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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