EMRTAI Authorization Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9616 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9616

  To establish a program for the recovery of critical materials from 
              contaminated sites, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2026

  Mr. Pfluger (for himself and Mr. Landsman) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To establish a program for the recovery of critical materials from 
              contaminated sites, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    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''.

SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION AND CRITICAL MATERIAL RECOVERY 
              PROGRAM.

    (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.
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