerals, including aggregates, passed the House on Thursday. Development would be sped up by limiting the review duration of drilling permits and requiring concurrent rather than sequential consideration.

The bill in this case, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, would require the secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to more effectively develop domestic sources of minerals of “strategic and critical importance.” As NSSGA reports, the text of the bill indicates this would include “minerals that are necessary…to support domestic manufacturing, agriculture…and transportation infrastructure.”