YourVoice.Now Summary
EnvironmentTransparency & AccountabilityA new EPA program would help recover critical materials from polluted sites — up to $10 million a year, for 10 years.
Environment
The EPA would have to run a program to find critical materials at polluted sites. It would also back ways to recover them. Help could go out as contracts, cooperative deals, or awards. The caps are $10 million a year, and $3 million per applicant.
Sites on the National Priorities List would count for more when the EPA scores applications. That is the federal Superfund list of polluted places needing long cleanups. Four other tests also apply. One asks whether the work protects health and the environment.
Transparency & Accountability
The program would shut down 10 years after the bill becomes law. Congress would have to pass a new law to keep it going.
More about this bill
Most people would notice no change in daily life. The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, would run a new program. The goal is to find and recover critical materials at polluted sites, including in the waste left there. Federal law treats critical materials as vital to the economy or to national defense. The EPA would also support better ways to track and clean up the pollution at those sites. To do that work, the EPA could sign contracts and make awards. Companies, states, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofits could all apply. Work at Superfund sites would carry extra weight when the EPA picks projects. The EPA could not give out more than $10 million in any one year. No single applicant could get more than $3 million. The bill does not set that money aside. It only caps what the EPA may hand out. The program would end 10 years after the bill becomes law.
Congressional Summary
Environmental Monitoring and Remediation Technology Assessment Initiative Authorization Act of 2026 or the EMRTAI Authorization Act of 2026 This provides statutory authority for an initiative within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that recovers critical materials from contaminated sites. A critical material means (1) any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Department of Energy determines has a high risk of a supply chain disruption and serves an essential function in energy technologies; and (2) any critical mineral. A critical mineral means any mineral, element, substance, or material designated as critical by the U.S. Geological Survey. Under the program, the EPA must investigate, evaluate, and support processes, methods, and systems which may be used to identify sources of critical materials at contaminated sites and recover such critical materials from those sites. In carrying out the program, the EPA may provide assistance (e.g., awards) to persons, nonprofit organizations, and state, local, and tribal government entities. The bill prohibits the EPA from providing assistance (1) in an amount that exceeds $10 million in any fiscal year in the aggregate; or (2) to any person, nonprofit organization, or government entity, in an amount that exceeds $3 million. The bill terminates the program after 10 years.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Passed House
- Action Date
- 2026-09-15
- Date Added
- 2026-09-09
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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