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<\/p>\n\n\nAnnouncing the \u201cSPEED Act\u201d on January 24, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little missed a golden opportunity to quote Top Gun: Maverick: \u201cI feel the need \u2013 the need for speed.\u201d In the race for critical minerals, though, Gov. Little appears to feel the need for speed. He signed Executive Order 2025-02, the \u201cIdaho Strategic Permitting, Efficiency and Economic Development (SPEED) Act,\u201d which aims to coordinate and streamline state permitting processes for large-scale projects, including mining projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Trump also appears to feel the need for speed in the race for critical minerals. On March 20, 2025, he signed Executive Order 14241 (EO), aimed to speed domestic mineral production for national security. The EO follows the president\u2019s earlier executive orders \u201cDeclaring a National Energy Emergency,\u201d and \u201cUnleashing American Energy,\u201d also aimed to advance domestic mineral production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At present, like the fateful scene in Top Gun where Maverick flies through Iceman\u2019s jet wash, the United States is flying through China\u2019s jet wash, risking a flat spin from which it cannot recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there is more than one reason the United States is losing the race for critical minerals, one of the main reasons is slow development of domestic resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to an S&P Global report last year, the United States has the second-longest timeline in the world to develop a mine. It takes an average of nearly 29 years to build a new mine in the United States, whereas the longest development timeline is roughly 34 years, in Zambia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that ineffective government coordination can delay federal mine permitting by up to three years. Moreover, a recent review by the Council on Environmental Quality found that across federal agencies, the average time to complete an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as required for most mining projects, is 4.5 years. This is a problem if the United States hopes to win the race for critical minerals or, frankly, even be competitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Short of new legislation, government executives keen to speed domestic mineral production are turning to their executive authorities to address government inefficiencies that have slowed domestic mine development. In Idaho, Gov. Little\u2019s executive order creates a new SPEED Council comprised of directors from relevant state permitting agencies that will aim to expedite permit review, increase collaboration with project proponents, boost public transparency, and eliminate duplicative or unnecessary statutes and rules. Notably for the mining industry, the council is chaired by the state\u2019s administrator of the Office of Energy and Mineral Resources. The council is further tasked to identify best practices and recommend statutory, regulatory and policy changes to achieve the SPEED Act\u2019s goals. Gov. Little hopes the act will promote energy independence, support national security and drive economic growth in the Gem State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the federal level, the president\u2019s EO relies on authority under the Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 to expedite and expand the supply of materials and services from the United States to promote the national defense. The EO aims to stimulate production and processing of domestic minerals, including \u201ccritical minerals\u201d as defined by the Energy Act of 2020 as well as uranium, copper, potash, gold, and \u201cany other element, compound, or material\u201d determined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, in his role as chair of the new National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC). The EO expands federal support to minerals not previously identified as \u201ccritical\u201d by the Department of the Interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to expanding federal support to additional minerals, the EO \u2013 \u201cImmediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production\u201d \u2013 directs federal agencies involved in permitting mineral production to promptly provide a list of all mineral production projects \u201cfor which a plan of operations, a permit application, or other application for approval has been submitted to such agency.\u201d Following submittal, the relevant federal agency heads shall identify \u201cpriority projects\u201d that an agency can expedite with issuance of relevant permits or approvals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further, the chair of the NEDC is directed to submit to the executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council mineral production projects to be considered for expedited review under Title 41 of the Fixing America\u2019s Surface Transportation Act. The executive director shall then publish any projects selected and establish schedules for expedited review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The chair of the NEDC is also directed to issue a request for information to solicit \u201cindustry feedback\u201d on regulatory bottlenecks and other recommended strategies for expediting domestic mineral production. Additionally, the chair and the director of the Office of Legislative Affairs are directed to jointly prepare and submit recommendations to President Trump to clarify the treatment of waste rock, tailings, and mine waste disposal under the Mining Act of 1872. This direction appears aimed to address uncertainty resulting from the \u201cRosemont decision,\u201d Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 33 Fed. 4th 1202 (9th Cir. 2022), which upset the Rosemont Copper Company\u2019s plans to place waste rock from its proposed Rosemont mine on adjacent federal lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EO further instructs federal agency heads to prioritize mineral production on federal lands, including identifying federal lands suitable for leasing for mineral production projects. The EO states that under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), land use plans shall provide for mineral production and ancillary uses and shall be amended or revised as necessary to provide for such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EO also takes a number of steps to accelerate private and public capital investment in mineral production projects, including delegation of DPA authority to the U.S. Secretary of Defense and to the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to authorize use of their various funding and financing tools to advance domestic mineral production projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Gov. Little\u2019s SPEED Act and President Trump\u2019s EO \u201cfeel the need, the need for speed\u201d to scale up domestic mineral production for the United States to be competitive in the global race for critical minerals. For mineral production projects in Idaho, the SPEED Act may expedite permitting, while for mineral production projects on federal lands in Idaho and everywhere else in the country, the EO may do likewise as well as create opportunities for project proponents to secure federal funding for mineral production projects. However, both executive orders are dependent on funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the SPEED Act, the Idaho Legislature must appropriate funding before the SPEED Council can get started. Such funding is uncertain this year. Whereas for the EO, federal agencies can act within their authorities to prioritize mineral production projects, but there is limited funding available to support projects until Congress appropriates additional resources. So, project proponents too may feel the need for speed if they wish to make use of the limited funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Irvine has demonstrated mastery in navigating complex legal landscapes, leading to successful project permitting and multimillion-dollar transactions, and is adept at fostering collaborative partnerships and committed to excellence in client service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before joining Stoel Rives\u2019, Andrew was legal and corporate engagement director for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and a solo practitioner focusing on permitting, environmental review and compliance, public lands, and wildlife. He was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Ecuador, where he investigated and developed regulatory solutions to problems resulting from artisanal and small-scale mining in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
Andrew Irvine is a seasoned legal professional with nearly 20 years in the mining and energy sectors, specializing in mineral tenure, transactions, and environmental compliance.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Announcing the \u201cSPEED Act\u201d on January 24, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little missed a golden opportunity to quote Top Gun: Maverick: \u201cI feel the need \u2013 the need for speed.\u201d In the race for critical minerals, though, Gov. Little appears to feel the need for speed. He signed Executive Order 2025-02, the \u201cIdaho Strategic Permitting, Efficiency and Economic Development (SPEED)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":10288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[1183,3814],"coauthors":[3815],"class_list":["post-10287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law","tag-mineral-production","tag-national-energy-dominance-council"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t